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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 5h

Here's a link to a list of all the talks that I do, together with a list of all my current bookings. My fee will be going up next year but all existing bookings and any new bookings agreed by the end of 2026 will be at the current rate. @federationfhs.bsky.social lifelinesresearch.co.uk/talks/

lifelinesresearch.co.uk

Talks

I am an experienced speaker with a large repertoire of talks, covering a variety of family history-based topics. I have spoken at RootsTech, The Genealogy Show, Who Do You Think You Are Live? and o…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 11h

I had a bit of a eureka research moment earlier. I cracked a case thanks to the discovery of a settlement examination in one of those unindexed collections on Ancestry. They don’t make it easy but if you know what you’re doing there’s some good stuff there…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 14h

Some family photos are just crying out to be used as book covers. Now, I’ve just got to write the book…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A recent purchase which has just reached the top of the pile. Looking forward to reading this one..

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I'm talking to the Northamptonshire FHS at 7.30 this evening (via Zoom). I'm giving them my increasingly inaccurately-titled talk, Bringing it up to date: Research in the 20th Century Are we really over a quarter of the way through the 21st Century already...?

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

My 2xGt Grandmother, Catherine Crinnell or Krennel came from the Isle of Man's most northerly parish, Kirk Bride. Or, as it appears on John Blaeu's map from his 'Atlas Maior' (1662/65), 'Kirk Bridge'. Never mind the cartographic accuracy, just revel in the beauty of the map... #MyFamily52Maps

Blaeu Atlas Maior, 1662-5
Volume 5
Insvlæ Britannicæ (page 386) / Mona

National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/atlas/blaeu-maior/browse/5/page/258

Name: Blaeu, Joan, 1596-1673
Title: Insvlæ Britannicæ (page 386) / Mona
Imprint: [Amsterdam : Blaeu, 1662]
Pagination: 1 map : hand col. outlines ; 38 x 27 cm., on sheet, ca. 52 x 61 cm.
Scale: [no scale bar]
Shelfmark: EMW.X.017

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

This is my Great Auntie Jan, 100 today, on her wedding day in May 1944. L to R: Margaret Sinclair Annal (1904-1973) Robert Annal (1921-2006) Janet Annal (née Arnold) Joseph William Batters Arnold (1903-1982) Maria Jane Arnold (née Andrews) (1908-1967)

Wedding photo, 27 May 1944
Robert Annal & Janet Arnold
St Paul's church, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire

L to R: Margaret Sinclair Annal (1904-1973), Robert Annal (1921-2006), Janet Annal (née Arnold), Joseph William Batters Arnold (1903-1982), Maria Jane Arnold (née Andrews), (1908-1967).

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I recently became a grandad for the first time but I've been a great nephew since the day I was born - 65 and a half years ago! This is my Great Auntie Jan, celebrating her 100th birthday, with her nephew, James - a slip of a lad, at 81! Happy Birthday Jan!

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Only the crumbliest, flakiest documents… 🎶 (A paean to ADM 35) @uknatarcsector.bsky.social

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Working out exactly where our rural ancestors lived can be a bit of a challenge, but thanks to James Wood's 1867 Atlas & Gazetteer of the Isle of Man, I know exactly where my 2x Gt Grandfather, Charles Howland, grew up. His parents owned the farm at Leodest in the parish of Andreas. #MyFamily52Maps

A NEW
ATLAS & GAZETTEER
OF THE
ISLE OF MAN,

CONSISTING OF
SEVENTEEN HIGHLY-FINISHED MAPS,
COMPILED FROM ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC SOURCES DESCRIBING THE
CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL BOUNDARIES OF EACH PARISH AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE SEVERAL
BARONIES, FREEHOLDS, AND QUARTERLANDS, AS WELL AS THE BOUNDARIES OF THE
SEVERAL FARMS AS THEY ARE NOW HELD IN POSSESSION.

APPENDED IS AN
ELABORATE AND COMPREHENSIVE REFERENCE TABLE,
SHOWING THE NAME OF EVERY PROPRIETOR OF LAND IN THE ISLAND, WITH THE
MANORIAL DESCRIPTION AND EXTENT OF LAND HELD BY HIM,
TOGETHER WITH AN
APPENDIX OF USEFUL AND INTERESTING INFORMATION,
BY JAMES WOODS, SURVEYOR.

HOWLAND, William Intack Pt. 14. All 124 And 81 12 3 26˝
" Smeal-Beg Pt. John Eloes And (81) 1 1 5ľ
" Alia Leodest Pt. Leodest-e-Cowle And (81) 20 3 7

Map of the parish of Andreas

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I'm making the long trip* this evening to talk to the Friends of Bushey Museum about those infuriating ancestors of ours who felt that it was perfectly acceptable to lie when they completed their census forms and to lie to the church and civil registration authorities... * it's a 5 minute drive 😉

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

The illustrations that you find from time-to-time at the top of Merchant Navy crew lists are little works of art. And they serve no 'useful' function whatsoever - they're there just because they can be...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Sometimes it's SOOOO hard to resist! I was browsing through some mid-19th century newspapers when this map jumped out at me. It was entirely connected to what I was looking for but I couldn't help notice the words: 'Place where the body was found' I mean, what's a guy supposed to do... 😉

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

When I was born in 1961 I instantly became a son, a brother, a grandson, a nephew and a great nephew. In 1966, I became a cousin. In 1982, I became a husband. In 1992, I became a father and later, an uncle. In 2025, I became a father-in-law. And a few days ago... ... I became a grandfather!

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

My 2xGt Grandfather, Charles Howland, was born on the Isle of Man in 1843. He was baptised at Andreas parish church on 28 April and lived on the island until sometime around 1871 when he moved to Scotland. The Howland family's Manx roots can be traced back to the 17th century. #MyFamily52Maps

Ordnance Survey 1" Map of the Isle of Man, 1873

National Library of Scotland https://maps.nls.uk/view/101169302

[Sheets 36.45.46.56 & 57] - (Isle of Man)
Surveyed: ca. 1866 to 1869, Published: 1873
Size: sheet ca. 110 x 72 cm (ca. 43 x 29 inches)

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Some lovely feedback from yesterday's talk at the Phyllis Court Club Family History Group. "Thank you again for another fascinating and superbly crafted presentation." Always a pleasure to speak there...

static.klipy.com

You're Welcome

ALT: You're Welcome

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I'm heading off to Henley-on-Thames this morning to speak to the Phyllis Court Club Family History Group. I'll be talking on one of my favourite topics; using works of fiction to help us understand our ancestors lives. I'm on stage at 11am. #FactFromFiction

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

If I’ve been a bit quiet on here this week it’s because I’ve been busy combining two of my greatest loves - history and grassroots football! My younger daughter and I have putting together an exhibition to cerebrate the 30th birthday of Garston Ladies FC. And this is what it looked like…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

My 2xGt Grandmother, Mary Layton, was an active member of the Old Meeting House, the Independent chapel in Well Street, Buckingham, seen here on this Tithe Map. It's likely that this is where she met her future husband, my 2x Gt Grandfather, Thomas Port. They married there in 1847. #MyFamily52Maps

Tithe Map of Buckingham, 1847

Reference: IR 30/3/18
Description:

Tithe map of Buckingham (except Lenbro' and Bourton hamlets) (parish), Buckinghamshire (tithable parts only). Shows buildings (named), gaol, landownership, named roads, waterbodies, bridges. Industrial land-use: brewery. Scale: 1 inch to 3 chains
Note: [Grid references: OSGB36: SP 693 343; WGS84: 52.00238, -0.99038]. WGS84 interpolated from OSGB36.
Date: 1847

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It’s not even 9 o’clock yet and my assistant is already flagging. Getting anything done today may prove quite challenging… #ProofOfCat

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Well, I've definitely never come across this before. A grant of letters of administration to the widow of a man who died in Leicestershire in 1692, and at the foot of the page, next to the signatures of the clerk and bondsmen, is a list of the deceased's children along with their ages!

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The more you work with early modern documents, the more you come to realise that literacy is not a binary issue. This 1687 will has a firm signature from John Argill, a more shaky one by John Tovey and a mark made by Elizabeth Pratt. Finally Elizabeth Orton's mark is the initial letter of her name.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

My 2xGt Grandmother, Mary Layton, was born in Buckingham in 1815. Her father died in 1835 and at the time of the 1841 census she was living with her mother and a number of siblings in a house in Bankers Row, on the east side of Nelson Street, backing on to the parish church. #MyFamily52Maps

National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/view/229406073

Buckingham - Buckinghamshire XIII.10.25
Surveyed: 1879, Published: 1881. Reprinted: 1903
Size: map 64.4 cm x 96.6 cm (25.344 x 38.016 inches), on sheet ca. 72 x 104 cm (ca. 28 x 41 inches)

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

I've been researching a family who came to face-to-face with extreme poverty in the early-to-mid 19th century. In two consecutive generations the early death of the main wage earner led to the family being forced into the workhouse. Two items that I came across were particularly moving... 1/

George Cruikshank’s famous illustration of ‘Oliver asking for more’, from a colour edition of Oliver Twist, 1911.

https://www.britishlibrary.cn/en/articles/oliver-twist-and-the-workhouse/

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

My 2xGt Grandfather Thomas Port died in Chaddesley Corbett in rural Worcestershire in January 1900 but he was buried in the family grave at Key Hill Cemetery in the centre of Birmingham. The stone is still there today but it's in a terrible state. One day I'll do something about it! #MyFamily52Maps

Ordnance Survey Large Scale (1:500) map of the General Cemetery (aka Key Hill Cemetery), Birmingham

Birmingham and its Environs - Warwickshire XIII.4.20
Surveyed: 1887, Published: 1889.
Size: map 64.4 cm x 96.6 cm (25.344 x 38.016 inches), on sheet ca. 72 x 104 cm (ca. 28 x 41 inches)

The National Library of Scotland
https://maps.nls.uk/view/228801668

The red cross (what else!) marks the approximate location of the Port family grave.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I came across the phrase 'upon liking' in a workhouse register and I wanted to know what it meant. I found a great definition in Oliver Twist! "... if a master find ... that he can get enough work out of a boy without putting too much food into him, he shall have him ... to do what he likes with."

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

This is something I've never come across before. The Young family took their 1921 census schedule with them from their home at 56 North Road, Bournbrook, Birmingham to their holiday home in Bournemouth! The Bournemouth enumerator appears to have pragmatically incorporated the schedule with his own.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I don't think the genealogy gods are playing fair today...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Remembering my mum today on what would have been her 99th birthday...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I’ve just watched the final episode of Series 6 of A House Through Time and I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the current series has been the best of the lot. In fact, I’ll go even further and say that it’s one of the best factual TV series that I’ve ever seen. Outstanding stuff…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

When Richard Alcock (5th Dragoon Guards) claimed his Military General Service Medal in 1848 for his earlier service in the Peninsular War, he nearly didn't get it - due to confusion around the spelling of his name. They eventually found him. His surname had been recorded as Elcock! [See ALT text]

Richard Alcock (Elcock), Medal Roll, Peninsular Campaign, 5th Dragoon Guards. The National Archives ref WO 100/3 f.32v

"No such man found in the Regt.
Unless he can bring {?} evidence other than his own assertion
his claim must be disallowed.
Allowed 3 Actions as Rd. Elcock
Novr. 12 '48"

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Thomas & Mary Port only remained in Stafford Street for a couple of years. By 1853 they had moved to 191 Sherlock Street, one of the main arterial roads leading into Birmingham from the south. Their new shop was on the corner of Gooch Street and Sherlock Street. #MyFamily52Maps

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

After leaving Buckingham, where he'd grown up, my 2xGt Grandfather, Thomas Port, moved to Birmingham. His first address in the city was 56 Stafford Street, where he and his wife, Mary, ran a draper's shop, located somewhere in the red circle. Nothing remains of Stafford Street today. #MyFamily52Maps

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I'm sure he wasn't a great person but does what he looked like have any bearing on whether or not he was guilty of the charge? 'Peter Dalton, a repulsive-looking fellow...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

He was their 'Huncle'... 🥰 [1851 Census, Wormhill, Staffordshire]

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

I genuinely don’t know what I would do without my local FamilySearch Centre…

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

My 2x Gt Grandmother, Margaret Hay Sinclair, was born in 1857 at 'Hannabeck' or Hangaback, a then newly-established settlement in the Orkney mainland parish of Orphir, looking out over Scapa Flow. The Sinclairs' farm didn't last very long. It had gone by the late 1870s. #MyFamily52Maps

Copy of plan, by James Johnston of Coubister 1816 and 1856, of the Common in the parish of Orphir

National Library of Scotland Maps
https://maps.nls.uk/estates/rec/7793

Name: Johnston, James
Title: Copy of plan, by James Johnston of Coubister 1816 and 1856, of the Common in the parish of Orphir, as divided amongst the respective heritors…
Imprint: 1816, 1856
Pagination: 1 map; 68 x 100 cm
Shelfmark: Acc.4065, 05b - on reverse of Acc.4065(5a)

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I'm off to Kent today! I'm speaking this evening to the Canterbury branch of the @kentfhs.bsky.social in their new venue at Lower Hardres. Hoping it's not too hot! 🥵 We'll be looking at newspapers and how to use them to reconstruct the lives of our 'ordinary' ancestors...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I returned from my visit to Kew yesterday with 627 document photos to sort out. That's today's work then...

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

After moving from his native Eday, my 2x Gt Grandfather, James Miller, settled in Orphir on Orkney's mainland, before moving to Kirkwall. In the early 1900s he moved again, settling in Edinburgh where he lived for over 40 years. A bit of a change from his old childhood farm... #MyFamily52Maps

Ordnance Survey National Grid Map
https://maps.nls.uk/view/188146404

NT27SW - A
Surveyed / Revised: 1947 to 1955, Published: 1956
Size: map 47-50 x 47-50 cm (ca. 19 x 20 inches), on sheet ca. 68 x 58 cm (27 x 23 inches)

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

James Miller, my 2xGt Grandfather, was born in 1857 at Dale, a small farm in Eday, one of Orkney's northernmost islands. He died in Edinburgh in 1946. I often think about the enormous changes he must have witnessed over the course of his life... #MyFamily52Maps

Ordnance Survey Map, 25 inches

National Library of Scotland maps: https://maps.nls.uk/view/75135783

Orkney XCI.4 (Eday)
Survey date: 1879, Publication date: 1881
Size: map 64.4 cm x 96.6 cm (25.344 x 38.016 inches), on sheet ca. 76 x 104 cm (ca. 30 x 41 inches)

Dale, the farm where James Miller was born and grew up, is marked with the red ellipse.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

There’s a new series of #AHouseThroughTime starting this Thursday and it’s set in Edinburgh and I dont think I’ve ever been quite this excited! 😛 What this world really needs right now is @davidolusoga and more of him… www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p...

bbc.co.uk

BBC Two - A House Through Time, Series 6: Edinburgh, Episode 1, The secret life of an eighteenth century house in Edinburgh

David delves into the archives to tell the personal histories of one Edinburgh house.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

A day late for #InternationalCatDay but then, in some respects, everyday is International Cat Day… Here’s my grandma and her mum and their Siamese Cat, Sabsom. Photo taken in Carrick Knowe, Edinburgh in the mid-to-late 1950s.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

I've always struggled with the fact that one of my wife's 3x gt grandfathers worked in later life as a 'school master'. It never seemed to fit with my picture of her poor, largely working-class ancestors. Charles Turnock left a will when he died in 1855 but his estate was valued at under £20... 1/

1851 Census, Snow Hill, Macclesfield
Charles & Rebecca Turnock and family

Charles is described as a Schoolmaster.

The National Archives ref: HO 107/2159 f.477 p.27

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

I always like finding people staying at a hotel at the time of the census, or even better, running the hotel. A quick search online and you're bound to find some contemporary photos and illustrated adverts. Yesterday I found a couple running the Star Hotel in St Helier, Jersey in the 1911 census.

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Getting ready to head into London for this afternoon's talk at @sogorg.bsky.social I'm honoured to be sharing the stage with the great Dr Colin Chapman. It's not every day you get to meet the person who came up with an internationally recognised coding system! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapman...

en.wikipedia.org

Chapman code - Wikipedia

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Dave Annal Lifelines Research @davelifelines.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

One of the greatest 'doh!' moments in the history of family history came shortly before the 1836 Act that introduced civil registration in England and Wales was due to come into effect. Someone noticed that there was no provision to record the *place* of birth or death on the new certificates... 1/

Schedules A & B from the 1836 'Act for registering Births, Deaths, and Marriages in England'. The boxes read 'When Born' and 'When Died' with no provision for recording the actual place of birth or death.

Image from: https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~framland/genealogy/acts/1836Act.htm

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