Writing

The Mystery of the Manuscript – who was Olga H?

I guess there are many family historians who find strange photographs or documents in the papers they have inherited. I definitely have many photographs which have no details recorded on them and I cannot place, such as the photos in this post from last week. But, amongst the many paper

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Were they the best days of his life?

As the saying goes, school days are the best days  of our lives – or are they? I tend to think the days we spend in school are not memorable for the education we receive, but for the friendships we make and the lack of responsibility we have. It is

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Fake news and family history; finding the facts

In another century what will historians, anthropologists and researchers make of the wealth of material we are producing today? Will they speculate at the news stories and marvel at the immaculate Instagram images? Will our emails and text messages stand the test of time? What will social media say about

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Practically Perfect in Every Way

Yesterday I saw “Mary Poppins Returns” with a friend of mine. It was a welcome break from writing about my father and the traumas he and his family went through. I had just finished the chapter where his brother is killed in action during WWII and was beginning the one

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