On 4 June 1731, fire tore through Blandford Forum in Dorset destroying 90% of the medieval market town. The only buildings that remained standing the following day were the few that had been rebuilt using brick and tile following an earlier fire in 1713. Sadly, the Parish records did not survive the blaze so I… Continue reading Fire
Tag: Dorset
Playtime
In addition to the master tree that records my direct ancestors and their descendants, I have a number of research trees which I use to explore the unlinked family clusters of DNA matches that every genealogist will eventually end up with. These clusters are formed of numerous DNA matches who all descend from the same… Continue reading Playtime
Earliest Ancestor
I have to confess that this week’s subject is one that does not particularly inspire me as my interest in family history has never been driven simply by how far back I can get. I have already mentioned that a researcher has been able to take the Ginn family line back as far as 1450… Continue reading Earliest Ancestor
Cousins
I have mentioned a couple of times that James Maitland and Letitia Baker are my 3x and also 4x great grandparents, and the reason for this is that on 1 September 1879 their grandson, George Thomas Maitland, married Emily Ann Dowding, who was the daughter of his cousin, Charlotte Maitland. Emily was born in Blandford… Continue reading Cousins
Family Business
Most of my 19th century ancestors lived in rural areas and worked on farms in some capacity, but those who lived in Blandford Forum in Dorset were engaged in a much wider range of businesses. I have already mentioned that my Maitland ancestors were tailors and shoemakers [see Surprise], and this week’s post will focus on… Continue reading Family Business
Wheels
James Maitland, my 3x and 4x great grandfather, was a Royal Mail coach driver - this illustration, dated 1808, was engraved by William Henry Pye and shows the type of coach he would have driven: Mail coaches were first introduced into the UK in 1784 in a bid to speed the woefully slow and inefficient… Continue reading Wheels
At the Library
In 1891, Thomas Hardy published one of his best known novels, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, which was inspired by the tombs of the real life Turberville family in St John the Baptist church in Bere Regis, Dorset. The Turbervilles were an ancient and powerful family who were Lords of the Manor of Bere Regis for… Continue reading At the Library
Big Mistake
My 3x and also 4x great grandfather, James Maitland1, appears in 81 family trees on the Ancestry website, and almost all list his father as Johnathan Maitland. Not one of them has provided a source for this, and there is a very good reason for that because Johnathan Maitland was a figment of my imagination,… Continue reading Big Mistake
Surprise
An early surprise was the discovery that I have double Maitland DNA as I am descended from two sons of James Maitland and Letitia Baker, somewhat confusingly making them my 3x and also my 4x great grandparents. James Maitland, my 2x great grandfather, was baptised in Blandford Forum, Dorset on 7 September 1799. He became… Continue reading Surprise
Sleuthing Notes 