Grandparents

Countess Olga Kleinmichel and partner at fancy dress ball

Dancing with the English at Taganrog 1919

Prior to delving into my family history I had no idea that the English played a role in the Russian Civil War. Of course I knew my grandparents eventually escaped Russia on a British steamer, but I did not realise there was a British mission to South Russia from late

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Found Objects – Gospels and Prayer books

There are many items I have inherited from my parents which I have no idea what to do with. Are they worth anything? Do I sell them? If they are worth nothing, do I donate them? And if the latter, who to? Today’s post was prompted by a post on

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To Live Without Hope is to Cease to Live

Fyodor Dostoevsky, the great Russian writer, wrote those words. I’m sure they were written from experience. My grandparents, Paul and Olga Woronoff understood how important hope is to life. If they had not had hope they might not have survived through the tumultuous years that their homeland of Russia threw

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From a Naval Lieutenant on the Tsar’s yacht, to an Engineer in the US

Some documents can be helpful when you are tracing the history of your ancestors. Obviously birth, marriage and death certificates give you plenty of information as do immigration documents and census records. But even unofficial documents can help discover what sort of lives your ancestors lived – like their resumes.

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And After That, She Never Learnt to Drive

I never saw my grandmother get behind the wheel of a car. Whenever we went out as a family, she always sat in the front passenger’s seat, no matter who was driving. It was a matter of respect. As the matriarch of the family, she sat in the front. Once,

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