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Family History

The Dirdoe family of Gillingham, Dorset, and their capture by pirates

Posted on 23rd February 2016

Thomas Dirdoe who was born in 1588 in Gillingham, Dorset, was the 11th Great Grandfather of SDFHS member, Arnaud Aurejac-Davis, who tells the fascinating story of the capture of Thomas and his son by Barbary pirates The first Thomas Dirdoe (1588-aft1643) was baptized on 22 March 1588, at Gillingham, Dorset, the fourth son and child of Charles (described as a ‘gent’) and Joane Thomas must have been a boisterous young man since in July 1613, at the age of only 25, he was granted a pardon for... more

Family Tree Maker and Ancestry

Posted on 20th February 2016

Like many family historians I wanted a computer program where I could keep all the information I was finding out about my family When a friend emailed me a report she had produced I realised I wanted to be able do the same and so I turned to Family Tree Maker, paid for the 'package' and loaded it onto my home computer I loved it from the start A lot of my information had been gleaned by my cousin and she would send me bits of paper with hand written notes on them or copies of censuses and I... more

Two men with multiple ‘marriages’

Posted on 7th February 2016

I suspect that many family historians who run into a ‘brick wall’ when trying to pin down an ancestor do the same thing as I do and try to ‘sneak up’ on them by looking at other people with the same surname in the same area at the same time, in the hope of being able to connect to the right family Doing this for one of my GGGGG Grandmothers, Jane Storrow/Starrow, meant that my research wandered off at a tangent and I started investigating the marriages of a man whose gravestone lists... more

Christmas memories

Posted on 23rd December 2015

Barbara Elsmore continues our theme about Christmas decorations and the family memories they evoke I was so pleased that Patricia reminded us of the joy of getting out the box of Christmas decorations and being re-acquainted once again with the treasures that lie within My personal collection of old favourites contains a 'Bambi' made in felt by my late mother in the 1970s from a pattern found in one of her magazines My dad added a little wooden sledge and with a few special tiny parcels on... more

Christmas Tree Fairy Story

Posted on 22nd December 2015

Patricia Spencer recounts how the rediscovery of the 1950s fairy which had always graced the top of her family Christmas tree awakened memories of Christmas decorations from the past Last weekend I bought a small Christmas tree from the man who sells plants and flowers outside the Family History Centre in Sherborne and I called in at the Centre to say 'hello' to whoever was there Seeing the tree I was carrying and my having remarked that when I got home I'd be making a new dress for my... more

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