Update on Harriet Beresford (c. 1819 – 1876) In my book Genealogy, Essential Research Methods, I use my great-great-great grandmother Harriet Beresford’s missing London baptism and unsure parentage as an example of how to think and plan for solid research when following up family stories. In this case the story was that she was the… Continue reading Harriet’s missing father
Category: Helen’s Family History
Posts on my own family history
Samuel Beachcroft, Clothworker (1673 – 1733)
Samuel was baptised on 13 August 1673 in Lavenham, Suffolk, the son of the Reverend Samuel Beachcroft and his wife Susanna. His father was the Rector of Semer and Great Cornard in Suffolk and his mother was the daughter of well-known Puritan Minister William Gurnall of Lavenham. William Gurnall was the author of a popular… Continue reading Samuel Beachcroft, Clothworker (1673 – 1733)
Sir Robert Beachcroft (1650 – 1721)
Robert Beachcroft was baptised at All Saints Church, Derby on 28th April 1650 the second son and fourth child of Daniel Beachcroft, maltster and farmer, and Mary Fox or Skelton. His father Daniel was wealthy enough to support many children and to apprentice three of his sons to London merchants and send the eldest to… Continue reading Sir Robert Beachcroft (1650 – 1721)
The best family history advice I never had
Do you remember the defining moments when suddenly something clicked into place, or you learned something the hard way without reading about it or attending a class? I can count the following seven “aha” moments as some of my best learning experiences. 1. Don’t skip on collecting all relevant information. When I joined the Society… Continue reading The best family history advice I never had
Escape from the French in 1809
My transcription from a contemporary copy, originally in the possession of my distant cousin Mary Beachcroft, and now perhaps in the Beachcroft collection at the Clothworker’s Company. It is an account of an escape from France in 1809 by a group of English prisoners and was brought back to England by Henry Lewis, brother to… Continue reading Escape from the French in 1809
A love match or simply good business?
Like anyone else, I have a lot of puzzles to work on in my family tree. One that had been nagging at me for some time was the precise blood relationship between a Joseph Beachcroft who married a Mary Beachcroft. Mary’s father was Samuel Beachcroft and in his will of 1732 he mentions his ‘son… Continue reading A love match or simply good business?