#yorkyhistorylass
As a child I loved to shock others with the tale that I had been abandoned at birth by gypsies and raised en famille with kindly mice in the crypt of an old church.
Alas! I was born and raised in the ancient and ghostly City of York – a Yorky who lives by the ethos that all is well with the world is there is a book, a decent cup of tea and a bar of chocolate to hand.
A dreamer from birth with a taste for history, a curious mind and the irresistible urge to create and write – I was bitten by the genealogy bug as a teenager.
I was blessed with an amazing paternal Grandfather who cherished his ancestral links to his homeland in the County of Essex and who would share wonderful memories of his childhood in the ‘Dick Turpin Cottage’ in the small town of Thaxted.
My maternal Grandmother with her phenomenal memory would happily regale me with a myriad of tales about the Dalby and Edeson families from York and the Tibbett clan all living, loving and squabbling within their adoptive land of Scarborough in North Yorkshire over tea and delicious homemade cake.
Much to the horror of my parents – this delightful woman also encouraged my passion for cemeteries and as I sought out yet another ancestral grave in a local graveyard – she would inevitably nudge me towards the right path.
I’m usually to be found buried within an archive somewhere or pottering among the tombstones with camera in hand.
Chocolate remains an essential research tool.
the graveyard squirrel
Have you ever heard the one about how there are only two things that are certain to us?
The first one being that we are all subject to some form of taxation and the second is that one day we WILL all die.
As a genealogical researcher my time is usually spent grappling with the mystery of death.
And if I’m not in search of a missing ancestor or researching another life long lost to history – I will be poring over the details on a newly discovered and often indecipherable certificate of death or trawling through the parish records in search of a burial entry.
Being able to locate the final resting place of those from my research endeavours has always been an important task and an unsuccessful search is disappointing as the final piece of the jigsaw remains missing.
I share the tales and triumphs of family history and of my wanderings among the tombstones in search of the unquiet dead as a geneablogger at Graveyard Squirrel.
However, if you struggle with the thought of death – MY world is probably NOT for you!
The Polite Tourist
QUESTION:
What kind of mischief could possibly be unleashed by one lowly professional genealogist and grave hunter with an unseemly fascination with the history of death; a passion for Victorian true crime, the tales of long forgotten folk and a love of storytelling?
ANSWER:
She becomes a company founder and solopreneur!
As the founder of The Polite Tourist in the spring of 2022 – I have been waking the dead who flirted with criminality in the Victorian era while creating a calendar of innovative, and meticulously researched true crime walks through the City of York.
From May 2024 – The Polite Tourist will be peeling back the murky shadows of a seaside town’s criminal past with a stroll through the old cobbled streets in search of Scarborough’s long forgotten dead.
And those tales of brothel-keepers, prostitutes, drunks, pick-pockets and other assorted criminals who once lay claim to the unquiet avenues, lanes and terraces of Leeds, Glasgow and London await the curious too!
#stillsleuthing
With my enthusiasm for continuing professional development along with the evolution of my company The Polite Tourist – my research in progress includes:
The stories of prostitutes from the Victorian era in YORK, SCARBORO’, HULL, LEEDS and GLASGOW.
A study of the history of Female Penitentiaries from YORK, SCARBORO’, HULL, LEEDS and GLASGOW.
A study of the the surname HITCHING for the Guild of One-Name Studies.
The social history of the coastal town of SCARBOROUGH in North Yorkshire for the Society of One-Place Studies.
The life of LADY FRANCES CAROLINE WEBSTER-WEDDERBURN née Annesley (1793-1837)
You can find me at the Association of Professional Genealogists, Genealogical Speakers Guild and the Society of Genealogists.
I am a member of a number of Local History Societies including Clement Hall History Group, East Yorkshire Family History, Family & Community Historical Research Society and Heritage Hunters.
I also volunteer as a genealogist and taphophile with The Friends of York Cemetery Trust and York Family History Society.
the dead sleuth
ANCESTRAL HEALING:
Passionate about the benefits of Ancestral Healing – I now work alongside those who are seeking to understand, reveal and free inherited grief and trauma from their family histories.
PUBLIC SPEAKING AND PRESENTATIONS INCLUDE:
Social History of Tradition and Death
The Victorian Celebration of Death
Symbolism and Language of Graveyards
The History of the Victorian Penitentiary
Victorian Crime in York and Beyond
FAMILY HISTORY COACHING:
Are you interested in adding some leaves to your family tree but don’t know where to begin?
Or have some of the leaves on your family tree fallen and you’re unsure how to continue?