Topic: Tradesman. My 2xG Grandfather Charles Johnston (1797-1848) was a boot and shoe maker in Glasgow. Pigot’s 1837 Directory shows him listed at 267 George Street, which is now a prestigious address in the heart of the Glasgow Business district. George died in 1848. He did not leave a will, but on 24 July 1850… Read more

Topic: Disaster. Recently I was working on my husband’s family history and discovered that not only was his great grandfather Thomas “Tom” Brown 1857-1940 a coal miner in Wingate, Durham, northern England all his life, but he was also a third generation miner. Tom lived to be 83 and rose to be a Deputy Overman… Read more

Topic for this week: Newest Discovery I missed the deadline this week – I was trying to finish off a family history book in time for a printer’s deadline. The book is about my late husband’s family. An interesting mix of Northern Irish, Scottish lowlanders, English colaminers, South Londoners, schoolteachers, newspaper proprietors and an airforce… Read more

The theme for Week 33 is “Strength.” Strength comes in many forms: physical, emotional, spiritual, just to name a few. What ancestor do you think of when you think of strength? My G GrandUncle John Johnston 1831-1909 was born in Glasgow, the second-last of seven children. His father was a shoemaker as was one of… Read more

Topic: Reunion. In 1806 my 5 X GrandFather Hugh Vesty Byrne (1772-1842) was transported to Australia on the convict ship “Tellicherry” for his part in the Irish rebellion of 1798, along with Michael (Martin) Burke, Michael Dwyer, Arthur Devlin and John Mernagh. The voyage took 168 days. Of 166 prisoners, five men and one woman… Read more

Topic: Flew the Coop Samuel Todd Johnston 1866-1934 and his brother Peter Johnston Jun., 1874-1946, were my First cousins twice removed, ie my Grandfather’s cousins – although I very much doubt they ever met. They were also the brothers of Mary Learmonth Johnston who was the recipient of the birthday book I wrote about in… Read more