Series One of The Family Histories Podcast is coming!

If you make sense of the census, go potty for parish registers, or gaga over gravestones, then this is the show for you. Our host - author and family historian Andrew Martin - will be meeting the quiet army of family historians who are tirelessly breathing life back into our collective family and social history.

Each episode we'll meet a genealogy addict, find out how they got hooked, hear about one of their most fascinating relative's good, bad, or ugly life stories, and then try to solve their research 'brick wall'.

.... and they'll find out what exactly Andrew has in his garage, and how it might help.

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Find out more about our show at familyhistoriespodcast.com.

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In this first episode of Series One of The Family Histories Podcast sees host Andrew Martin talks to his guest Daniel Smith-Ramos - a genealogist with Spanish, English, and Italian-American ancestry. Daniel explains how he got hooked on researching his family history, the challenges of researching in Spain and the Spanish language, and we'll find out about how his new venture Revista Descendientes hopes to help make it easier.

THE LIFE STORY - ALONSO MARTÍNEZ
Daniel chooses to share the life story of his tyrannical 5x Great Grandfather Alonso Martínez (1765-1837) from Galicia, Spain, whose hypocritical and calculative behaviour manipulates his entire family, leaving them feeling alienated.

THE BRICK WALL - MARY ELIZABETH VICKRESS
Finally, Daniel will introduce us to his current research Brick Wall - Mary Elizabeth Vickress - a Victorian woman who seemingly outlived her entire family, only to go missing in 1886 in Birmingham, UK.

Can you help Daniel to find the next clue in this mystery that could bring that brick wall crashing down? If so, you can message Daniel via his twitter @DSRGenealogist, or alternatively you can head over to our contact form and we'll pass your message on to him.

In the meantime, Andrew offers Daniel some help with solving this puzzle using something he keeps in his garage....

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Episode credits
Series One, Episode One:
Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
Daniel Smith-Ramos - Guest
Eliot Lees - Foley
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com.

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In this episode, host Andrew Martin talks to UK genealogist Jane Hough about how she got hooked on researching her family tree in the 1980s, and her impressive DNA deciphering tactics that is getting her closer to solving an illegitimacy mystery.

Relatively Speaking - Mary Stone
Jane chooses her 5x Great Grandmother, Mary Stone, as the life story to share with us - detailing her life in Stourton, Gloucestershire as a laundry worker, through to an error of judgement that saw her being transported to Australia as a convict.

The Brick Wall - Thomas Edwards
Jane's Brick Wall sits right at the beginning of the Victorian era, with the origins of her 3x Great Grandfather Thomas Edwards. Jane is fairly sure the evidence points to his family having come from Wales, but with a mixture of theories and a name that is fairly common in Welsh records, it's over to you listeners to help solve it.

If you have a clue or a research idea, then you can head over to our show contact form, and we'll pass your message on.

Jane jumps at the offer of research help from Andrew, but it doesn't go completely to plan....

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Episode Credits
Series One, Episode Two:
Andrew Martin (Host/Producer)
Jane Hough (Guest)
Eliot Lees (Foley)
Show notes at: familyhistoriespodcast.com

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In this episode, host Andrew meets George Hall - a fairly recent convert to researching family history, who will talk about how he got into researching as a Generation Z genealogist. He'll explain what it's like to be a younger researcher, the tools he uses, and the work of The Hidden Branch, and his One-Place study.

Note: There is a background sound throughout this episode that was not detected whilst recording. Unfortunately despite our best efforts, we've not been able to remove it, and hope you will forgive us.

Relatively Speaking - Henry Hopkinson
George chose to tell the life story of Henry Hopkinson, his 4x Great Grandfather, from Birstall, West Yorkshire, UK. Henry made it somehow from the textiles industry to becoming an empire-building Butcher, whilst doing his best to raise his family with his wife Agnes. This came with plenty of challenges, often seeing Henry falling foul of planning laws, fines, and money troubles.

The Brick Wall - James Conley
It's off to census night 1871 in Sunderland, UK, where we hear about George's attempts to discover the origins of his 3x Great Grandfather James Conley. James seems to have origins in Ireland, but with a lack of clear evidence, a place name that doesn't seem to exist, and a mystery Catherine Collins, it's left George with a puzzle.

Can you help George demolish this brick wall? If you think you have a clue or a research idea, then you can contact him via our show contact form and we'll pass the message on.

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Episode Credits
Series One, Episode Three:
Andrew Martin (Host/Producer)
George Hall (Guest)
Eliot Lees (Foley).
Show notes at familyhistoriespodcast.com

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You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
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In this episode, host Andrew is joined by family historian, author, lecturer, and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke (Genealogy Gems). She talks about how she got hooked on researching her own family history as a child.

Relatively Speaking
Lisa chooses her husband's entrepreneurial grandfather Harry Cooke as her life story. We follow him from his beginnings in mid-19th century rural Huntingdonshire, to Kent in England, before a double family tragedy sends the family off for a brand new life in Canada.

The Brick Wall
The hunt is on for Lisa's great grandfather Gustaf Sporowski, born in Kotten in Kreis Johannisburg, East Prussia (modern-day Poland). Do you have any research ideas or clues that could help her demolish her research Brick Wall? If you think you can help, then head over to Lisa's LisaLouiseCooke.com website, or alternatively you can visit our contact form and drop us a message (we'll pass it on).

Andrew offers to help with Lisa's research by using something special he keeps in his garage. How could she refuse?

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Episode Credits
Series One, Episode Four:
Andrew Martin (Host/Producer)
Lisa Louise Cooke (Guest)
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com

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In this episode, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Valmay Young to find out how she got into researching her far-flung family tree. We'll also hear about what it's like to work for a county archives, and her work with the Families In British India Society (FIBIS).

Relatively Speaking
Valmay chooses her 3x Gt Grandfather, Richard Sheridan Wardley. As you'll hear, he sounds like a complicated man, with regular vanishing acts, trips to the USA, his attempt to publish someone else's work, and more seriously, posing as a medical doctor. In the process, Valmay also quashed a family rumour about Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

The Brick Wall
Fred Beckwith is Valmay's 2x Gt Grandfather, and he's proving to be a mystery for her. Aside from his marriage to Selina Woolf at West Ham Registry Office in 1882, and his death in 1939, there seems to be no other trace of him. Where was his father Henry? Why is he so vague about addresses? Is Fred the link to Valmay's rumoured Romany ancestry?

Andrew tries to help Valmay with her breakthrough, but they're not alone in the garage....


Credits:
Series One, Episode Five.
Andrew Martin (Host, producer)
Valmay Young (Guest)
Eliot Lees (Foley)
John Spike (Sándor Petőfi)
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com

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Host Andrew Martin is joined by David Ryan, an Irish family historian who discovered his passion for genealogy after studying for his MA in Medieval History. He'll be telling us how he made this transition, the challenges of researching family history in Ireland, and what it's like to work for Ancestry as one of their team of professional genealogists.

Relatively Speaking:
David has chosen to tell the life story of his Great Great Grandfather John Hyland. He'll explain the hardship that John was born into at the end of the devastating famine in the early 1850s, and the events that have since shaped Ireland in the 20th century - most of which were revealed by a chance discovery of a record in The National Folklore Collection.

The Brick Wall:
Family rumour has always said that David's paternal and maternal 3x Great Grandmothers - Honora and Bridget Williams, were sisters. They are both born in the 1820s, and both married in the 1840s, all in the village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, Ireland.

Were they sisters, or is it just a case of coincidence? Can you help David solve this old family story?

David isn't sure whether Andrew's offer of help will come to much, but he's in for a surprise...

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Credits:
Series One, Episode Six.
Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
David Ryan - Guest
Eliot Lees - Foley
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com

Send us a Text Message.

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You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.

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In the seventh and final episode of this series (sorry folks!), host Andrew Martin meets Pam Smith, a family historian who went from hobbyist, to professional genealogist, and then to local historian. We'll find out how she made those moves, how she ended up co-founding the research site NameAndPlace.com, and her dual loves of North Yorkshire and heraldry.

Relatively Speaking:
Pam's choice of life story is that of her Great Great Uncle, Albert 'Ginger' Goodwin. Ginger left the collieries of Yorkshire behind and headed to Canada where he advanced his political activism until he met an untimely death. Pam will tell his incredible story, and his legacy that is still very much felt in the communities he stood up for even now, more than 100 years after his death.

The Brick Wall:
The hunt is on for Sir Richard Etherington of Rillington, North Yorkshire, England, as Pam explains her current Brick Wall. Aside from owning land and collecting his knighthood in 1603, it's his connection to other Etheringtons in the area that is baffling Pam. Do you have a connection to a Knight? Does he connect to the others? What are his origins?

Pam agrees to Andrew's offer of help, but something is about to go very wrong indeed...

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Episode Credits:
Series 1, Episode 7.

• Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
• Pam Smith - Guest
• John Spike - Sándor Petőfi
• Meg Spencer-Thomas - Anne Boleyn
• Eliot Lees - Foley

Show notes and more: familyhistoriespodcast.com

Send us a Text Message.

Thank you for listening!
You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news.

You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky.
If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review.