In the recent Researching Female Ancestors podcast episode with Emma Jolly we talked about how women can be harder to find but records do exist. Topics include military pensions, DNA and matrilineal lines, naming traditions in England and Scotland, names and nicknames, Florence Nightingale, female wills, spinster aunts, the benefits of researching a place as well as a person, fertility, records for women in varied armed forces since the Boer War and including WWI and WWII, the differences between English and Scottish records and how each have their own benefits, MyHeritage, artificial intelligence, photographs, inheritance, clothing, visiting archives and much more.
Suggested resources included newspapers, wills, The National Archives, one place studies, The British Association for Local History (links shown below).
Recommended reading
Emma’s book “My ancestor was a woman at war” is available from Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3RYx9fd
Emma’s tips
- Question everything, don’t assume it is correct.
- Don’t give up, search widely and be openminded!
More about Emma
- Emma’s website www.emmajolly.co.uk
- Emma on Twitter twitter.com/emmajolly
Recommended resources for researching female ancestors
- British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
- The National Archives research guides: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides
- British Association for Local History: https://www.balh.org.uk
- Imperial War Museum: https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/tracing-your-family-history/tracing-your-army-history/where-to-find-army-service-records
- Military records at The National Archives: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/british-military-campaign-and-service-medals
- UK army service records https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records
- Wills and Probates in England and Wales: https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk
- Wills and Probates in Scotland: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/guides/wills-and-testaments
- Wills and Probates in Northern Ireland: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni
- Lynne Heiden’s website re old photos – https://lynnswaffles.com
- Scotlands People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
- Naming traditions https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/how-to-use-naming-patterns-to-find-your-ancestors
Podcast
Listen to the podcast episode here www.Journeysintogenealogy.co.uk
