Neal relations at Cuckoos Cup, The Wrekin
  • Staging a move from house painting

    Staging a move from house painting

    1920s switch from manual work

    1920s switch from manual work A combination of silver screen and architecture is Cutlock & Co’s top find from a speedy trawl through the online 1921 census records, made available for free by Findmypast over the recent Remembrance Weekend. Plus some other items of interest. Thatch and bright lights The husband of great aunt Ellen (nee Neal), Henry JV Williams, appears in the 1911 census as a general decorator (and earlier as an upholsterer/paperhanger) – the same line of work as great grandfather Arthur AB Howes.  » »

  • Tracing the wider Howes diaspora via DNA

    Tracing the wider Howes diaspora via DNA

    Back to 1600s, forwards by train

    Back to 1600s, forwards by train Cutlock’s two DNA articles so far have only mentioned Y-DNA testing in the Notes section. Now it’s time to justify the cost of a 37 marker Y-DNA test with FamilyTreeDNA, shortly followed by an upgrade to 111 markers {1}. The initial test {2}, actioned a little later than the more popular autosomal test from Ancestry, was done in the expectation that “the Howes one-name study group … should have quite a few tests from others with Besthorpe relations already there”.  » »

  • Exploring DNA results and tools

    Exploring DNA results and tools

    Clusters and chromosomes

    Clusters and chromosomes Almost two months on from first looking at DNA results, it can look like delving deeper has not come up with much. But there are some intriguing results, and it is interesting to see what the new tools and processes can come up with. Widening the net Several of the DNA testing companies allow you to upload an Ancestry DNA autosomal data file, which will provide matches against their own database of testers for free. However, the full features on their website’s  » »

  • DNA matches to place and people

    DNA matches to place and people

    Time to do some tests

    Time to do some tests Results from your author’s Ancestry DNA test arrived late on New Years Day. Only a month after posting it off, and no great shocks to kick off 2024! {1} Community connections Ancestry’s large database of DNA tests allows it to produce various analyses. The ‘ethnicity’ breakdown wasn’t an important reason for taking the test, but there was always the chance of it revealing some hidden migration source. In the event, the overall breakdown by Ancestry groupings, as shown in the screen  » »

  • Wanted: a font of knowledge

    Or knowledge of a font

    Or knowledge of a font Great gran Amelia doesn’t like making it too easy finding the records of her early days. Not content with her birth certificate being elusive due to a stray H in the surname (recorded as ‘Hosborne’, see image below), the baptism record is proving hard to find too. There is an obvious place to look. Ancestry recently threw up a hint for her younger sister Ellen’s baptism, in April 1880 at Bournemouth’s St Clements, the church closest to the family home in  » »

  • Illustrating a strong objection to war

    Illustrating a strong objection to war

    Further conchie connections

    Further conchie connections A further insight into the stance grandfather Sydney Howes took during the first world war has been found, thanks to a social media reminder of the use of address-based searches on the 1921 census, for free. Online access to the full records is currently only available through Findmypast, via pay per view or a high-cost annual subscription. Cutlock & Co doesn’t have any urgent family mysteries that 1921 info might solve, so no need to splash out yet, especially as useful information can  » »