It's time for the first of our special BRICKDUST episodes - where one of our previous guests return to the show to give host Andrew Martin an update on the progress of their pesky brick wall. This time, we're welcoming back local historian Pam Smith, last heard in Season One back in 2021. If you've not heard Pam's episode, you can catch-up now by listening to 'The Activist' with Pam Smith. THE BRICK WALL - SIR RICHARD ETHERINGTON It's been four years since Pam asked for help in ...

In this short bonus episode, that follows on immediately from 'The Incorrigible' with Karen Cummings, host Andrew Martin is ready to take a long-awaited holiday in post-war 1940's England. However, instead of the 1940's, he finds himself in the 1640s.... and it's witch-hunt season! To make things worse, he's just been accused of witchcraft after making one of the villagers vanish into thin air! - - - Episode Credits Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerJohn Spike - Sándor PetőfiStacey Hughe...

In this final episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist, scientist, and owner of Pharos Tutors - Dr. Karen Cummings. He hears about how she got interested in family history, her adventures in DNA testing, her thoughts on the future of the genealogy industry, and why even hobbyist family historians should consider studying courses. THE LIFE STORY - JONATHAN HORSLEY Karen has chosen to tell the life story of her husband's ancestor Jonathan Horsley born in C...

In this sixth episode of Series Nine, host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Asad Khabibullin. He hears how Asad got hooked on family history, the challenges he has faced in tracing his ancestors from the Republic of Tatarstan, and his thoughts on how the genealogy community could become a more helpful place for new-starters. THE LIFE STORY - VALIT HALITOV Asad has chosen to tell the life story of his relative Valit Halitov who lived in the village of Olı Mäñgär in the Republic of Tatars...

In this fifth episode of Series Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional family historian, author, and former FamilySearch volunteer, Robin R. Foster and hears about how she got hooked on researching her family history, her drive to help people through online communities like Facebook and Substack, and how she found herself surrounded by sources when she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. THE LIFE STORY - BEVERLEY VANCE Robin has chosen to tell the life story of ...

In this fourth and mid-way episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist John Boeren and hears about how he got hooked on researching his Dutch ancestry, why he became a professional researcher, and how he ended up being awarded a Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2018 for services to local history and genealogy. THE LIFE STORY - MAARTEN VAN LEEUWEN John has chosen to tell the life story of his 4x Great Grandfather, Maarten van Leeuwen, who was born in 1795 ...

In this third episode of Season Nine, host Andrew Martin meets Gary Stanley - a family historian who has researched his Romany roots. Andrew hears about Gary's research web project in which he documents all references in the UK and USA of Roma families, and he explains the challenges of researching relatives, the benefit of baptismal records and newspapers, and how he participated in a DNA test led by Professor Turi King. THE LIFE STORY - ELIZABETH NICHOLS Gary has chosen to tell the life st...

Host Andrew Martin meets genealogist Helen Brooks for this second episode of Series Nine. Andrew hears how Helen's family history research got started by a button, the importance of writing everything down when your aunt tells stories, and her love of photographs. THE LIFE STORY - GERTRUDE LESTER / SISTER HELENE DU ST. SACRAMENT Helen's choice of life story is her Great Aunt Gertrude Lester who later became a Catholic nun known as Sister Helene du St. Sacrament within the order ...

In this first episode of Season Nine of The Family Histories Podcast, host Andrew Martin meets Canadian genealogist Ron Williams whose family tree research resulted in him encountering a 57 year old mystery... Understandably, Ron couldn't not investigate and in doing so, uncovered a fascinating story which he then turned it into a book. THE LIFE STORY - ALFRED VICTOR WILLIAMS Ron has chosen to tell the fascinating story of his paternal Grandfather - Alfred Victor Williams - one that inv...

We're back! It's time for Season Nine of The Family Histories Podcast. Your host - family historian Andrew Martin, will once again be joined by seven guests, for seven more fascinating life stories and of course a load of those pesky brick walls for you to help solve. As usual... as a 'thank you' treat, each guest is given a return trip back in time in Andrew's (shh: secret time) machine, all with the help of his assistant - the 19th century missing Hungarian poet and revolutionary, Sándor Pe...

For this special ninth episode of Series Eight, we're taking part in Podcasthon 2025 - an annual global event for podcasters to collectively raise awareness of charities they care about. With our guest, we've chosen to support the charity Mind, and you can hear more about their work and access support here: mind.org.uk. If you're outside the UK, you can find international support here. NOTE: This episode contains archaic terminology, and historic references to conditions and treatment method...

This is a short bonus episode, continuing on immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of 'The Nationalist' with Daniel Loftus. As Andrew realises he's not alone in the garage, they'll have to work together to fix a dangerous time travel paradox before it erases the podcast. Thank you once again for joining us for another series, and letting us have your ears. Whilst we're off making new episodes, why not check out our back catalogue with more than 60 guests! You can also sign up to our...

In this final full episode of Series Eight, host Andrew Martin meets Irish genealogist, speaker, occasional podcaster, and Project Infant founder, Daniel Loftus. He asks Daniel how he got hooked on researching his family history, challenges he's faced with DNA testing and adoption, and why he's leading a project that brings Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland under the spotlight. If you’d like to volunteer for Project Infant, you can do so at: https://projectinfant.ie/volunteer THE LIFE STORY ...

In this episode of Series Eight, host Andrew meets Australian genealogist Jennifer Jones, who tells him about how she got hooked on researching family history, her motivation to blog her research, and her One-Place Study in Pembrokeshire, Wales. THE LIFE STORY - THOMAS WATERS Jennifer has chosen to tell the life story of Thomas Waters, her 2x Great Grandfather who was born in 1829 in the little village of Dunton in Bedfordshire, England, but in 1852 he emigrates to Australia. It has always ...

In this episode of Series Eight, host Andrew Martin meets professional genealogist Richard Holt. He finds out how Richard got hooked on family history, what made him turn professional, has he ever experienced 'imposter syndrome', and his efforts to access original Wills - and challenging a proposal by the UK Government's Ministry of Justice on the disposal of historic Wills. THE LIFE STORY - MATTHEW BUYRN (aka JOHN DUNMORE) Richard has chosen to tell the life story of his 4x Great Gr...

Hello folks, I had such a lovely time recording our episode 'The Nightingale' with Danielle and Galeet Dardashti, that after having talked with them at length about the old tape cassette recordings of family conversations, celebrations, singing, and music that Danielle had found stashed in a box in their parents' basement, we decided it would be nice for you to hear some of those recordings for yourself! So, here's the full first episode of The Nightingale of Iran, aptly titled "The ...

Joining host Andrew Martin for this fourth episode of Series Eight is not one but two guests! We're delighted to welcome Emmy-winning journalist Danielle Dardashti and her musician and anthropologist sister Dr. Galeet Dardashti. Danielle and Galeet researched the history of their family in Iran via audio recordings they found at their parents' house, uncovering some fascinating insights into their father and grandfather's musical success. The episode highlights the importance of audio recordi...

It's a special delivery in today's episode from Series Eight, as host Andrew Martin meets family history and military history researcher, champion eBayer, and postman, Adam Simpson-York. Andrew finds out how Adam got hooked on researching family history, how he has honed his research skills that enable him to buy family heirlooms on auction sites and then trace their living relatives, allowing him to reunite them with their descendants, and hears about his letters from a Queen. THE LIFE STOR...

Andrew meets genealogist and Chair of the Register of Qualified Genealogists, Sylvia Valentine. He hears about how she got hooked on researching family history, her love of life-long learning and research, and her opinions on the terrifying workhouses! THE LIFE STORY - NAOMI HAWARTH Sylvia has chosen to tell the life story of her Gt Grandmother, Naomi Hawarth, who was born as a twin, but was the only one of the two to survive. She was not the only twin to her parents, or to outlive a twin ...

In this first episode of Series Eight of The Family Histories Podcast, host Andrew Martin meets author, family historian, and the host of the Italian Roots and Genealogy YouTube series and podcast - Bob Sorrentino, and finds out about his Italian-American roots, and his connections to Italian and the wider European nobility. THE LIFE STORY - ISABELLA D'ESTE We're off to the 15th Century to hear about one of Bob's ancestors - Isabella d'Este (born 1474 in Ferrara, Italy) was the wife of Fr...