The Family Histories Podcast - S01EP05 - 'The Quack' with Valmay Young

S01EP05 - 'The Quack' with Valmay Young

06/29/21 • 39 min

In this episode, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Valmay Young to find out how she got into researching her far-flung family tree. We'll also hear about what it's like to work for a county archives, and her work with the Families In British India Society (FIBIS).
Relatively Speaking
Valmay chooses her 3x Gt Grandfather, Richard Sheridan Wardley. As you'll hear, he sounds like a complicated man, with regular vanishing acts, trips to the USA, his attempt to publish someone else's work, and more seriously, posing as a medical doctor. In the process, Valmay also quashed a family rumour about Richard Brinsley Sheridan.
The Brick Wall
Fred Beckwith is Valmay's 2x Gt Grandfather, and he's proving to be a mystery for her. Aside from his marriage to Selina Woolf at West Ham Registry Office in 1882, and his death in 1939, there seems to be no other trace of him. Where was his father Henry? Why is he so vague about addresses? Is Fred the link to Valmay's rumoured Romany ancestry?
Andrew tries to help Valmay with her breakthrough, but they're not alone in the garage....
Credits:
Series One, Episode Five.
Andrew Martin (Host, producer)
Valmay Young (Guest)
Eliot Lees (Foley)
John Spike (Sándor Petőfi)
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com

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Previous Episode

S01EP04 - 'The Entrepreneur' with Lisa Louise Cooke

In this episode, host Andrew is joined by family historian, author, lecturer, and podcaster Lisa Louise Cooke (Genealogy Gems). She talks about how she got hooked on researching her own family history as a child.
Relatively Speaking
Lisa chooses her husband's entrepreneurial grandfather Harry Cooke as her life story. We follow him from his beginnings in mid-19th century rural Huntingdonshire, to Kent in England, before a double family tragedy sends the family off for a brand new life in Canada.
The Brick Wall
The hunt is on for Lisa's great grandfather Gustaf Sporowski, born in Kotten in Kreis Johannisburg, East Prussia (modern-day Poland). Do you have any research ideas or clues that could help her demolish her research Brick Wall? If you think you can help, then head over to Lisa's LisaLouiseCooke.com website, or alternatively you can visit our contact form and drop us a message (we'll pass it on).
Andrew offers to help with Lisa's research by using something special he keeps in his garage. How could she refuse?
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Episode Credits
Series One, Episode Four:
Andrew Martin (Host/Producer)
Lisa Louise Cooke (Guest)
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com

Next Episode

S01EP06 - 'The Witness' with David Ryan

Host Andrew Martin is joined by David Ryan, an Irish family historian who discovered his passion for genealogy after studying for his MA in Medieval History. He'll be telling us how he made this transition, the challenges of researching family history in Ireland, and what it's like to work for Ancestry as one of their team of professional genealogists.
Relatively Speaking:
David has chosen to tell the life story of his Great Great Grandfather John Hyland. He'll explain the hardship that John was born into at the end of the devastating famine in the early 1850s, and the events that have since shaped Ireland in the 20th century - most of which were revealed by a chance discovery of a record in The National Folklore Collection.
The Brick Wall:
Family rumour has always said that David's paternal and maternal 3x Great Grandmothers - Honora and Bridget Williams, were sisters. They are both born in the 1820s, and both married in the 1840s, all in the village of Ballyporeen in County Tipperary, Ireland.
Were they sisters, or is it just a case of coincidence? Can you help David solve this old family story?
David isn't sure whether Andrew's offer of help will come to much, but he's in for a surprise...
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Credits:
Series One, Episode Six.
Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
David Ryan - Guest
Eliot Lees - Foley
Show notes: familyhistoriespodcast.com