Paul Chiddicks

Who Was Adelaide Springett? Another iconic picture and another innocent life captured forever behind a lens, but who was the poor little girl whose life was perpetually framed in this picture and what was her story? The littl…

The remarkable story that I wrote about Adelaide Springett has been viewed over 30k times #Genealogy #Spitalfields #FamilyHistory #History #London #Victorian #FamilyTree a poor child that suffered so much but it was her courage and bravery that shone through

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2024/02/15/a...

Thanks Jenny I appreciate you saying that. So many of the stories are mirrored for so many young me , I’ve just shared J. Swan’s story as well 😊

Menin Gates 1st AIF 19th Battalion

Centre top panel -19th battalion continued including J Swan - photo in September 2022

Extract from John Swan service number 5639 - records born Dumfries Scotland, joined AIF Cootamundra, NSW 6 April 1916, 29 years old, farm labourer

#31DaysOfGraves Day 5 #Bird these are the panels at #MeninGates listing the soldiers of my Pop’s 1st. AIF 19th Battalion with no known grave, including J Swan. NAA records show he was a farm labourer, single & died “in the Field Belgium” I don’t think his mother truly had adequate means?

#31DaysofGraves ( #Bird )
Here's the grave of Elizabeth Lapthorne Flook in Greenbank Cemetery, Bristol, who died 4th Dec 1888 aged 56. She was mother to T.J Moss Flower.
@annaandthedead.bsky.social
#Greenbankcemetery #Mother #Cemetery #Bristol #RIP #History #Stone

Gravestone of Charlotte and Frederick Woodcock, parents of Eddie Woodcock who was killed in action in France in 1916

#31DaysofGraves Day 5: Bird - no bird imagery but remembered on his parents' gravestone in plot X15355 in #Macclesfield Cemetery is Eddie Woodcock of the New Zealand Army Service Corps, kia #WWI 20 Sept 1916 www.cheshireroll.co.uk/soldier/?i=1...

You’re always welcome Elizabeth 😊

The Boy Behind The Picture Sometimes we discover a story that’s so remarkable that even though it’s not a member of your own family, we feel compelled to make sure that the story is told. The photograph of the yo…

Sometimes we discover a story that’s so remarkable that we feel compelled to make sure that the story is told The Boy Behind The Picture #Titanic #Genealogy #WW1 #History #historyinthemaking #historyfacts #FamilyHistory #Genhour

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2023/05/01/t...

The Farm Boy Who Went to War From Orchard Fields to Flanders Fields: The Story of Thomas Wootton Thomas Wootton was born on March 26th, 18921, in the village of Byford, Herefordshire, the sixth oldest of eight children born to…

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/28/t...

The Forgotten Faces of the Somme From the Fields of Herefordshire to the Trenches of France When I think of the First World War, I don’t just picture the vast battlefields or the rows of white crosses that stretch endlessly into t…

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/21/t...

In the Shadow of Passchendaele: Remembering Private Keyes From the Banks of the Thames to the Mud of Passchendaele: The Life and Loss of Harry Joseph Keyes Before the mud, the gunfire, and the chaos of the Western Front, before the thunder of artillery at…

Three soldiers.
Three sacrifices.
Three stories that echo forever.

Because freedom has faces, and each one tells a story worth telling.
#ThreeSoldiers #LestWeForget #RealHeroes #SacrificeAndHonor #VeteransVoices

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/04/i...

It’s wonderful that you have been able to follow in dads footsteps with what he started on your tree. Being able to the stories of these brave men like your grandad help to keep their memories alive 😊

The Farm Boy Who Went to War From Orchard Fields to Flanders Fields: The Story of Thomas Wootton Thomas Wootton was born on March 26th, 18921, in the village of Byford, Herefordshire, the sixth oldest of eight children born to…

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/28/t...

The Forgotten Faces of the Somme From the Fields of Herefordshire to the Trenches of France When I think of the First World War, I don’t just picture the vast battlefields or the rows of white crosses that stretch endlessly into t…

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/21/t...

In the Shadow of Passchendaele: Remembering Private Keyes From the Banks of the Thames to the Mud of Passchendaele: The Life and Loss of Harry Joseph Keyes Before the mud, the gunfire, and the chaos of the Western Front, before the thunder of artillery at…

Three soldiers.
Three sacrifices.
Three stories that echo forever.

Because freedom has faces, and each one tells a story worth telling.
#ThreeSoldiers #LestWeForget #RealHeroes #SacrificeAndHonor #VeteransVoices

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/04/i...

Stepping Into the Spotlight: My First Ever Vlog! Make the most of this folks this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity as you catch a rare glimpse of me stepping outside of my comfort zone. You can watch my first ever video blog where I expl…

So here it is folks my onscreen debut, my first ever video blog where I explain why I started researching my family tree, enjoy! #Genealogy #FamilyTree #Vlog #Blog
Don’t worry too much back to writing next time round!

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/01/24/s...

Which One Are You? I recently posted a question online that had been on my mind for a while:

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

The Farm Boy Who Went to War From Orchard Fields to Flanders Fields: The Story of Thomas Wootton Thomas Wootton was born on March 26th, 18921, in the village of Byford, Herefordshire, the sixth oldest of eight children born to…

Their stories ended on the battlefields of WW1, but they won’t be forgotten. The final chapter - Thomas Wootton the boy who left home for the shores of Australia only to return a year later to die for his country - #WW1 #Genealogy #FamilyHistory

chiddicksfamilytree.com/2025/09/28/t...

Thanks Jenny and I completely agree

So important their stories are not forgotten - we are teetering on the brink of another explosion of hate & bigotry, we must remember how everyone is damaged by war.

It’s always a pleasure to be included

Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 21 to 27 September 2025 Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interes...

www.geneamusings.com/2025/09/best...

Visiting the Western Front – the best way of doing it! For reasons which I won’t go into, 2024 is not a year I look back upon with much fondness. But one of the few positive things to happen was that I finally fulfilled a longstanding ambition to…

Check out my new #blog post. It contains tips and advice on visiting the #WesternFront - somewhere everyone should see at least once in their lifetimes.

Feedback and comments are welcome!

#Travel #FirstWorldWar #WW1 #LestWeForget #France #Belgium

elizabethjbond.wordpress.com/2025/09/20/v...

Thanks Elizabeth I will take that onboard

I volunteer at the @fhsofcheshire.bsky.social on a Monday and I wanted to share with you this amazing poem written by the granddaughter (aged 8) of one of our members that describes the horrors of war far more eloquently than I ever could
#WW1 #Genealogy #FamilyHistory

✨ In this month’s Dear Paul for Family Tree Magazine, I explore:

✨ The art of storytelling

📜 A will with a twist

📂 A gem from the Warwickshire County Record Office

😂 Occupations that will make you chuckle

🔎 And of course… more transcription slip-ups!

Family history has never been such fun 😄

A good example of why we should always view all available copies of a record. Here we have two versions of the same marriage record; on the left is the Bishops' Transcript, on the right the original from the parish register of All Saints, Wigan.

Check out the witnesses...

A curse upon the clerk of Church Langton, Leicestershire who decided in 1675 that it would be a good idea not to record any details of the parentage of the children who were being baptised in his parish... 😡

Pinboard with FHSC Events picked out in post-it notes

#WhatsOn at @fhsofcheshire.bsky.social this week

Usual weekly #Helpdesks: #Chester & #Wallasey [Tue/Fri]

#F2F meeting at #Bebington with talk The First Mersey Tunnel
#Research night at #Runcorn

#Discussion Group via Zoom: Historical Newspapers

Details of our events 👉 www.fhsc.org.uk/events.html