Neal relations at Cuckoos Cup, The Wrekin
  • 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  » »

  • Sideways and backwards for the Neals

    A different root to the Norwich line

    A different root to the Norwich line Other family history researchers with an interest in the same Neal line as Cutlock & Co have identified Henry Neal and Elizabeth Gedge as ancestors, via the couple’s son Robert – they would be our four times great grandparents. Robert is referenced in the marriage record of two times great grandfather Robert Neal (born about 1816, Norwich) as his father, with a trade of ‘printer’. Trying to firm up this connection, however, hits a barrier in that little else  » »

  • Expanding the retail experience

    Expanding the retail experience

    Or: shop counter intelligence

    Or: shop counter intelligence Over the last year, Cutlock & Co’s editor has been busy facilitating Zoom sessions for the local U3A family history group, plus creating and giving a variety of presentations for them. This website has proved a good source of material, but the creative process also works the other way. Preparations for a talk titled “The Selling Game” (subtitle “from official establishments to street traders”) was the prompt to explore in more detail the shop work that great uncle George Neal’s bride to  » »

  • Making the conscientious objectors count

    Making the conscientious objectors count

    Comfort in a dissenting community?

    Comfort in a dissenting community? Cyril Pearce, the key expert on ‘Conscience and dissent in Britain during the First World War’, gave a talk on this subject the other day for the Working Class Movement Library. This is a subject of particular interest in Cutlock towers due to grandfather Sydney Howes’ appearance in the database that Pearce has compiled, as the secretary of the Battersea branch of the No Conscription Fellowship. More about that in the article ‘Piecing together the anti-war evidence‘. So  » »

  • Delving into the Osborne gallery

    Delving into the Osborne gallery

    More mystery images

    More mystery images Could this photograph be of 3 times great grandmother Mary Ann Osborne, nee Dawe? A fresh batch of interesting old family images have been emerging courtesy of cousin Rob {1}, and this one is particularly intriguing. Granny Osborne, but which? The back of the photo is the place to start, with its difficult to decipher writing but also with the printed details ‘Photo by Mayo’s Studio, 7 Paget Road, Barry Island’. Mary Ann (often recorded as just Mary) lived in Misterton with husband  » »

  • In tune with the times

    Music, migration and print

    Music, migration and print Further research on the O’Brien and Farrall lines {2} has unsurprisingly revealed more relatives to contact via Ancestry or other means. That’s not really worthy of a written note on Cutlock & Co – but perhaps a musical version instead, as one of these relatives has turned his hand to writing songs. A cousin to “uncle Charles”, he has put together an album’s worth set around their common ancestors’ journey from Ireland to London in the 1840s. Richard O’Brien’s ‘Wherever the  » »