Category: QUISSUM a Genealogical Blog
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Father Unknown – Part 2
So, where did I leave you last time? Ah yes, I had discovered that the address given as place of birth on my great grandmother’s birth certificate, was for a Salvation Army’s home for unmarried mothers. (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, please go back and read part 1 of this blog:…
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Father Unknown – Part 1
We’ve all come across it before haven’t we? That blank space on a birth certificate or baptism register: Father – unknown. DNA has been fantastic for smashing through these brick walls; but sometimes good old fashioned, traditional genealogy is needed. I’d like to share with you, my story of discovering the paternity of one of…
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The Destiny of Jennie Louisa Perkins
Many of my past blogs have concerned my father’s maternal line of ancestors, yet I would like to speak again about this side of my family – as a few days ago, my paternal grandmother Jenny Gray (née Perkins) celebrated her 93rd birthday. Jennie Louisa Perkins was born in Bethnal Green in 1928, to Ernest…
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More Than Just Names and Dates
There are many sources available to the family historian today, but many of us, particularly when we are starting out in the hobby, are guilty of sticking to the main genealogical sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past. It’s very tempting to rush ahead to the next generation, collecting names and dates for your…
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Gone ‘opping
During the 1930s/40s, in the East End of London and Essex suburbs, my family lived just above the breadline. Holidays by the coast were an inconceivable dream, but they did manage to escape the smoke and grime of the overcrowded streets by going ‘Hopping’. The women and children would pack up for the summer, leaving…
