The Family Histories Podcast

• Series Nine Trailer

  We're back! It's time for Season Nine of The Family Histories Podcast.Your host - family historian Andrew Martin, will once again be joined by seven guests, for seven more fascinating life stories and of course a load of those pesky brick walls for you to help solve.As usual... as a 'thank you' treat, each guest is given a return trip back in time in Andrew's (shh: secret time) machine, all with the help of his assistant - the 19th century missing Hungarian poet and revolutionary, Sándor Petőfi. Join us right here for Season Nine, which begins on 6th May 2025.Find out more about the new series. Support the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

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• S08EP09 - 'The Invisible' with Jane Hough and Kathryn Burtinshaw

  For this special ninth episode of Series Eight, we're taking part in Podcasthon 2025 - an annual global event for podcasters to collectively raise awareness of charities they care about. With our guest, we've chosen to support the charity Mind, and you can hear more about their work and access support here: mind.org.uk. If you're outside the UK, you can find international support here.NOTE: This episode contains archaic terminology, and historic references to conditions and treatment methods of people with mental health issues, and refers to suicide. In this episode, host Andrew Martin is joined by Jane Hough - a genealogist, blogger, and former guest (see 'The Laundress' from Series One). He finds out how her research has progressed, her work with Few Forgotten Women, and her love of Wills and studying.THE LIFE STORY - LILIAN MAUDE EVANS For this part of the episode, Andrew and Jane are joined by Kathryn Burtinshaw - genealogist, genealogy tutor, and co-author of 'Lunatics, Imbeciles and Idiots - A History of Insanity in Nineteenth Century Britain & Ireland' (Pen and Sword, 2017). Jane tells the moving story of her Great Grandmother Lilian Maude Evans, who was found wandering the streets in distress, and was arrested. Given the choice of prison or the workhouse, she chose the latter.... and she ends up in a mental health institution. We turn to Kathryn to help us to understand the context of Maude's diagnosis and treatment.THE BRICK WALL - RICHARD and MARY HUTCHINSONThis time, Jane has chosen her 3x Great Grandparents Richard and Mary Hutchinson of Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, England.Jane has them on the 1841, 1851, and 1861 censuses in Huddersfield, but cannot find a sure match for their origins. They were both born in the 1790s and there's some Lancashire connections.If you think that you can offer her some help with a clue or research idea, then you can contact her at her website allthosebefore.org.uk or Bluesky account, or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her.Meanwhile, Jane knows how helpful Andrew can be... but will she take his offer a second time?- - - Episode Credits:Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerJane Hough - GuestKathryn Burtinshaw - GuestSupport the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

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• S08EP08 - The Paradox (Bonus)

  This is a short bonus episode, continuing on immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of 'The Nationalist' with Daniel Loftus. As Andrew realises he's not alone in the garage, they'll have to work together to fix a dangerous time travel paradox before it erases the podcast.Thank you once again for joining us for another series, and letting us have your ears. Whilst we're off making new episodes, why not check out our back catalogue with more than 60 guests! You can also sign up to our email list for the latest news (and occasional special offer).thank you,Andrew- - -Episode Credits:Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerAndrew Martin - Andrew MartinJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiThis episode references:'The Tyrant' with Daniel Smith-Ramos'The Shoemaker' with Kelly Cornwell'The Rioter' with Andrew Martin'The Nationalist' with Daniel Loftus Support the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

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• S08EP07 - 'The Nationalist' with Daniel Loftus

  In this final full episode of Series Eight, host Andrew Martin meets Irish genealogist, speaker, occasional podcaster, and Project Infant founder, Daniel Loftus. He asks Daniel how he got hooked on researching his family history, challenges he's faced with DNA testing and adoption, and why he's leading a project that brings Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland under the spotlight.If you’d like to volunteer for Project Infant, you can do so at: https://projectinfant.ie/volunteerTHE LIFE STORY - PATRICK WHELAN  Daniel has chosen to tell the life story of his Great Grandfather Patrick ‘Pax’ Whelan, who was born to Patrick (known as ‘Patsy’) and his wife Bridget in 1890 in the coastal town of Dungarvan, in County Waterford, Ireland. Sadly though, Bridget died when Pax was aged 8, and his youngest sister was just one month old.With tensions building in Ireland and in World War One, Pax’s brother Michael enlisted in the British Army… but to Pax – who’d joined the local branch of the Irish Republican Army, this was unacceptable and the brothers ceased speaking for decades.Whilst Pax didn’t really speak of his time in the Army, Daniel has managed to find sources in museums and archives that help tell the story of his Great Grandfather.THE BRICK WALL - PATRICK LAVIN and ANN BRENNAN  A vanishing act in the 20th Century is what is causing Daniel to collide with a Brick Wall – he’s looking for information on Patrick Lavin (or Lavan) and wife Ann Brennan.Daniel doesn’t know much about this couple, but he has found that Patrick was born circa 1854, and Mary Brennan circa 1861.The couple married in January 1882 and remained around the area of Kiltimagh, County Mayo, in Ireland, and had a family of six daughters between 1882 and 1893.However, Daniel is stuck with trying to find much about their parents. He knows Patrick’s father was alive in 1882 and also called Patrick, but that Ann’s father John had died.The last time Daniel has found Patrick and Ann in the records is on the 1911 census – and then they just vanish!Where did Patrick and Ann go after 1911?If you think that you have a research idea or clue that can help Daniel to overcome his brick wall, then you can find him via the links at his Carrd profile or drop him a message on Bluesky or Twitter. Alternatively, you can send us a message via our contact form and we’ll pass your message on.In the meantime, Daniel accepts Andrew’s offer of help, but will he agree to an important errand too?Support the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

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• S08EP06 - 'The Homesick' with Jennifer Jones

  In this episode of Series Eight, host Andrew meets Australian genealogist Jennifer Jones, who tells him about how she got hooked on researching family history, her motivation to blog her research, and her One-Place Study in Pembrokeshire, Wales.THE LIFE STORY - THOMAS WATERS Jennifer has chosen to tell the life story of Thomas Waters, her 2x Great Grandfather who was born in 1829 in the little village of Dunton in Bedfordshire, England, but in 1852 he emigrates to Australia. It has always baffled Jennifer quite why he did this, but it's been fascinating to speculate.Once out there, Thomas writes home to his family, and through a fortunate cache of letters being deposited in an archive, Jennifer has been able to read his words and can see that he really was homesick. It appears that he didn't necessarily want to move so far away, and that his family back home did not particularly want to write to him either.THE BRICK WALL - JAMES McEWAN It's a research dead end for a Captain James McEwan that causes Jennifer's Brick Wall. Unfortunately, his name also comes with variants, including McQueen.Jennifer has traced James back to his military career with the 33rd Regiment Foot in Jamaica, where he is a landowner and also unfortunately the owner of an enslaved person.Whilst Jennifer knows that he leaves Jamaica, and ends up in Australia in 1832 via a return to the UK, she doesn't know his origins. She knows he's born about 1796 and it's thought that there is a connection to Scotland, and perhaps his surname reflects this, but she is yet to find any evidence.If you think that you can help Jennifer with a research clue or idea, then you can send her a message at her Twitter or Bluesky account or via the email address she gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send a message via our contact form and we'll pass it on to her.In the meantime, Andrew and Sándor offer Jennifer some help, but will she take it?- - - Episode Credits:Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerJennifer Jones - GuestJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiFor more episodes on researching genealogy within Australia check out:'The Priest' with Jill Ball'The Shoemaker' with Kelly CornwellSupport the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.

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