Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
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Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
@ancestralenq.bsky.social
Genealogist & Family Historian for 20 years.
AGRA Associate, Wakefield, W. Yorks.
Pharos Intermediate & Advanced Certificate
One Place Study: St. John's Square, Wakefield
www.ancestralenquiries.co.uk
#FamilyHistory
#Genealogy
#LocalHistory
#Yorkshire
Pinned
A BRIEF MARRIAGE
My father was considerably older than my mother & so when I started my family tree about 21 years ago I ordered the marriage certificates for his first two marriages in 1939 & 1942. My mother told me that the first marriage lasted just 6 weeks before they /1
Category B listed Kirkpatrick Juxta Parish Church near Lockerbie, Scotland which dates from the late 1790's has been sold by the Church of Scotland & looks set to become a 3 bedroom home. 👇
BBC News - A room with a pew: 18th Century church to become three-bedroom home
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
18th Century church near Beattock could become three-bedroom home
The church near Beattock in southern Scotland is next to a graveyard and dates back to the late 1790s.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
I am so excited to have my first book published, "13 Short Horror Stories for Bedtime". Thank you for all of your support! Please share and review!

Amazon
a.co/d/8ntRBDE

Barnes and Noble
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/13-short-h...

Enjoy the spooky season! #tracyrayauthor #Booksk
January 21, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Apparently it was the last one tonight despite the TV guide saying there were 5.
REMINDER
The third episode of five of the current series of Long Lost Family is on ITV1 tonight at 9pm
January 29, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
Perfectly formed Drake's Cottage, Monmouth Hill, Topsham, Devon is an 18th century, 3 storey red brick building which has been rendered with a slate roof. In the 17th & 18th century Topsham was a port where cloth bales called serge made from long wool sheep were loaded onto /1
January 29, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
Bradford’s iconic Grade I listed Wool Exchange is for sale at auction with a guide price of £500,000. Currently home to Waterstones, the building continues to be a vibrant part of everyday life.
January 29, 2026 at 12:46 PM
Perfectly formed Drake's Cottage, Monmouth Hill, Topsham, Devon is an 18th century, 3 storey red brick building which has been rendered with a slate roof. In the 17th & 18th century Topsham was a port where cloth bales called serge made from long wool sheep were loaded onto /1
January 29, 2026 at 8:26 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
Happy birthday to Roddy Frame. Photos taken when Aztec Camera played High Hall, Birmingham in 1982
January 29, 2026 at 7:56 AM
Rugby league team Hull FC to rename stand at the MKM stadium after former player & coach Johnny Whiteley MBE. 👇
BBC News - Hull FC to rename stand after Johnny Whiteley
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Hull FC to rename MKM Stadium stand after Johnny Whiteley
The dedication will take place at Hull FC's match against Bradford Bulls on 14 February.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 5:56 PM
4 unseen pieces of art by original Beatles bassist Stuart Sutcliffe who died in 1962 to go on display at Liverpool Beatles Museum. 👇
BBC News - Unseen artworks by original Beatle go on display in Liverpool - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Unseen artworks by original Beatle go on display in Liverpool
Four pieces by one of the founding members of The Beatles go on public display for the first time.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
A memorial now lost to the ravages of time tells us of the heartbreaking story of infants Christopher and Henry Perkins who died a day apart and were buried together one July day in the year 1810.

⚰ Parish Churchyard of St Stephen. Acomb. Yorkshire. UK.

#TombstoneThursday #StillSleuthing 🔍
January 29, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
The Shipley Glen Tramway which runs from Baildon to Saltaire in W. Yorks which is Britain's oldest working cable tramway opened in 1895 needs to raise £89,000 for repair bill. 👇
BBC News - Historic Shipley Glen Tramway faces £89,000 repair bill - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Historic Shipley Glen Tramway faces £89,000 repair bill
A fundraiser is launched to raise money to pay for repairs to the historic Shipley Glen Tramway.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 7:53 AM
REMINDER
The third episode of five of the current series of Long Lost Family is on ITV1 tonight at 9pm
January 29, 2026 at 8:09 AM
Soil from Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire, the home of George Washington's great grandfather John Washington who emigrated to Virginia, USA in 1656 to be time capsuled & placed beneath a US landmark. 👇
Soil from Washington's ancestral home in Sulgrave taken to US
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Soil from Washington's ancestral home in Sulgrave taken to US
The time capsule from Sulgrave Manor marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 8:07 AM
9 blue plaques to be installed in London for
Sir Laurence Olivier.
Filmmaker, Jill Craigie.
WW2 military strategist, Brigadier Dudley Clarke.
Journalist, Duse Mohamed Ali.
Anti-racism activist, Kanal Chunchie. /1
BBC News - New blue plaques for those who 'shaped London'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sir Laurence Olivier among nine honoured with new London blue plaques
The scheme is honouring figures including the late actor Sir Laurence Olivier.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 8:00 AM
Manchester City Council sets aside £481,000 to restore the Heaton Park Tramway, Manchester which dates from 1901 & has been out of action for one year. 👇
BBC News - Trams set to run through Manchester's Heaton Park again in 2026 - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trams set to run through Manchester's Heaton Park again in 2026
Manchester City Council invests £480,000 to upgrade safety systems and bring the trams back online.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Hull's medieval town walls which date from the 14th century uncovered for the first time in 250 years at Guildhall Road during utility works. 👇
BBC News - Glimpse of city's past as medieval wall uncovered
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Hull's medieval town wall uncovered, giving glimpse of past
Work on Guildhall Road in Hull has revealed a section of the defensive walls from the 14th Century.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:41 AM
Norwich City Council has issued an enforcement order against Serruys who owns the Grade 2 listed Trowse Pumping Station which dates from 1869. The building was damaged in a fire in 2023 & no repairs have been carried out by the owners. 👇
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trowse Pumping Station owners ordered to carry out repairs
Legal action is being taken against the owners of a listed building over fears for its ruined state.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 29, 2026 at 7:34 AM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
A bloated, much-married, philandering, orange-coloured megalomaniacal narcissist, possibly mentally impaired later in life, Henry VIII died #OnThisDay 1547.
January 28, 2026 at 7:56 PM
Yourself but as a cartoon
January 28, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
The Lillie Langtry pub, Sherwood Street, Nottingham is an early to mid 19th century building in stucco with a hipped artificial slate roof & rendered gable & ridge stacks which was called The Peach Tree up to 1981. It was a popular pub with theatre goers, hence the name & /1
January 28, 2026 at 6:15 PM
Reposted by Ancestral Enquiries - Tony Smith 🌳
For anyone researching either #FamilyHistory, #LocalHistory or indeed many other types of history in London, do look at www.layersoflondon.org if you’re not aware of it already.

*Disclaimer: I take no responsibility for the time you spend exploring.
Explore our unique, historic map layers | Layers of London
www.layersoflondon.org
January 28, 2026 at 6:32 PM
The Lillie Langtry pub, Sherwood Street, Nottingham is an early to mid 19th century building in stucco with a hipped artificial slate roof & rendered gable & ridge stacks which was called The Peach Tree up to 1981. It was a popular pub with theatre goers, hence the name & /1
January 28, 2026 at 6:15 PM
A farmers miners' institute that dates from 1900 at Moorthorpe near Wakefield & has had speakers including former Labour party leader George Lansbury to be converted into flats. 👇
BBC News - Kung Fu Panda to be removed in Moorthorpe miners' institute revamp - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Kung Fu Panda to be removed in Moorthorpe miners' institute revamp
The council says the building, which is currently used as a gym, has
www.bbc.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 5:53 PM
St. Oswald's church at Askrigg in the Yorkshire Dales wins award from Ecclesiastical Architects & Surveyors Association for its church conservation work. 👇
BBC News - Headline-grabbing Yorkshire Dales church tower wins national award - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Headline-grabbing Yorkshire Dales church tower wins national award
The limewashed church tower in Askrigg attracted national attention for its distinctive look.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 5:48 PM
2 year project starts to redevelop the remains of the historic Royal Clarence Hotel at Cathedral Green, Exeter with a restaurant, pub & flats over 9 years after the hotel was ravaged by fire. 👇
BBC News - Work begins on fire-ravaged hotel's redevelopment
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Work begins on Exeter's Royal Clarence Hotel redevelopment
The Royal Clarence Hotel is being renovated after being destroyed by a blaze in 2016.
www.bbc.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 5:42 PM