S09EP02 - 'The Nun' with Helen Brooks

05/13/25 • 44 min

Host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Helen Brooks for this second episode of Series Nine. Andrew hears how Helen's family history research got started by a button, the importance of writing everything down when your aunt tells stories, and her love of photographs.

THE LIFE STORY - GERTRUDE LESTER / SISTER HELENE DU ST. SACRAMENT Helen's choice of life story is her Great Aunt Gertrude Lester who later became a Catholic nun known as Sister Helene du St. Sacrament within the order Les Filles de la Sagesse.

Helen uncovered a story of a woman’s rise through her order and her work in Nyasaland (modern-day Malawi), right through to a tragic accident at Croydon Aerodrome on 25th January 1947 which would see Sister Helene make the ultimate sacrifice in a moment of bravery that saved a man’s life.

With the aerodrome demolished and the site covered in housing, residents in the 1970s are reported as having seen the nuns had return in a ghostly form...

THE BRICK WALL - GEORGE WRIGHT
Following directly on from her choice of Life Story, Helen has been researching the other people in the plane crash. She's managed to find information on all of them apart from the most significant one (to her) - the man that Sister Helene saved!
He's known as George Wright, and in January 1947 he had been de-mobbed from wartime service. She doesn't know his age but assumes that he's in his 20's, but she does know from newspaper reports that he was catching a later flight to Johannesburg, South Africa to find work.

Despite her searches, Helen does not know what became of him after the day of the crash.

What happened to George Wright after 25th January 1947?
Where did he go?

If you think that you can help Helen with a research idea or clue, then you can find her on Bluesky, or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it along to her.

In the meantime, Andrew and Sándor's offer of help results in a dangerous and tricky manoeuvre...

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Episode credits:

Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
Helen Brooks - Guest
John Spike - Sándor Petőfi

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With the aerodrome demolished and the site covered in housing, residents in the 1970s are reported as having seen the nuns had return in a ghostly form...

Despite her searches, Helen does not know what became of him after the day of the crash.

What happened to George Wright after 25th January 1947?
Where did he go?

If you think that you can help Helen with a research idea or clue, then you can find her on Bluesky, or alternatively you can send us a message and we'll pass it along to her.

In the meantime, Andrew and Sándor's offer of help results in a dangerous and tricky manoeuvre...

- -

Episode credits:

Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
Helen Brooks - Guest
John Spike - Sándor Petőfi

Support the show

Previous Episode

S09EP01 - 'The Secretive' with Ron Williams

In this first episode of Season Nine of The Family Histories Podcast, host Andrew Martin meets Canadian genealogist Ron Williams whose family tree research resulted in him encountering a 57 year old mystery... Understandably, Ron couldn't not investigate and in doing so, uncovered a fascinating story which he then turned it into a book.

THE LIFE STORY - ALFRED VICTOR WILLIAMS
Ron has chosen to tell the fascinating story of his paternal Grandfather - Alfred Victor Williams - one that involves mystery and intrigue, and 57 missing years.

The story sees Ron find just a few clues that hint towards some very different elements of his Grandfather's missing first 57 years - an affidavit, a school photograph of a son, and a letter. Why did Alfred spend years living under the alias Roy Hammond?

Ron has turned Alfred's story into a book titled 'The Lost Fifty-Seven - A genealogical journey of discovery, deception, secrets and scandal' (2024).

THE BRICK WALL - MARY WILLIAMS
It's the identity of his 2x Great Grandmother - Mary Williams - that is causing Ron problems in his research.

He knows that she was born in about 1831, and likely in Shropshire (or Salop as it was known back then). After finding a confusing 'Cumberland in Salop' reference, Ron has found further Salop references in her census entries after her marriage to George Williams.

As Ron doesn't know the birth name of Mary, he's struggled to find the correct marriage, which he estimates was circa 1853, as the couple rapidly grow a family, starting with his Gt Grandfather in 1854.

What was Mary Williams' pre-marriage surname?

If you think you have a clue or a research idea, you can contact Ron at his website, or alternatively you can find him on Twitter and Bluesky. You can also send us a message, and we'll pass it on to him.

In the meantime, Ron is fascinated by Andrew and Sándor's offer of help... but someone's clearly hungry....

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Credits:

Andrew Martin - Host and Producer
Ron Williams - Guest
John Spike - Sándor Petőfi

Support the show

Next Episode

S09EP03 - 'The Baptist' with Gary Stanley

In this third episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets Gary Stanley - a family historian who has researched his Romany roots. Andrew hears about Gary's research web project in which he documents all references in the UK and USA of Roma families, and he explains the challenges of researching relatives, the benefit of baptismal records and newspapers, and how he participated in a DNA test led by Professor Turi King.

THE LIFE STORY - ELIZABETH NICHOLS
Gary has chosen to tell the life story of one of his Romany relatives Elizabeth Nichols... and it is quite extraordinary!

Elizabeth appeared to baptise a child, with the father noted as Antonio Nichols - a Portuguese sailor. Then Gary finds another baptism... then another... except the baptisms spread around the area, and sometimes the details are a little different. Sometimes Elizabeth's surname is Nichols, Nicholas, or Nicholson, sometimes it's Stivery or Twivey. Sometimes Antonio is deceased or at sea.

This pattern intrigued Gary, and following the clues and an incredible amount of research, he has found around 600 baptisms during the 1830s! So many, that he even created a website to map them around England and Scotland.

It's very clear that Elizabeth did not have 600 children, and the register entries note that sometimes the child is a new-born, or of a few years old. So, did Elizabeth have a few children that could span this age?

The question is obviously; Why go to this much effort? Gary believes that in order for Elizabeth to receive parish relief (a monetary benefit paid by the church), the child had to be baptised. Given Elizabeth's Romany heritage, she moved around regularly, and therefore amassed 600 known baptisms for her children, in order to receive relief!

THE BRICK WALL - ELIZABETH NICHOLS
Connecting directly to the Life Story that Gary has told, is his brick wall.

Gary may well have found hundreds of baptisms for her children, but he's wanting to find out;

Where was Elizabeth Nichols before the 1830s
What became of Elizabeth Nichols after 1840s?

If you think you have a research idea or clue to help Gary with his research, you can send him a message via his website, alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it along to him.

In the meantime, Andrew offers Gary some help, but will he be judged on his effort?

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Episode Credits