Paul Chiddicks

All About That Place – call for speakers - Society of Genealogists Piloting in 2023, the event hit social media with a bang and creating an immediate buzz. It garnered large audiences, with 28,900 video views on YouTube alone and 600,000 impressions! 718 people subsc...

All About That Place returns this year, running from Wednesday 7th October to Friday 16th October! @sogorg.bsky.social is now calling for speakers who can provide pre-recorded or live talks of around 10 minutes, tying in with the event’s daily themes.

#AATP26 #FamilyHistory #LocalHistory #GenHour

🌳🎧 On this week's podcast Nathan shares the research steps he’s taken to unearth the last surname he needed to finally complete his 3× great-grandparents. Also, Helen reminds us all about the Genealogical Proof Standard and talks about the benefits of GEDCOM files. 🔗👇

https://maps.nls.uk/joins/12836.html Chapman, John.; André, Peter., A map of the county of Essex from an actual survey taken in 1772, 73 & 1774 / by John Chapman & Peter André., 1785

I will never cease to be grateful that my job allows me the opportunity to work with things as beautiful as this 1785 map of Essex.

Just stop and consider the care and attention to detail here and the pleasure that the cartographer must (surely?) have felt in a job well done...

#MappyMonday

The Hardy Tree – A Tree That Remembered the Dead Discover the Dark Tales of the Past in My Brand-New Series: “Stories From the Grave” Sometimes history grows in unexpected ways, like roots pushing through stone, or a story taking on a life far la…

🌳🪦 NEW BLOG POST

The Hardy Tree – A Tree That Remembered the Dead

The next in my new series, “Stories From the Grave”, exploring the real history and the myths, that grow around burial places.

Read it here: chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/23/t...
#Genealogy #History #London #Graveyard #Cenetery

The Truth Behind Pinner’s Floating Coffin Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Tucked away in the peaceful churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Pinner, Grea…

In a peaceful churchyard in Pinner stands a monument that looks…unusual

A stone coffin, suspended mid-air, jutting from a tall triangular tomb. Over time it’s gathered myths, ghost stories, and speculation — but there is a real explanation.

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/16/t...

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Some family history stories announce themselves quietly, while others arrive and take hold of …

Tales from the Tomb Friday 🕯️

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley

A child taken too soon. A tomb with a window.
Not a legend of death—but of love that refused to leave him in the dark.

#TalesFromTheTomb #StoriesFromTheGrave #Genealogy

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/30/w...

North West Kent Family History Society Membership Membership is open to anyone, anywhere in the world and you will receive our quarterly journal mailed direct.

www.nwkfhs.org.uk/about/member...
Did you know you can join the North West Kent Family History Society for as little as £10 a year? Membership offers a wide range of benefits, including online and in-person talks and meetings, a quarterly journal, plus a whole lot more.
#NWKFHS #Genealogy #Kent

11 March 10.30am Library DNA & General Family History Discussion Group with Pam Goddard
www.nwkfhs.org.uk/events/overv...
#NWKFHS #Kent #Genealogy

11 March 10.30am Zoom Discussion Group with Steve Maslin: My Ancestors in a Wiltshire Village and the surprises and shocks Steve discovered beyond the paperwork with Steve Maslin
www.nwkfhs.org.uk/events/overv...
#NWKFHS #Kent #Genealogy

Betty Corrigall: A Woman the Church Would Not Bury Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Betty Corrigall’s grave is reputed to be the loneliest in the UK, yet it is probably one of th…

Today’s Stories From The Grave:

A Woman the Church Would Not Bury

Denied burial in consecrated ground in 18th-century Orkney, her grave became a symbol of exclusion — and, centuries later, of dignity restored.

Tales From The Tomb Friday
#Genealogy

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/02/20/b...

It’s quite simple…

Use them or lose them!

#YourFamilyHistorySocietyNeedsYou

Just me in the local paper 41 years ago…

a man in a blue shirt is standing in front of a green chalkboard teaching a math problem Alt: a man in a blue shirt is standing in front of a green chalkboard teaching a math problem

If your Family History Society are reluctant to embrace the idea of hosting hybrid events (i.e. an in-person audience AND a live-stream) get them to speak to Bedfordshire FHS. My talk on Friday was expertly handled, accommodating 30 in the hall and 40 watching via Zoom.

@federationfhs.bsky.social

Where have all the women gone? To mark International Women’s Day I wanted to have a look at the key records that we use to research our English & Welsh family history, and to consider how those records routinely under-repres…

To mark #InternationalWomensDay2026 here's a blogpost I wrote five years ago about the under-representation of women in the key sources that we use for our family history research...

lifelinesresearch.co.uk/2021/03/08/w...

Cambridge University's historic women's prison records transcribed Volunteers are transcribing records of women imprisoned by Cambridge University in the 19th Century.

'Why is it always the women that get punished?'

Link 👉 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Trace your ancestor's working life in new records | Blog Was your gran a 1920s teacher? You could find out with our latest record releases.

@fhsofcheshire.bsky.social's #FridayRoundUp

Working lives are the theme of the 2 new databases at @findmypast.bsky.social this week

🚩𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝟏𝟗𝟐𝟕
🚩𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟓-𝟖𝟗

Link to blog with full details 👉 www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/wom...

Now that’s quality to be fair 😂😂😂

Move over Lara Croft and make way for Paul Chiddicks, Tomb Reader. 😉

Now this is a book that’s right up my street, looking forward to reading this one…….
#Tomb
#TalesOfTheTombFriday
#Genealogy
#Grave

QnA Special: On The Battlefields In this special Q&A episode of the Old Front Line podcast, recorded on location at Hooge, near Ypres, we answer questions about the battlefields of the Western Front and the legacy of the First World War. We begin by exploring what happened to the woods and forests on the Western Front during World War One. Were they completely destroyed by shellfire?

Recorded right on the battlefield at Hooge, this special Old Front Line Q&A explores some fascinating WW1 questions:
How did the shattered woods of the Ypres Salient recover after the war? Who paid to rebuild Ypres? Do any German memorials still survive? What was the history of Messines Ridge before

Sadly not Aine I missed out there!

@chiddickstree.bsky.social
Did you send one in?

Extract from the Parish Register of All Saints, Feering, Essex. Essex Record Office reference D/P 231/1/3 Baptism (1794) August 10th James, son of Elizabeth Pease Her Husband was Transported about Three years Back

An interesting additional comment by the clerk here:

August 10th James, son of Elizabeth Pease. Her Husband was Transported about Three years Back

It would be nice to think that the clerk was thinking about future researchers but the reality is that it was probably more of a moral judgement...

Thanks for the mention 👍

Our starter pack (remember those?!) for #FamilyHistory Societies is here: go.bsky.app/VA4iydq

Some great accounts for #Genealogy and related things are: @oneplacestudies.bsky.social @sogorg.bsky.social @fhsofcheshire.bsky.social @nwkfhs.bsky.social @chiddickstree.bsky.social @janetfew.bsky.social @allthosebefore.bsky.social

You must know her story well 😊

Betty Corrigall: A Woman the Church Would Not Bury Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Betty Corrigall’s grave is reputed to be the loneliest in the UK, yet it is probably one of th…

Today’s Stories From The Grave:

A Woman the Church Would Not Bury

Denied burial in consecrated ground in 18th-century Orkney, her grave became a symbol of exclusion — and, centuries later, of dignity restored.

Tales From The Tomb Friday
#Genealogy

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/02/20/b...

Black and white image of a large scale map showing streets and houses

New Large Scale Historic OS Maps now at @thegenealogist.bsky.social

Find out more 👉 www.thegenealogist.co.uk/news/

Blog 👉 www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarti...

Don't forget you can access The Genealogist in either of our Research Centres

A woman denied burial.
A grave on a windswept peat moor.
A story the church refused to sanctify.

This Friday, Stories From The Grave continues.

Betty Corrigall’s story is next.

#TalesOfTheTomb #Orkney #DarkHistory
#Genealogy