PAST LIVES Genealogy & Social History Consultancy Services

28/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being:

WORKSHOP: Ancestors’ Lives: Marriage, Divorce, Bigamy, Bereavement, Remarriage (6 hours)
Every family tree has individuals whose lives did not fit the regular pattern of just one marriage, and researching our ancestors’ marriages is complicated. Do you suspect that your ancestors weren’t really married? Some people appear to be married but there’s no legal evidence to show that the event took place. Maybe their marriage was bigamous, or otherwise unlawful because of non-compliance with certain formal requirements. Or have you found a marriage in a parish, where your ancestors had no known connection, and you think it may have been clandestine? Other people stop being married; they may divorce or their partner may die. Furthermore, Britain’s marriage laws have changed over the centuries and the rights of women have expanded.
This workshop explores marriage, divorce, bigamy, bereavement, and remarriage from 1600s to mid-20th century, examining laws and social customs. We will look at the circumstances in which a marriage may not be lawful and the consequences for those involved. Also, we will examine the extent of bigamy and invalidity in past centuries, to help you interpret your own findings.
The workshop will conclude by exploring the social and cultural history of broken engagements between 1780 -1970 and why the law allowed the person who had been jilted to claim ‘Breach of Promise’ damages from the person who had broken the engagement. Based on original research from newspapers and literature of the time, we will discover what their experiences reveal about social attitudes towards broken engagements.
Students will have to opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents, photographs, and artefacts relating to the subject

25/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being:

WORKSHOP: A Nation of Shopkeepers’ – Exploring your Shopkeeper Ancestors (5 hours)
This workshop will examine and illustrate changes in the shops that are found on our high streets over the past 200 years, and explore the lives of the shopkeepers who ran these businesses.
Using original documents, advertisements, photographs, directories, and artefacts we will look at:
• What type of shops and businesses could be found on the high street?
• What types of products did they sell?
• What were our ancestors regularly buying, and how much did they have to pay?
• Occupational hazards and working conditions
• What was the shop itself like – what did it look like both inside & out?
We will also look at the longevity of many of these businesses, taking a local high street as an example for study.
Students will have to opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents, photographs, and artefacts relating to the subject

20/05/2020

Various UK archives making a small selection of records available online up till 24 May

Access to the records in this week’s featured collections will be free until Sunday 24th May 11:59 GMT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a user name and password to access the records. After the fre...

19/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being for anyone who is well on their way with their ancestral journey and who wishes to advance their skills even further :

Course: Family History – Improvers-2 (10 weeks, 2 hours per week)
Students enrolling for Improvers-2 should have completed Improvers-1, or have some extended knowledge of the basic records available which would help in the search for your ancestors – such as census records, and birth, marriage, and death records; plus, experience in using records pre-dating civil registration. You should also know how, and where, to find these records.
Improvers-2 will build further on that knowledge by introducing more specialised records – such as occupational records, criminal records, health and welfare etc. Again, course participants will have an opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents in order to gain experience in interpreting the information contained in these types of records.
If possible, a trip to an archive or suitable research venue will be arranged to illustrate research techniques associated with the materials they hold and what can be learnt from them first hand.

18/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being for anyone who has started their ancestral journey and wants to learn more about what records are available:

Course: Family History – Improvers-1 (10 weeks, 2 hours per week)
Students enrolling for Improvers-1 should have completed the Family History-Beginners course, or have some knowledge of the basic records available which would help in the search for your ancestors – such as census records, and birth, marriage, and death records; plus you should know how and where to find these records.
Improvers-1 will build on that knowledge by introducing more specialised records – such as military or occupational records, wills and probate documents, indentures, land registry records, newspaper reports, and many more. We will also look at what you can learn from family photographs, diaries, and letters. The course will begin with a quick overview of the basic records to ensure that you are confident in using them before moving onto the more detailed ones. Again, course participants will have an opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents in order to gain experience in interpreting the information contained in these types of records.
Students will be encouraged to use local archives, rather than rely solely on the internet, to find the records they need, and it is hoped that a trip to Glamorgan Archives can be arranged to take place in one of the sessions if desired by the students.

15/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being for anyone who would be interested in starting to learn how to trace their ancestors:

Course: Family History – Beginners (10 weeks, 2 hours per week)
For those beginning their ancestral search, we will look at the available records which can be used to try and trace your ancestors, from the very basic items which people may have in their own homes to official documents compiled over time by government agencies, the church, and other associations. I will show how these can be used to trace people and how to decide which records are most suitable for your own ancestors. You will have the opportunity to handle original historic documents and photographs from PAST LIVES own archives. By the end of the course, you should be able to construct a basic family tree from the relevant records and documents, and should know how to access the records that you need to begin your ancestral journey.
Students will be encouraged to use local archives, rather than rely solely on the internet, to find the records they need, and it is hoped that a trip to Glamorgan Archives can be arranged to take place in one of the sessions if desired by the students.

14/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, today’s offering being:

WORKSHOP: ‘A New Baby in the Family: The History of Childbirth & Midwifery’ (5 hours)
Pregnancy and childbirth were a cause for fear and concern in our ancestors’ past, but were also essential to maintain the family line.
This course will explore the changes in midwifery from 1600s until 1960s
• How did women cope with frequent pregnancies?
• How could they be helped in labour?
• How were babies cared for in the past?
• What evidence and documents do we have to support this?
• What records exist regarding the birth, and often death, of babies in our ancestors’ families
We will also explore the relevant genealogical records relating to midwives in society, and the babies they helped deliver.
Students will have to opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents, photographs, and artefacts relating to the subject

13/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
A couple of weeks ago, I provided a series of posters for forthcoming courses and workshops which I will be offering as soon as we are able to open our classes again. I have been asked by a number of people what some of the workshops and courses would cover so – for the next week or so – I’ll highlight each one in more detail, starting today with:

WORKSHOP: ‘Criminal Ancestors - Crime and Punishment’ (6 hours).
Crime was rife, both in poverty-ridden slum areas, and in more affluent society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Our ancestors may well have been the victims of such crimes, or maybe even the perpetrators. Examination of court records often reveals that the punishment did not necessarily meet the crime, examples found of people receiving short prison sentences for murder, yet being hung or transported for theft of such items as a loaf of bread.
This workshop will explore the type of crimes being carried out in over the past 200 years or so, and the criminals who carried them out. How were the crimes solved at times when there was only a rudimentary police force, and very little or no forensic techniques to aid them? Using original source material, we will examine how newspapers reported various crimes, especially in light of the lurid fascination many of our forebears had for violent crime in particular. We will then use copies of original court documents and trial transcripts in an attempt to understand the processes of the criminal justice system. Finally, we will study the sentences handed down on poor unfortunates and hardened criminals alike; did they really deserve what they got?
Students will have to opportunity to handle and examine original historic documents, photographs, and artefacts relating to the subject.

08/05/2020

To celebrate the anniversary of VE Day, Ancestry have given free access to their records over the weekend until Sunday (10th May) night

Discover your family history and build a family tree with the world’s largest genealogy website. Search birth records, census data, obituaries and more!

08/05/2020

A day to celebrate the anniversary of VE Day, but also to remember all our ancestors - those who came back and those who, sadly, did not

07/05/2020

Our Family and Social History workshops and weekly classes, held at Cowbridge, Barry, and Penarth, will be resuming as soon as possible. If you would like more information about these workshops and courses, please follow our page for regular updates, or follow Vale Courses. During lockdown, and until ‘normal service is resumed’, I will be adding daily posts with research tips, extracts from my courses or workshops, fun quizzes or activities, and much more.
Today we explain another old term for an occupation which was included in the first quiz offered a few weeks ago, and which you may have found in records relating to your ancestor; this is the job of a Battledore Maker'.

A Battledore maker was someone employed to make beaters, like the ones shown in the images (1-4), which could be used to remove dirt and dust from clothes and carpets (Images-5 & 6). Later they began to make the wooden paddles which were used in early washing machines (Image-7).

The word 'Battledore', however, was also used in numerous other contexts, although always referring to something that was paddle-shaped; for example, other paddle-shaped tools, such as those used to insert loaves into an oven or wares into a kiln, were occasionally also termed battledores (Image-8).

In the past, ‘Battledore’ was often used to refer to a sturdy paddle-shaped book for young children, often made of horn, that featured the alphabet, numbers, or a simple biblical verse, all with illustrations to aid learning (Image-9 & 10). By the 1800s, these battledores were usually made of card and, although some were still made in the shape of the former horn-books, many were then cut into rectangular shape.

The word ‘battledore’ was also later applied to the paddles or bats (Images-11 & 12) which were used with a shuttlecock to play a game similar to badminton; the game itself becoming known as Battledore too (Images-13 – 16).

All the uses of the word ‘Battledore’, over time, seem to relate to its paddle shape; this aspect being consistent in all its associations. The word was recorded in Middle English as ‘Batildore’, and may have originated from the Provencal batedor meaning ‘beater’.