Book Review: The History of England, Volume 1, Foundation by Peter Ackroyd

This is by far the most interesting book I've read about this period of English history. While the main text follows the lives and deaths of the rulers of our fair land, this is only part of the book.

Some of the most interesting chapters, and certainly the most important for me, are those that follow the lives of normal people, those that may not have made history, but certainly had to deal with what seems like near constant war, taxes, and change. These smaller chapters deal with certain topics at certain periods, such as children's toys and education, the house, and birth and death. Other chapters look at the country and how we evolved as a nation, how other nations saw us as a people (not positively for the main), and our climate over time.

Web Resources: zoekakten.nl

24/07/2018, ETA: THIS WEBSITE HAS BEEN SHUT DOWN.

This website is a fantastic in that it has allowed me to go from reading transcripts on wiewaswie to actually being able to view and download the original documents.  This website interfaces with the Family Search database and provides links to the exact document you're looking for - often with an index for easier searching.

While the website is only in Dutch, copying words into Google Translate provides translations that will help you select the right type of document for the information you are seeking. I'll take you through a simple search by way of introducing you to this amazing resource.

An Unfortunate Tradition

Last year I got married. The record of my marriage has my father's name and describes him as deceased. There is a line through the Rank or profession of father cell.

I didn't think much of it until my wife purchased my parents marriage record for Valentine's Day this year. I immediately saw that the same situation. I knew that my grandad had died from lung cancer (as my dad did) when my dad was a young boy. But, it still came as a shock.

Book Review: Seven Ages of Britain by Justin Pollard

This is an important book for me because it's the first history book I read because I chose to. I was never interested in history, I wasn't keen on the way it was presented in school and didn't choose it as a GCSE subject. I think what changed for me was that I became interested in history the year I met my wife, Lucy. I lived in North Lincolnshire where not a lot has happened, but Lucy lived in Wiltshire, where things have been happening that are nationally and internationally important for thousands of years.

So, when I saw the television series featured a fair bit of history around Wiltshire, I started watching it. Since then, I've been interested in history and pre-history and because this book focuses on 'ordinary' people; I think it was a precursor to my initial interest in family history.