Solving Your Mysteries

Solving Your Mysteries Genealogy and historical research service dedicated to uncovering the stories hidden within family history.

Researching ancestors, solving mysteries, breaking through brick walls, and piecing together the past through records and archives.

This was one of those cases that took time to untangle properly.While researching, I encountered a woman named Bernice w...
23/06/2026

This was one of those cases that took time to untangle properly.

While researching, I encountered a woman named Bernice who married a man called Thomas and had several children with him. On paper, everything looked straightforward.

But later, the records revealed something far more complex.

After separating from Thomas, Bernice went on to marry his brother and had more children. While Thomas went on to marry another woman named Bernice. This created a significant challenge in separating two closely intertwined family units, with overlapping records and repeated names.

With two Bernices appearing in the wider research, it took careful timeline building, maiden name analysis, and multiple cross-checks to correctly separate the families and confirm who belonged to whom.

It’s a perfect example of why names alone are never enough in genealogy. Context is everything.

Pictured above: Bernice Josephine McMillan (1903-1965)

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for the Brampton Preservation Trust Open Day at Brampton Old Church!We wer...
21/06/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for the Brampton Preservation Trust Open Day at Brampton Old Church!

We were delighted to welcome dozens of visitors across three guided tours and share the history of this special place. Thank you to all who attended, supported the event, and helped make the afternoon such a success.

We look forward to seeing you again at future events!

Many clients don’t just discover names; they discover living relatives, lost branches of the family, and stories that we...
20/06/2026

Many clients don’t just discover names; they discover living relatives, lost branches of the family, and stories that were never passed down.

If you’re curious about your family history, I’d love to help you begin your journey.

Every project is different, but they all begin the same way: with a single message.

One of the most rewarding parts of genealogy is being able to reconnect people with family they never knew existed.A cli...
17/06/2026

One of the most rewarding parts of genealogy is being able to reconnect people with family they never knew existed.

A client came to me with very little information about her grandmother; just a name and that she had connections to Ireland.

Through a combination of researching the paper trail and using DNA, I was able to confirm her grandmother’s identity and trace her family line back through records in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

What began as a single name has now opened the door to an entire branch of family history, including living relatives she never knew she had.

One of my favourite genealogy techniques is the sibling strategy.When you’re trying to identify an ancestor’s parents, d...
14/06/2026

One of my favourite genealogy techniques is the sibling strategy.

When you’re trying to identify an ancestor’s parents, don’t just research your direct ancestor, but research their brothers and sisters too. Siblings often leave behind records that provide clues your direct line doesn’t.

In a recent client project, we were trying to confirm the identity of a 4th great-grandmother. We had a likely candidate, but needed stronger evidence.

By researching both the client’s direct ancestor and his sister, I located their wills and compared them with burial records. Together, these records showed that the siblings and the suspected mother were all buried in the same family plot, providing strong evidence that we had identified the correct woman.

Sometimes the quickest way up a family tree is by moving sideways first.

This is the part nobody sees: chasing clues, checking records, and connecting the dots. Solving your mysteries, one disc...
10/06/2026

This is the part nobody sees: chasing clues, checking records, and connecting the dots. Solving your mysteries, one discovery at a time.

If you have a family mystery that needs to be solved — drop me a message!

Parish registers are far more than lists of baptisms, marriages, and burials. They can provide clues about occupations, ...
08/06/2026

Parish registers are far more than lists of baptisms, marriages, and burials.

They can provide clues about occupations, residences, and family relationships. Marginal notes are often overlooked but they can hold the key to discovering more information.

When researching your ancestors, don’t just read the entry, but the entire page.

One of the challenges of genealogy is remembering that names don’t always stay the same.As borders change and people mov...
05/06/2026

One of the challenges of genealogy is remembering that names don’t always stay the same.

As borders change and people move, the same person can appear under several different names. If you search for only one spelling, you could miss an entire branch of your family tree.

I’m currently researching a family from a region where Romanian and Hungarian communities lived side by side, and I’ve encountered name changes such as:

🇷🇴 Gheorghe → 🇭🇺 György
🇷🇴 Susana → 🇭🇺 Zsuzanna
🇷🇴 Mihai → 🇭🇺 Mihály
🇷🇴 Ludovic → 🇭🇺 Lajos

The first four pairs look reasonably similar, but then there’s:

🇷🇴 Viorica → 🇭🇺 Ibolya

At first glance, these names appear completely unrelated. However, both refer to the violet flower and were used as equivalent names in Romanian and Hungarian communities.

When researching ancestors from regions where borders changed, it’s important to think beyond the spelling you already know. Sometimes the person you’re looking for is hiding in plain sight under a completely different name.

Some family history questions need more than a quick search. My Deep Dive service is for the mysteries that require care...
22/05/2026

Some family history questions need more than a quick search.

My Deep Dive service is for the mysteries that require careful research, cross-checking records, and digging beyond the basics.

This services includes 5-6 hours of detailed research, supporting records, and a written summary of findings.

Sometimes the answered are there, but they just take a little more digging to uncover.

Family history doesn’t just live in archives and records , but it also lives in conversations.Sit down with your relativ...
20/05/2026

Family history doesn’t just live in archives and records , but it also lives in conversations.

Sit down with your relatives. Ask questions, even the ones that seem small. Write names down. Record stories. Look through old photographs together and ask who the people are, where they lived, what they remembered.

So much family history disappears simply because nobody thought to ask in time. The smallest detail can be the biggest piece of the puzzle.

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