Discover Genealogy: 2019-12-15

Friday 20 December 2019

Family Tree Live 2020 (London) Talks

I am going to London in April 2020 to attend and deliver three presentations at Family Tree Live, hosted by Family Tree magazine (UK) in partnership with the Family History Foundation. See their website for all the details.

My talks include:

· Genealogy and the Little Ice Age: Information and perspective offered concerning studies of the families living during the prolonged harsh living conditions of the Little Ice Age (1300-1850AD), and

· The Great Frost & Famine: The impact of the 1739-41 cold weather event on people and communities across Europe; a model for other similar events of the Little Ice Age.

I will also do a workshop about:

· Natural Phenomena and their effects on the lives of our ancestors: Examples of how different types of natural phenomena significantly impacted lives and livelihoods in the past centuries and how people responded or adapted.

Tickets are now on sale for the event. I hope many of my readers here will be able to join me on April 17^th and 18^th, 2020, at historic Alexandra Palace.

Tuesday 17 December 2019

Christmas Memories

At this time of year, most of us think about past Christmases, the times we were growing up or raising our own families. If we are lucky, we can relive those occasions with pictures. In this post I present highlights of seven decades of Christmas festivities in several photo compilations.

I can only go back to the 1950s in this selection. I do have hundreds of photos taken in previous decades, but, curiously, none were taken during the Christmas season. Maybe I will have to do a Summer pictorial later.

Common themes in these montages are Christmas trees, gifts and, of course, dinners. Many celebrations were also centred on children and grandchildren. I have lost count of the number of turkeys that were consumed, or the gallons of wine that were downed, not to mention the (probable) tons of fruits and vegetables and acres of pies that were part of the feasts.

But mostly the memories are about the people – both family and friends – who gathered to share the fun. Christmas was one of those times when families made a point of getting together, some occasionally travelling great distances to be part of the gatherings.

Many of those pictured are no longer with us, but we have these photos to remember them and the joyful times we shared.

The 1950s…