In November 2013, I experienced a milestone in my genealogical journey: my first leap “across the pond.” Now, a decade later, the thrill of that discovery still lingers vividly in my mind. Seeing a document that connected me to my family’s origins, in their own homeland, was not just incredible—it was a profound moment of revelation and connection. Sarah (Eastwood) Merrill (1848-1923) was my 2nd great grandmother. Her death certificate stated she was born 9 September 1848 in “Leeds – Oldham,” England. Her father, James Eastwood, and mother, Sarah Ann Hall, were also shown as born in England. Insights...
This post is based on Amy Johnson Crow’s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” challenge. This week’s them is: CENSUS. UPDATE 30 Dec 2023: I am no longer sure this is my Sally Eastwood. More work needs to be done! I recently located my 3rd great grandmother and two of her children—including my 2nd great grandmother—on the 1851 England census. The document is difficult to read as it is faded and stained. It is also difficult to read because of the word written on the line with her: pauper. After reading she was a pauper, I tried to imagine Sarah’s life...
The Church of England is the official church of England. Protestant churches which do not conform to the Church of England doctrines are called nonconformist churches. With his first wife, my third great grandfather had two children who were baptized in a nonconformist church. On Ancestry.com, these two baptisms are in a database titled “England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970.” I found the first sentence of the description of the database to be thought-provoking: Trace your ancestral rebellious streak through non-conformist and non-parochial birth, marriage, and death registers. As someone from the States, I don’t think I...
In November of 2013 I found my first record of an ancestor in Europe. It was my first “jump across the pond.” It was a huge day for me and I was thrilled! In fact, that’s the day a volunteer told me she loved my ‘enthusiasm’ for genealogy and I came up with my blog name. So, how did this ‘pond jump’ happen? At the time, I knew the following… my great, great grandmother, Sarah, was born in 1848 in England (she was 12 in the above census) according to her obituary, she was from Leeds, England her parents were...
I’m excited to be participating in this year’s “52 Ancestor Challenge” from “No Story Too Small.” Our ancestors are more than names, dates, & places. They lived and breathed; married and had children; celebrated births and grieved deaths. For the most part, our ancestors suffered more loss than we do. Wives often died in childbirth. Children often died while still children. Life was harsher. I’ve had very few deaths which were close to me. I lost my best childhood friend when I was 17, but I hadn’t seen her in years. I lost my grandmother about 10 years ago, but...
2014 has been an amazing year for me and my genealogy research. With increased knowledge, time, and resources available, I’ve uncovered some amazing discoveries! I had thought about making a “top 10” booklet for my family as Christmas gifts, but didn’t get around to it. Maybe I will still do that but give it to them for Valentine’s Day. But, for now, I thought I’d highlight my top 10 finds of the year. #10 – I didn’t start blogging until March of this year, so my first “find” is actually from the end of 2013. It was huge! In November,...
Randy has posted another Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge. This week we are looking at Sarah’s in our database with ‘last names unknown’ or LNU. I’m going to summarize the rules this time: Basically, search your database and see how many females you have with the first name of “Sarah” where you don’t know the last name. Then, do a little research and see if you can discover her maiden name. If you don’t have any Sarah’s, feel free to use a different first name. Then, post your findings! So, here goes! I have two Sarah’s, but they are such...
I’ve really been working on my English ancestors the past few weeks. It’s the Eastwood family I mentioned in my last post, “A First Jump Across the Pond.” In that post, I shared about Humphrey Eastwood who I originally thought was my ancestor’s (James’) brother, but I found out he was actually his son by a first marriage. If Sarah wasn’t Humphrey’s mother, then who was? I next found a birth record for Humphrey Eastwood which shows his mother was named Elizabeth. Then, I found ANOTHER record for his birth. This one was recorded in 1852 when he was 17...