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Showing posts from February, 2017

Lancashire Collections on Deceased Online

This week I look at the records for the county in which I grew up and summarize what you can find on Deceased Online to aid your search for ancestors who died in Lancashire Administ rative map of the ancient county of Lancashire in 1832. Showing Hundreds, Parishes and Boroughs. Source data on parish boundaries - Kain, R.J.P., and Oliver, R.R. (2001) "Historic parishes of England and Wales: Electronic Map - Gazetteer - Metadata", Colchester: History Data Service.  ISBN 0 9540032 0 9 . Source data for Boroughs: H.M.S.O. Boundary Commission Report 1832 (courtesy of www.visionofbritain.org). Lancashire is a fairly young county in England, dating from 1182. Farming dominated life in the county in the medieval and early modern periods, although in 1612 the area became notorious for the trials of the Pendle witches, The trials of twelve women accused of witchcraft in the Pendle Hill region are well recorded. Eventually, the twelve were charged with the murder of ten people by

Romantic Headstones: Memory is a Golden Chain

In honour of Valentine's Day, this week's blog looks at some of the most romantic stories and headstones in the Deceased Online collections marking the everlasting love of couples reunited after death. While Valentine's Day is a fun celebration of love and romance for some, for others it can be a harsh reminder of loneliness or the loss of a loved one. Like birthdays, anniversaries and religious festivals, Valentine's Day triggers thoughts and memories of happy times with someone who is no longer here. An illustration of Sophia Peabody Hawthorne by Stephen Alonzo Schoff, taken from Nathaniel Hawthorne and HIs Wife: A Biography by Julian Hawthorne, p. 39 (Google books)  When I visit graveyards, however, I am often struck by how much love continues after death. This may be the love of a parent, child, spouse, lover, sibling or friend. In some cases, a spouse's body may be removed from a grave or cemetery and relocated elsewhere in order to join the