Clare Kirk
@digupyourancestors.bsky.social
#FamilyHistory researcher
Trustee @cotswoldarch.bsky.social
Editor @friendlesschurches.bsky.social
OFHS advisor
Singer, baker, occasional mudlarker
Blogging at digupyourancestors.com
Trustee @cotswoldarch.bsky.social
Editor @friendlesschurches.bsky.social
OFHS advisor
Singer, baker, occasional mudlarker
Blogging at digupyourancestors.com
Pinned
William Gunton Saword: Part 2 — Butler of Greenwich Hospital
William Saword was the Butler of Greenwich Hospital for naval pensioners from 1772 to 1812. He faced two government enquiries into corruption, a devastating fire and the loss of two wives, and he e…
digupyourancestors.com
Last week I toured the Half Moon Brewery in Bruges. In 2016 they installed a 2-mile-long beer pipeline beneath the streets of the medieval city!
My OH’s ancestor was using a subterraneous beer pipe system at Greenwich Naval Hospital 250 years earlier!
Find out more in my blog.
My OH’s ancestor was using a subterraneous beer pipe system at Greenwich Naval Hospital 250 years earlier!
Find out more in my blog.
Ep. 1 of @hallierubenhold.bsky.social’s #IntimateHistories podcast really resonates. “History is the story of people, & people’s lives are meaningful & profoundly messy.” Social history, she says, is the counterweight to ‘great man’ history — I think family, local & house historians would all agree.
Intimate Histories by Hallie Rubenhold - 1. Peopled History - BBC Sounds
Hallie Rubenhold challenges the ideas of what history is and the stories it can tell.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Ep. 1 of @hallierubenhold.bsky.social’s #IntimateHistories podcast really resonates. “History is the story of people, & people’s lives are meaningful & profoundly messy.” Social history, she says, is the counterweight to ‘great man’ history — I think family, local & house historians would all agree.
Reposted by Clare Kirk
So much of Cymru/Wales's heritage lost in a single theft..
...Items from Llanwrthwrl, Powys, Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire, Heyope, Powys, & the spectacular Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd.
😞
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
...Items from Llanwrthwrl, Powys, Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire, Heyope, Powys, & the spectacular Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd.
😞
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Search continues for Bronze Age artefacts stolen from St Fagans
Two men have been charged with burglary, but
www.bbc.co.uk
November 11, 2025 at 3:54 PM
So much of Cymru/Wales's heritage lost in a single theft..
...Items from Llanwrthwrl, Powys, Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire, Heyope, Powys, & the spectacular Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd.
😞
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
...Items from Llanwrthwrl, Powys, Capel Isaf, Carmarthenshire, Heyope, Powys, & the spectacular Early Bronze Age gold lunula from Llanllyfni, Gwynedd.
😞
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Inside the Roman Catholic chapel at Biddlestone in Northumberland is an intriguing remnant from life on the home front during the Second World War.
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November 11, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Inside the Roman Catholic chapel at Biddlestone in Northumberland is an intriguing remnant from life on the home front during the Second World War.
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1/6
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Alice Huyler Ramsey 1909 1st woman to drive car across US, 3800 miles #NewYork to #SanFrancisco in green 4-cylinder, 30-hp Maxwell DA. 59-day trek w 2 sisters-in-law & friend who couldn't drive. Arrived to great fanfare on 3 wks later than planned. b #OTD 11 Nov 1886 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_H...
November 11, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Alice Huyler Ramsey 1909 1st woman to drive car across US, 3800 miles #NewYork to #SanFrancisco in green 4-cylinder, 30-hp Maxwell DA. 59-day trek w 2 sisters-in-law & friend who couldn't drive. Arrived to great fanfare on 3 wks later than planned. b #OTD 11 Nov 1886 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_H...
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
November 7, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Let's play Bucks Name or Name Name
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Teigh (pronounced 'tee'), Rutland, has what at first appears to be a war memorial. But in fact it is one of the 50-odd parishes dubbed 'Thankful Villages' by Arthur Mee in his 'The Enchanted Land', 1936, which got back all the people they sent to the First World War. 1/2
November 9, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Teigh (pronounced 'tee'), Rutland, has what at first appears to be a war memorial. But in fact it is one of the 50-odd parishes dubbed 'Thankful Villages' by Arthur Mee in his 'The Enchanted Land', 1936, which got back all the people they sent to the First World War. 1/2
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Lengthening autumnal shadows -
Easthall Manor, #Denver #Norfolk
#BluePlaque -
Captain George William Manby
Born 1765
Inventor of a portable fire extinguisher & apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.
Manby’s mortar fired a line from the shore to a wrecked ship so people could be winched ashore.
Easthall Manor, #Denver #Norfolk
#BluePlaque -
Captain George William Manby
Born 1765
Inventor of a portable fire extinguisher & apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.
Manby’s mortar fired a line from the shore to a wrecked ship so people could be winched ashore.
November 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Lengthening autumnal shadows -
Easthall Manor, #Denver #Norfolk
#BluePlaque -
Captain George William Manby
Born 1765
Inventor of a portable fire extinguisher & apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.
Manby’s mortar fired a line from the shore to a wrecked ship so people could be winched ashore.
Easthall Manor, #Denver #Norfolk
#BluePlaque -
Captain George William Manby
Born 1765
Inventor of a portable fire extinguisher & apparatus for saving life from shipwrecks.
Manby’s mortar fired a line from the shore to a wrecked ship so people could be winched ashore.
What a poignant find
Message in a bottle from first world war soldier found on remote Australian beach
Light-hearted note, penned on 15 August 1916, was found on Wharton beach, after severe winter storms washed away sand dunes
www.theguardian.com
November 2, 2025 at 9:45 AM
What a poignant find
Help please! This is a PCC copy of a handwritten codicil to a Will with lovely phonetic spellings. Unsure of 2 underlined words. Is it 'ankel/Oonkle [Uncle] Daniel'? (but looks like Dankel!) I don't have the original unfortunately. See Alt Text of 1st version for transcript & source. #palaeography
![The codicil text says: 'I give all my wearer parroles ot my Son John I give my dauter Son Stephen twentey poundes to prentiss him if his ?onkel ?Daniel thenk well to larn him his on tread this my own hand Riten' ('I give all my wearing apparel to my Son John I give my daughter's Son Stephen twenty pounds to apprentice him if his ?Uncle ?Daniel thinks well to learn him his own trade this [in] my own hand written'.
The only uncles I know of for Stephen are John and Joseph Hyde.
source: Will of John Hyde of Drayton, Berkshire; TNA PROB 11 Piece: 1840](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:zgbcy5o7s5uyx4h7hgnkljhl/bafkreie7zagf4yjcwdxdxqnrnod6u43ofwkosveofuluqa5btjjxoykfp4@jpeg)
October 24, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Help please! This is a PCC copy of a handwritten codicil to a Will with lovely phonetic spellings. Unsure of 2 underlined words. Is it 'ankel/Oonkle [Uncle] Daniel'? (but looks like Dankel!) I don't have the original unfortunately. See Alt Text of 1st version for transcript & source. #palaeography
Reposted by Clare Kirk
Given that the Orionid meteor shower is taking place at the moment I thought this my be appropriate. The Wold Cottage meteorite (also called the Wold Newton meteorite) fell near Wold Cottage farm on 13 December in 1795, a few miles away from the village of Wold Newton
October 21, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Given that the Orionid meteor shower is taking place at the moment I thought this my be appropriate. The Wold Cottage meteorite (also called the Wold Newton meteorite) fell near Wold Cottage farm on 13 December in 1795, a few miles away from the village of Wold Newton
Reposted by Clare Kirk
#31daysofgraves • Social Group 🪦
The gravestones of paupers who died at Lampeter Workhouse 🪦
Each gravestone is inscribed with the initials and 'inmate' number of the person buried there.
📍St Peter's Church • Lampeter ⛪
#Wales #History
The gravestones of paupers who died at Lampeter Workhouse 🪦
Each gravestone is inscribed with the initials and 'inmate' number of the person buried there.
📍St Peter's Church • Lampeter ⛪
#Wales #History
October 19, 2025 at 3:50 PM
#31daysofgraves • Social Group 🪦
The gravestones of paupers who died at Lampeter Workhouse 🪦
Each gravestone is inscribed with the initials and 'inmate' number of the person buried there.
📍St Peter's Church • Lampeter ⛪
#Wales #History
The gravestones of paupers who died at Lampeter Workhouse 🪦
Each gravestone is inscribed with the initials and 'inmate' number of the person buried there.
📍St Peter's Church • Lampeter ⛪
#Wales #History
October 16, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Had a nice surprise today — I was relaxing to the Mindful Mix on BBC Sounds (26/9 episode) and heard my own choir! Track 10 is Song of Proserpine by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
It’s from an album that Excalibur Voices recorded in January, now on Spotify.
It’s from an album that Excalibur Voices recorded in January, now on Spotify.
And the Blackbird Sang
open.spotify.com
October 3, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Had a nice surprise today — I was relaxing to the Mindful Mix on BBC Sounds (26/9 episode) and heard my own choir! Track 10 is Song of Proserpine by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
It’s from an album that Excalibur Voices recorded in January, now on Spotify.
It’s from an album that Excalibur Voices recorded in January, now on Spotify.
Today we had an interment service for my mum at St Dunstan’s, Monks Risborough, where she was married, did local history research (when registers were still in the parish chest), taught Sunday School & baptised her firstborn (me). It was a perfect spot — peaceful, historical and buzzing with nature.
September 26, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Today we had an interment service for my mum at St Dunstan’s, Monks Risborough, where she was married, did local history research (when registers were still in the parish chest), taught Sunday School & baptised her firstborn (me). It was a perfect spot — peaceful, historical and buzzing with nature.
Reposted by Clare Kirk
1934 Jeanie Dicks undertook 1st permanent electrification of Winchester Cathedral. Electrifying nave meant removing & reburying coffins except Jane Austen’s (moved gently to side). Press called her the "girl engineer" - she was 40! b. #OTD 25 Sept 1893 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanie_...
September 25, 2025 at 7:27 AM
1934 Jeanie Dicks undertook 1st permanent electrification of Winchester Cathedral. Electrifying nave meant removing & reburying coffins except Jane Austen’s (moved gently to side). Press called her the "girl engineer" - she was 40! b. #OTD 25 Sept 1893 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanie_...
Reposted by Clare Kirk
I've added a little countdown clock to the 1926 census release on my website.
cbgenealogy.ie #IrishGenealogy #AncestryHour #GenHour
cbgenealogy.ie #IrishGenealogy #AncestryHour #GenHour
September 24, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I've added a little countdown clock to the 1926 census release on my website.
cbgenealogy.ie #IrishGenealogy #AncestryHour #GenHour
cbgenealogy.ie #IrishGenealogy #AncestryHour #GenHour
Reposted by Clare Kirk
🎟️ Tickets for our next concert are now on sale!
💘 Love’s Philosophy
🍂 Saturday 18 October
🕢 7:30 pm
😇 All Saints Church, Headington
www.ticketsoxford.com/events/loves...
#Headington #Oxford #Choral
💘 Love’s Philosophy
🍂 Saturday 18 October
🕢 7:30 pm
😇 All Saints Church, Headington
www.ticketsoxford.com/events/loves...
#Headington #Oxford #Choral
Love’s Philosophy | Tickets Oxford
The City of Oxford Choir present a captivating programme exploring divine love across cultures and faiths. From the radiant lyricism of Ian Assersohn and C
www.ticketsoxford.com
September 20, 2025 at 11:10 AM
🎟️ Tickets for our next concert are now on sale!
💘 Love’s Philosophy
🍂 Saturday 18 October
🕢 7:30 pm
😇 All Saints Church, Headington
www.ticketsoxford.com/events/loves...
#Headington #Oxford #Choral
💘 Love’s Philosophy
🍂 Saturday 18 October
🕢 7:30 pm
😇 All Saints Church, Headington
www.ticketsoxford.com/events/loves...
#Headington #Oxford #Choral
Reposted by Clare Kirk
BBC News - Citizenship: How ancestry DNA tests can lead to a new passport - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Citizenship: How ancestry DNA tests can lead to a new passport
The presenter of the BBC's DNA Trail explains how she battled to become a New Zealand citizen.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 20, 2025 at 12:07 PM
BBC News - Citizenship: How ancestry DNA tests can lead to a new passport - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Clare Kirk
The story of the restoration of St. James's Church, Llangua, Monmouthshire. The church which started as a small stone monastic cell dates back to 1150 & became a parish church in the 15th century. 👇
BBC News - How human hair helped to save a crumbling medieval church
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - How human hair helped to save a crumbling medieval church
www.bbc.com/news/article...
How human hair helped to save a crumbling Monmouthshire church
A church dating back to 1150 has been rescued from ruin in a "race against the clock" renovation.
www.bbc.com
September 20, 2025 at 7:32 AM
The story of the restoration of St. James's Church, Llangua, Monmouthshire. The church which started as a small stone monastic cell dates back to 1150 & became a parish church in the 15th century. 👇
BBC News - How human hair helped to save a crumbling medieval church
www.bbc.com/news/article...
BBC News - How human hair helped to save a crumbling medieval church
www.bbc.com/news/article...
A while ago I wrote a blog about an ancestor who lived in a ‘gypsy caravan’. I was recently contacted by someone who could not only add more details to my research but sent me pictures of a Romani caravan that is still in storage just around the corner from her house! #GenHour
September 18, 2025 at 7:44 PM
A while ago I wrote a blog about an ancestor who lived in a ‘gypsy caravan’. I was recently contacted by someone who could not only add more details to my research but sent me pictures of a Romani caravan that is still in storage just around the corner from her house! #GenHour
I'm finding the updates about this archaeological project very poignant, especially as last week at the RBA I read 3 police reports about fatal air training accidents that happened near my home in 1942. www.facebook.com/CotswoldArch...
Cotswold Archaeology
In rural Essex, our efforts to recover WWII pilot 2nd Lt Lester Lowry are progressing, as we dig down into the crash crater of his P-47 fighter plane.
Our volunteers are now finding items that link.....
www.facebook.com
September 18, 2025 at 4:35 PM
I'm finding the updates about this archaeological project very poignant, especially as last week at the RBA I read 3 police reports about fatal air training accidents that happened near my home in 1942. www.facebook.com/CotswoldArch...
Reposted by Clare Kirk
‘The church… is not distinguished for any architectural details of importance’. This is what Samuel Lewis wrote about St Mary’s, Penllech in 1833.
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September 17, 2025 at 4:05 PM
‘The church… is not distinguished for any architectural details of importance’. This is what Samuel Lewis wrote about St Mary’s, Penllech in 1833.
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Really interesting, especially with the links the research has found to literacy
Researchers reveals that children were cared for in Northampton hospital as far back as 1744 with more than 4,000 treated between 1744 & 1801. 👇
BBC News - Northampton research reveals origins of paediatric hospital care - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
BBC News - Northampton research reveals origins of paediatric hospital care - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Northampton research reveals origins of paediatric hospital care
Research overturns the belief children did not receive hospital treatment until the Victorian era.
www.bbc.co.uk
September 18, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Really interesting, especially with the links the research has found to literacy
This memorial in Trinity College Chapel may look medieval at a glance but it was made in 1868 for Rev. William John Beaumont. A chaplain to the Forces Hospital in Sebastopol, he died suddenly aged just 40.
The #ArtsAndCrafts brass is beautiful but the name has been misspelled as BEAMONT.
The #ArtsAndCrafts brass is beautiful but the name has been misspelled as BEAMONT.
September 17, 2025 at 5:59 PM
This memorial in Trinity College Chapel may look medieval at a glance but it was made in 1868 for Rev. William John Beaumont. A chaplain to the Forces Hospital in Sebastopol, he died suddenly aged just 40.
The #ArtsAndCrafts brass is beautiful but the name has been misspelled as BEAMONT.
The #ArtsAndCrafts brass is beautiful but the name has been misspelled as BEAMONT.
Reposted by Clare Kirk
A detail from the 25" Ordnance Survey Map of Cerne Abbas, published in 1888.
Is it just me or have they missed out an important detail...?
Is it just me or have they missed out an important detail...?
September 16, 2025 at 4:57 PM
A detail from the 25" Ordnance Survey Map of Cerne Abbas, published in 1888.
Is it just me or have they missed out an important detail...?
Is it just me or have they missed out an important detail...?