Journeys into Genealogy podcast

Genealogy podcast covering family history, research, tips, stories, interviews and more. With an initial focus on the UK and Ireland and moving beyond that in future.

Researching Ancestors in Australia with Ruth Graham 05/14/2024

Researching Ancestors in Australia with Ruth Graham Ruth Graham, chair of the Society of Australian Genealogists, talks about the history of Australia, how the states are organized (it's changed quite a bit over the years!) where to find records, what records are available, including burial registers, newspapers, national and local archives, Trove, electoral rolls, Australian cemeteries, the services provided by the Society and much, much more. Ruth has provided a resource guide which is available on Substack alongside an interview transcript. This is the first of two interviews with Ruth about Australia, the second one will be focussed on migration. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/31286397

Preserving the Past with Melissa Kitchen 04/29/2024

Preserving the Past with Melissa Kitchen Melissa Kitchen shares family stories and gives us tips on how to find and record them. We discuss living in the USA, ancestors who came across on the Mayflower, New England and lots more. There is a guest blog post to accompany this episode with some of the suggestions and resources on . Also please visit for additional content including an extra interview with Melissa. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/30063873

US Family history, Pryor Wives and more with Vanessa Wood 04/12/2024

US Family history, Pryor Wives and more with Vanessa Wood Writer and researcher Vanessa Wood talks about her own family history including migration from Sweden to Tennessee and Virginia USA and her book "Pryor Wives" about the women who married into several Pryor families who shared a common surname, but probably did not share blood or share a family tree. These included pioneer women and their journeys across the US, a former slave and others. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/30255148

Researching New Zealand Family History with Sarah Hewitt 03/26/2024

Researching New Zealand Family History with Sarah Hewitt Sarah Hewitt is chair of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists. We discuss what records are available in New Zealand, where they are located, what is available for free including birth, marriage and death records, wills and probate, school records, immigration, newspaper and other archives plus the benefits of joining the New Zealand Society of Genealogists including access to the Kiwi Collection. Sarah has put together a resource sheet which is available via this blog post: . /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/30545708

Manchester History with Dean Kirby 03/12/2024

Manchester History with Dean Kirby Dean Kirby has researched his ancestors amongst industrial Manchester in the 19th century and his book "Angel Meadow" is about the slum neighbourhood that they lived in and some of the interesting characters who were their neighbours. We discuss pauper ancestors, Manchester industries, cotton and textiles, manufacturing, Irish migration and ancestry, using fire maps, rate books, the "Friends of Angel Meadow" and more. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/30063863

East Surrey Family History Society with Hilary Blanford 02/21/2024

East Surrey Family History Society with Hilary Blanford Hilary Blanford explains the area covered by East Surrey (for non UK listeners part of this is directly south of the River Thames in London), the resources available from the Society, events held including online family history fairs, in person meetings and genealogy/local history walks and some of the transcription projects the Society is working upon including the Philanthropic School for Boys, the Westminster Lying In Hospital and the old psychiatric hospital in Epsom. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29934443

Researching South African ancestors with Natalie da Silva 02/13/2024

Researching South African ancestors with Natalie da Silva Natalie da Silva of the Genealogical Society of South Africa () talks about all the records and resources available for researching South African ancestors. Plus South African history, immigration, how the country is setup, locations of archives, where records are stored and if they have been digitised and who to contact. The accompanying blog post gives links to many of these: . /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29871263

Storytelling with Bridget Badoe McQuick 01/31/2024

Storytelling with Bridget Badoe McQuick Bridget Badoe McQuick (aka Lady Esi) is an oral historian, storyteller and local heritage champion. We discuss her family history, stories and culture in Ghana including burial traditions (funerals go on for 3 days and are a celebration of life and family and some include 'professional wailers') and how this fits with life in England. Plus her work as a heritage champion in Tottenham, London and how to ensure diverse voices are heard and celebrated. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29733383

Unravelled with Fanny Mills 01/24/2024

Unravelled with Fanny Mills Fanny Mills discusses her book "Unravelled" full of family secrets, missing people, culture clashes and what she discovered about her family's hidden past. From high society and aristocracy in England in the late 19th and early 20th century one one side and Jewish refugees on the other, to propaganda in north Africa in WWII, all woven around her upbringing in Hampstead, London in the 1960s and 70s. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29610333

Goodbye and thank you 2023 and hello 2024 12/29/2023

Goodbye and thank you 2023 and hello 2024 Celebrating the third anniversary of the Journeys into Genealogy podcast with a short round up of 2023, statistics, tips from some the interviewees and what's in store for 2024. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29257358

Running, ancestors and "Makin a Mackem" with Julie Carter 12/21/2023

Running, ancestors and "Makin a Mackem" with Julie Carter Fell runner Julie Carter made a running pilgrimage to visit Gateshead in north east England where her ancestor John Nowell setup the Gateshead Harriers running group. We discuss her book "Makin a Mackem" which talks about her journey, mental health, the benefits of running, her family history and how she found out about her ancestors and met Sir Brendan Foster along the way. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/29169648

Dead Fred with Joe Bott 12/05/2023

Dead Fred with Joe Bott Find out about Dead Fred the genealogy photo archive setup by Joe Bott. Over the past 40 years or so he has collected hundreds of thousands of old photos including daguerrotypes, tintypes, cartes de visite and cabinet cards and even some post mortem photos. Joe shares the stories of how he found some of them, how people share theirs with him and how some are returned to descendants. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/28934303

Genealogy Fun with Sindi Terrien 11/17/2023

Genealogy Fun with Sindi Terrien Genealogy Fun whilst developing new genealogists is a new book by Sindi Terrien. We talk about lots of games and ways to encourage interest amongst young (and older) people in your family history. There's also a chance to win a copy of her book. An accompanying blog post gives some examples and ways to create your own word search. If you do create something yourself please share it in the blog comments. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/28583248

ProjectKin with Barbara Tien 11/01/2023

ProjectKin with Barbara Tien Barbara Tien is the founder of ProjectKin (), a new global community of people helping to share family history stories using modern technology. Barbara explains how she came to set it up, how it works, who it is for and how it can help family historians, plus lots of stories and tips. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/28483931

Researching Cornish family history and the Cornish disapora with Lesley Trotter 10/10/2023

Researching Cornish family history and the Cornish disapora with Lesley Trotter Lesley Trotter talks about Cornwall, the 'married widows', the Cornish diaspora and where they ended up including the USA, Canada, Mexico, South America and other places. Discussing why people travelled and the industries concerned, including mining. With tips on how to find Cornish people in different countries and stories about how the women left behind coped with bringing up their families alone, sometimes for years at a time. The accompanying blog post has lots of resources and links and suggestions for further reading: /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/28274285

The Family History Federation with Ian Waller 09/26/2023

The Family History Federation with Ian Waller Find out more about the Family History Federation and the new website for information, support and guidance on researching your family history. Ian Waller is the education officer and he explains the aims of the Federation and what it offers for people looking for their ancestors. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/28114220

The Surname Society with Kirsty Gray 09/13/2023

The Surname Society with Kirsty Gray Find out more about The Surname Society with Kirsty Gray. If you've considered researching one or more of your family surnames and would like guidance and support then the Surname Society is a useful resource. It's open to everyone across the world with online meetings, forums/chat rooms and newsletters. The Surname Society website is and is undergoing updates in Autumn 2023. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/27849288

Researching in archives with Maxine Willett 08/22/2023

Researching in archives with Maxine Willett Maxine Willett shares her expertise in working in archives plus stories and research tips on how to make the best use of your time. The discussion includes planning a visit, private and public archives, what to expect, how to find items, copying and copyright laws and much more. There is an accompanying blog post with tips and resources here: /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/27818682

English trade, banking and merchants in the 17th to 19th centuries with Perry Gauci 08/08/2023

English trade, banking and merchants in the 17th to 19th centuries with Perry Gauci Dr Perry Gauci shares his expertise on English merchants, trade and banking from the 1660s to 1850s. We discuss what information is available and where to find it including trade directories, the London Gazette, bankruptcy records, wills, insurance records, the role of the town councils, London, Great Yarmouth, herrings, Norwich, Newcastle, Bristol, English ports, river transport, shipping, banking archives, court records and much more. There is an accompanying blog post with links to suggested resources here: . /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/27497349

German Handwriting, translation and migration 07/25/2023

German Handwriting, translation and migration Do you have German ancestors? Claudia Strachan talks about some of the letters, memoirs and other documents she has translated and shares stories about migration from Germany to the USA, South America and Australia. Bringing to life 18th, 19th and early 20th century lives in Germany and describing what it would have been like to migrate to another country and how letters were exchanged. We discuss literacy and education, spelling, the migration process and more. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/27560130

Researching ancestors in British India with Mike Trenchard 07/07/2023

Researching ancestors in British India with Mike Trenchard Mike Trenchard is an expert in researching ancestors in British India. We discuss the East India Company and how it helped shape India, where to find records online and in archives, whether to use a local researcher (or not!), the Families in British India Society (FIBIS), the British Library, the India Office, civil servants, ships, how India has changed and which countries it has been split into and much more. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/27398955

Buried Secrets with Anne Hanson 06/26/2023

Buried Secrets with Anne Hanson Anne Hanson's new book, Buried Secrets: Looking for Frank and Ida, is a real-life mystery about her quest to discover the hidden past that her grandparents Frank and Ida took to their graves. When she finally unearthed their real identities, she learned that their tales were lies invented to conceal disturbing facts. Buried Secrets is both a suspenseful drama and a true story about love, sacrifice, and family relationships. Its target audience is readers of suspense, memoir, and social history. Anne has also written a guest blog post with tips on researching early 20th century US family history. It is available from here: /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26913846

The Walloons with Sandra Robinson 06/06/2023

The Walloons with Sandra Robinson Sandra Robinson shares her expertise on the history of the Walloons of the Low Countries in Europe in the 16th and 17th century. From origins in Belgium and France and including journeys across Europe to escape perscution from Philip II of Spain. They were the original Protestant refugees and their descendants can be found in England and across the world. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26911725

ShipIndex with Peter McCracken 05/23/2023

ShipIndex with Peter McCracken Award winning librarian, Peter McCracken, noticed a gap in available information about where to find details about historical ships online. This led him to setup ShipIndex to bring together all the places he could find, or has been told about, to help anyone looking for information about ships. This includes ships used for migration across the world and crew listings for people searching for their ancestors. Peter has written a guest blog post which explains more about ShipIndex. It is available here: /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26911644

DNA Painter with Jonny Perl 05/10/2023

DNA Painter with Jonny Perl Jonny Perl talks about how he setup DNA Painter and how it can help anyone researching their DNA including people with pedigree collapse and complicated family trees. We discuss chromosomes, tree completeness, what are the odds, the DNA testing companies and much more. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26797992

The Muse of Freedom with Jules Larimore 04/28/2023

The Muse of Freedom with Jules Larimore Jules shares the story of her ancestor Jean BonDurant in her book "The Muse of Freedom" and his imagined life as a Huguenot in the Languedoc with the trials and tribulations of 17th century France. While investigating him, Jules researched late 17th century Languedoc customs, politics, and spiritual traditions specific to the little known Cévennes mountains of south-central France, culminating in a rich repository to feed future novels about the Cévenol people and culture. We also discuss some of the help she received and the sources and resources used including the Hathi Trust, JSTOR, Google Books, Gallica, Huguenot Museums and regional libraries. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26680962

A Few Forgotten Women 04/18/2023

A Few Forgotten Women The "A Few Forgotten Women" project comemorates women who might otherwise never be known. In this panel interview with Janet Few, Mandy Geary, Margaret Roberts and Ann Simcock we discuss some of the women they have researched and the issues they faced such as alcoholism, poverty, criminality, illegitimacy, mental health problems and more. There is also a blog post with lots of the resources suggested for anyone who wants to find out more about women such as these in their family. The blog post is available at /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26564091

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes with Kate Strasdin 03/27/2023

The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes with Kate Strasdin The "Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes" is a 200 year old album filled with wonderful fabric pieces. It was created by a Victorian mill owner's daughter who became a merchant's wife and tracks her life over the next 20+ years. Kate Strasdin has researched Anne and the other people mentioned within the album, tracing her life and the places she lived and visited enhanced by snippets of the culture, events and fashions of the time. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26353170

The Last Lancer with Catherine Czerkawska 03/20/2023

The Last Lancer with Catherine Czerkawska The Last Lancer is the story of Catherine Czerkawska's grandfather Wladyslaw Czerkawski and his early life in Poland, World War II, and as a soldier and later on as a refugee and finally his family in Yorkshire, England. Going from what is now Ukraine and crossing Europe at a time of trouble. Catherine has traced his footsteps and connected with living relatives and she shares some of the tips and help she has been given along the way. Catherine has also written a guest blog post with some of the resources she recommends. It is available at . /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26282118

Researching Female Ancestors with Emma Jolly 02/22/2023

Researching Female Ancestors with Emma Jolly Female ancestors can be harder to find but records do exist. Emma Jolly talks about some of the resources she recommends and we discuss 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. There is an accompanying blog post, Researching Female Ancestors, at emmacox.co.uk with links to the recommended resources. /episode/index/show/emmacox/id/26008299

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