Paul Chiddicks

Find Your Ancestors & Family History - Genealogy & Ancestry Trace your ancestry and build a family tree by researching extensive birth records, census data, obituaries and more - over 10 billion records - start today!

Findmypast are offering free access to their digitised historical newspaper archive to celebrate their 100-million-page milestone. There are over 2,700 titles dating back to 1699. The archive is free to explore until 16 February 2026. Enjoy! findmypast.co.uk #Genealogy

#OnePlaceWednesday. Image: Photo taken in a churchyard in February, looking across a green field to a large country house and the leafless trees around it. Various gravestones, some recent, some old and covered with lichens, stand in the foreground. One-Place Studies, where family history and local history unite.

It’s #OnePlaceWednesday! Wherever you are and wherever you are researching, for your #FamilyHistory, #LocalHistory or #OnePlaceStudy projects, we hope you’re having a great week. Use the hashtag to tell us about the places and communities you are studying, and to share your OPS news, pics, and chat.

Beaumont-Hamel: A Fragment Returned During a visit to the Western Front in the summer of 2025, I was told a story that has stayed with me ever since. It was not a story of sweeping offensives or celebrated generals, nor one that fits…

Walking the old battlefields often reveals quieter stories.

This one begins at Beaumont-Hamel with a shattered church window and ends with reconciliation decades later.

New post: chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/11/b...
🔗 #WW1 #FamilyHistory #WesternFront

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Some family history stories announce themselves quietly, while others arrive and take hold of …

Tales from the Tomb Friday 🕯️

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley

A child taken too soon. A tomb with a window.
Not a legend of death—but of love that refused to leave him in the dark.

#TalesFromTheTomb #StoriesFromTheGrave #Genealogy

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/30/w...

Old postcard of Oak Lea, Kerridge, Cheshire in the 1930s, for sale in our store here www.ebay.co.uk/itm/11681759...

Some of the documents that we use in our research have a real history of their own. Like these muster rolls for the 1st Battalion of the 7th Regiment of Foot, which would have followed the regiment through Portugal, Spain and France between 1809 and 1814.

These are amazing @ainedonnghaile.bsky.social where history meets LEGO!

@chiddickstree.bsky.social

Large-sized Lego display at Atlanta Brick Con

@chiddickstree.bsky.social
In my hometown this weekend:
atlantabrickcon.com

Adding a #OnePlaceWednesday hashtag as this is part of Wendy’s #OnePlaceStudy of Longford! 🙂

#WallsOnWednesday 🧱

The memorial to Robert Dyer (jnr) and his wife Frances of Aberglasney House, on the wall of St Cathen's Church ⛪️

📷 Robert Dyer • John Dyer
📷 Frances Dyer • John Dyer

📍St Cathen's Church • Llangathen ⛪️

#Wales #History

The Truth Behind Pinner’s Floating Coffin Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Tucked away in the peaceful churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Pinner, Grea…

In a peaceful churchyard in Pinner stands a monument that looks…unusual

A stone coffin, suspended mid-air, jutting from a tall triangular tomb. Over time it’s gathered myths, ghost stories, and speculation — but there is a real explanation.

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/16/t...

A really interesting site, thanks to @bluebellfhr.bsky.social for the heads up

There are blue plaques to commemorate the famous and influential figures of the past.
For everyone else, there are memorial benches.

A great resource for names & to add your own

Link 👉 openbenches.org

It was a really fun build Marian

I wish I had that costume!

Latest model off the #LEGO production line…….#StarWars #StarWarsLego

S09EP07 - 'The Incorrigible' with Karen Cummings - The Family Histories Podcast Host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist Dr. Karen Cummings and hears about her husband's incorrigible ancestor, and her quest to find Cowling DNA.

ICYMI: 'The Incorrigible' with Karen Cummings ( @drkarencummings.bsky.social )

familyhistoriespodcast.com/2025/06/17/s... #genealogy #ancestry #dna #FamilyHistory

#ResearchBuddies day here at @fhsofcheshire.bsky.social

This month it's #Nantwich, looking forward to chatting with members about their research and any brick walls we can help with

Walking Tour of West Norwood Cemetery Guided walk through one of London's Magnificent Seven with a guide from the Friends of West Norwood Cemetery (£10 donation)

Today at 11.00am. Guided tour of West Norwood Cemetery www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/walking-to...

A Window of Light: The Story of Little Merrit Beardsley Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series, Stories From the Grave.

The heart-warming tale of Merrit Beardsley, @chiddickstree.bsky.social.

Reminds me of Lotta Evelyn Jaques, the second youngest of 7 children. She died in 1893 at 13 in Lebanon, Indiana, of diphtheria.

Who do you remember?

#FamilyHistory #Genealogy #GenHour

open.substack.com/pub/chiddick...

Upcoming Genealogy Conferences for January to July 2026 • FamilySearch These genealogy conferences and institutes can hone your skills, broaden your knowledge, and help you network.

Genealogy Conferences, Institutes, and Seminars: January to July 2026

Find out more 👉 www.familysearch.org/en/blog/gene...

Join us, 5 February, as Helen Tovey will be interviewing genealogical novelist Nathan Dylan Goodwin about his latest mystery crime - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/behind-the-scenes-of-the-hop-picker-murders-with-nathan-dylan-goodwin-tickets-1980374015992?aff=oddtdtcreator

I’m so proud to be the Student Mentor for this programme (as well as tutor for a couple of the modules).

#FamilyHistory
#Genealogy

emptybranchesonthefamilytree.com/2026/01/frid...

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Some family history stories announce themselves quietly, while others arrive and take hold of …

Latest blog from our very own Paul aka @chiddickstree.bsky.social and as usual gret research and an interesting read

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲

Link 👉 chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/30/w...

The parents are remarkable - it’s a heartbreaking story but also at the same time heartwarming ❤️

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley Discover the dark tales of the past in my brand-new series: “Stories From The Grave.” Some family history stories announce themselves quietly, while others arrive and take hold of …

Tales from the Tomb Friday 🕯️

When Love Shines Through: The Story of Merrit Beardsley

A child taken too soon. A tomb with a window.
Not a legend of death—but of love that refused to leave him in the dark.

#TalesFromTheTomb #StoriesFromTheGrave #Genealogy

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/30/w...

And smile in them all just in case the kids choose the only one you’re not smiling in 😬

The Hardy Tree – A Tree That Remembered the Dead Discover the Dark Tales of the Past in My Brand-New Series: “Stories From the Grave” Sometimes history grows in unexpected ways, like roots pushing through stone, or a story taking on a life far la…

🌳🪦 NEW BLOG POST

The Hardy Tree – A Tree That Remembered the Dead

The next in my new series, “Stories From the Grave”, exploring the real history and the myths, that grow around burial places.

Read it here: chiddicksfamilytree.com/2026/01/23/t...
#Genealogy #History #London #Graveyard #Cenetery

😂😂