Welcome to Episode 5 of Ancestral Neighbours. For the past few weeks I have been posting lists of people living in a single street (or two), taken from a census that my ancestors appeared in. You are welcome to just continue reading, but if you would like to see previous posts, you can find them here:

Episodes 1, 2, 3 & 4.

As mentioned in past episodes, researching the wider area in which your ancestors lived can reveal so much about their experiences. It helps to identify the people they would have interacted with, and creates a picture of their day to day lives. This series of blogs has been a very simplistic example of the FAN (Friends And Neighbours) method, but it can be a great way to start a broader, deeper study.

This week I am looking at the 1871 Census for the Burgess branch of my family tree.

The entry for Louis Burzynski above is not a mistake – this is how it appears on the census record. Quite possibly the enumerator entered the surname and first name in the wrong columns.

I hope this blog encourages you to apply the FAN Method to your research. Please do comment below if you have found anything interesting whilst studying your ancestors’ neighbourhoods.

Tune in next week for Episode 6 of Ancestral Neighbours.