An Italian ice cream seller. A Russian boot dealer. A café owner who'd sailed the world before settling in the East End. Just three years after the Battle of Cable Street, the records reveal the real lives behind the barricades.Read on to discover their stories and how you can listen to our podcast series, East London vs The Fascists: A Family History Of... Cable Street. What was the Battle of Cable Street?: In the 1930s, this ordinary street became…
The First World War upended thousands of families. For one Surrey family, a soldier's disappearance on the battlefield slowly unravelled an entire household, scattering its children across institutions, counties and, eventually, an ocean. Nearly a century later, family history records helped stitch those pieces back together. An ordinary family: In 1911, carpenter Albert Edward Bance married Caroline Ratcliff in Surrey. Within a few years they had three children: Frances Elizabeth, Daisy Maud, and Albert Edward. The family of five never appeared…
When Findmypast’s research specialist and expert genealogist, Jen Baldwin, began tracing her 4x great‑grandfather Archibald MacKenzie, she uncovered a story rooted in two places profoundly shaped by the Great Famine: Macroom, County Cork and Merthyr Tydfil, Wales. Through family history records like census returns and newspaper reports, Jen stitched together a picture of what the Famine felt like to the communities who lived through it. One town’s catastrophe became another’s transformation. This is their shared story. Before the Famine took:
Have you ever wondered what your surname says about you and your family history? Tracing the history of the surnames in your family tree is one of the most popular ways of researching your ancestors. Surnames can take you back centuries. They can evolve, shaped by culture, work, language, migration, and more. A comprehensive study by Findmypast has uncovered the evolving landscape of English surnames dating back to the time of Henry VIII, shedding light on forgotten lineages, regional dialects,…
When the First World War was declared in August 1914, Liverpool answered the call like few other cities in Britain. Crowds filled the square outside St George’s Hall, banners flapped in the late-summer wind, and Lord Derby’s voice carried across the steps: “Come along, boys — enlist together, train together, fight together.” Within days, the idea of the Liverpool Pals had caught fire. By the end of the month, so many men had come forward that even the newspapers struggled to keep…
Thousands of British men volunteered or were conscripted into the British Army during the First World War, with regiments raised across the country. But some regiments were different. Pals battalions offered men the chance to enlist alongside their friends, neighbours and colleagues - an extra incentive to go to war that proved popular in local communities.Men fought shoulder-to-shoulder with their loved ones, but when Pals battalions suffered heavy losses, it had devastating consequences for the towns and cities left behind.
In 1914, Britain was the only European power without a conscripted army. Manpower could sway the outcome of the war, so there was no issue more pressing than that of military recruitment. This is where Pals battalions came into play, changing the course of the war and the communities they left behind. What were Pals battalions?: The idea came from General Sir Henry Rawlinson, who believed that men would be more likely to enlist if they could serve alongside their friends.…
In August 1940, Britain's cities were under constant threat of enemy attack. Amidst the darkness of blackouts, Luftwaffe bombs lit up the sky.As homes, factories and schools were destroyed, volunteers like air-raid-precaution (ARP) wardens and auxiliary firemen offered up their spare time to protect the public.Anderson and Morrison shelters were as much a part of everyday life as rationing, and it was up to ARP wardens to ensure people reached them safely.It’s estimated that over 60,000 civilians were killed…
In 1940, Britain was living under the long shadow of the Second World War. Rationing was the norm, everyone carried an identity card, and loved ones marched off to fight.It’s no wonder the Dunkleys of Ramsgate, an ordinary family, longed for a peaceful break. But where would William, Olive, and their son go for a spot of R & R? Young Leonard, aged 19, chose Guernsey – the family already had fond memories of the Channel Islands from a previous visit.Little did…
The Docklands have been at the heart of London’s maritime and commercial history for centuries. Throughout this time, they've employed hundreds of thousands of people. In the summer of 1889, thousands of dock workers went on strike in protest over conditions and pay.The strike was significant, not only in the history of the docklands but also in labour and union history. The docklands: a short history: Founded by the Romans around AD 47, London grew around the River Thames, the city's