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The SDFHS Blog

The Greenwood Tree – March 2021

Posted on 1st March 2021

House Histories, the theme of the March issue of The Greenwood Tree, provoked a greater response from members than any other topic in recent memory Perhaps not surprisingly, the focus was most often on the ancestors and other people who lived in the houses under review but there was a fair amount of interest in the buildings themselves Editor Paul Radford previews the edition which will be mailed to members in early March and which SDFHS members can already view or download from the Members’... more

A Century in Chancery – the legal battle between two families.

Posted on 17th February 2021

In earlier times marriages were often business arrangements between families rather than the love matches we are used to today Marriages were associated with ‘marriage portions’ (dowries), often involving land and other property Such settlements could often be disputed if circumstances changed People went to extraordinary lengths to maintain ownership of land and to keep it ‘in the family’ A case in point is the extraordinary and complicated legal battle between the FULFORD and... more

Keeping Occupied – Your Tips

Posted on 9th February 2021

Thank you for all the helpful tips that have come my way following my recent request to find out how you have been keeping yourselves occupied - my what an industrious lot you are! Barry: Barbara's Blog post reminded me of how much I am missing a trip to the pub Not just for the beer, but as a place to play some of those games she found in the charity shop If the same thought occurred to you, then a partial solution might be to find a copy of a wonderful little book by Arthur Taylor,... more

Lust and Litigation in 17th Century Dorset

Posted on 24th January 2021

Family history research can sometimes reveal the most fascinating and unexpected results This happened to me recently when I was researching my FULFORD ancestors I discovered details of a lawsuit that gave startling insight into a family member Margaret JEWELL was born in 1665 daughter of Anne Jewell (neé Fulford) The first name of her father and the marriage details of her parents are unknown (records are scarce for the Commonwealth period) On 4th August 1685 at Sydling St Nicholas she... more

Keeping Occupied

Posted on 14th January 2021

Keeping occupied during these strange times is a major challenge so I would like to take you back to the day I saw a wooden box of dominoes in the window of a charity shop and I bought it for the princely sum of £10 The dominoes came in a baize lined wooden box with a satisfactory brass catch and on the base it said ‘hand crafted by Tiverton craftsmen’ I gave the box a polish and put it up on a shelf in the sitting room The following week I was passing the same charity shop and there in... more