Category Archives: Illegitimacy

Naughty Nancy (part 2)

Well, it seems I was wrong to judge her, and Naughty Nancy was not really as naughty as I thought. Well, at least partly. It is true that she married in January 1776, when she was a widow of almost … Continue reading

Posted in Coddington, Death, Dymock, England, Forest of Dean, Genealogy, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Illegitimacy, Marriage, Women | Leave a comment

Feliz 256 cumpleaños, “abuela”

El pasado 9 de febrero, día de Santa Apolonia, se cumplieron exactamente 256 años del nacimiento de mi 4x tatarabuela en la Puebla del Caramiñal (en gallego, Pobra do Caramiñal). Casi de inmediato fue conducida a la pila bautismal, donde … Continue reading

Posted in Birth, Death, Engagement, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, La Coruña, Marriage, Women | Leave a comment

Tribute to a father

Tomorrow, March 19th, is Father’s Day in Spain. A year ago exactly, a short letter from our newly-discovered Aunt Rita enclosing pictures of my up-to-then unknown grandfather arrived on our doorstep. And my, have we gone a long way since … Continue reading

Posted in Birth, Death, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Marriage, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, Women, Work | Leave a comment

Fatherless fathers and a long line of strong women

Have you ever thought about what traits you may have inherited from you dad and mum? The obvious answer is “of course”, we all have, whether we are interested in genealogy or not. But why not go further back and … Continue reading

Posted in Argentina, Bigamy, Birth, Death, Divorce, Emigration, England, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Italy, Marriage, Spain, United States, War, Women | Leave a comment

Tips on how to trace your Galician genealogy

If you have ancestors who, like mine, came from the region of Galicia (NW Spain), then please read on. Here are a few facts and tips about how you can start tracing the family history of the gallegos in your … Continue reading

Posted in Birth, Death, Divorce, Emigration, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Marriage, Santiago de Compostela, Spain | 27 Comments

Divorce, Spanish style

Divorce, or the dissolution of a marriage, is an institution which has existed for centuries. Although we may not realise it, there were hundreds of historical divorces which preceded the case of King Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine … Continue reading

Posted in Bigamy, Birth, Death, Divorce, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Marriage, Property, Spain, Women | 1 Comment

Bye, Aunty Rita

Today my brother spoke to me on Skype; I knew something was up, because we hardly ever speak on Skype save for the odd conversation about something in particular now and then. He told me he had some news which … Continue reading

Posted in Death, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, United States, War, Women | 4 Comments

A Murder in the Family

Whenever we start investigating our family tree, I think most of us expect to find something “out of the ordinary” among our ancestral roots, whether it be a scandal, a rogue or a murder. Well, I don’t know if I … Continue reading

Posted in Birth, Death, England, Genealogy, Herefordshire, Illegitimacy, Marden, Marriage, Murder | 2 Comments

Unearthing a tyrant in the family

We genealogists have an inevitable tendency to visualize all our ancestors through the lens of romanticism and redemption. In most cases we may well be very near the mark, as I am sure many of our forebears were generally nice … Continue reading

Posted in Death, Engagement, Galicia, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Illness, Marriage, Money, Property, Spain | Leave a comment

The Best Father’s Day Gift Ever: Seeing Your Father For The First Time

You will all remember the exciting piece of news last Christmas when, thanks to my distant cousin Anne, in England, and her cousin Michele in America, we discovered my grandfather had a younger half-sister who still lives in New York … Continue reading

Posted in Emigration, Genealogy, Illegitimacy, Italy, Spain, United States, War | 1 Comment