This week thousands have assembled at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in Birmingham to demolish those brick walls, learn new tricks of genealogy, and hear about the latest news of family history.  Most of us have searched the newspapers for obituaries, but much more can be revealed about our ancestor’s lives than the memorials at their death.  Today, we will take a look at the divorce courts, bankruptcy notices, illegitimacy cases, and committee minutes.The mid- to late…

February 15, 2017 marks the 75th anniversary of the fall of Singapore during the Second World War.  The event was one of the greatest British military defeats in history.  It meant the loss of a military stronghold to the Japanese as well as the capture of almost 100,000 men, women, and children as prisoners of war.  The event was covered extensively in the newspapers, from the initial invasion and evacuation of civilians to the surrender and questions that immediately followed.  Churchill described the…

I started researching my family history over 20 years ago. I knew that my Grandmother and her sister had been left with guardians in Boston, Lincolnshire when they were very young. My Grandma died when I was young, but in later years my Granddad told me that her parents, my great-grandparents, had gone to Canada and had promised to call for their daughters when they were settled. They never did.As I started my research I soon discovered the names of…

Newspapers are valuable sources for researching historical events, most especially those of such national importance as a declaration of war.Register now and view 3 pages for FREEIn August of 1939, Britain and Poland signed an agreement of mutual assistance. This mean that were any foreign power to interfere with either country militarily, the other would rush to their aid. Days later, on September 1st, Germany crossed the Polish border under a flag of nationalism, on an invented crusade to liberate…