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Wendy Percival
- Jun 30
- 3 min
Today's the day!
Yes, it’s finally here. The fifth Esme Quentin Mystery, The Scourge of the Skua, is published today! The story begins with the discovery...
Wendy Percival
- Apr 22, 2022
- 3 min
Royal Associations
On the occasion of the Queen’s birthday yesterday, I’m sharing a tentative Royal connection I discovered several years ago while...
Wendy Percival
- Feb 25, 2022
- 4 min
Nob Thatchers & Bottom Knockers
Later than advertised.... as they say in the world of TV... due to a 5 day power outage (along with our internet connection) due to Storm...
Wendy Percival
- Jan 7, 2022
- 2 min
Lost in the 1921 census
Have you dipped into the newly released 1921 census yet? Be warned! It can get addictive – not to mention expensive, even with the 10%...
Wendy Percival
- Oct 29, 2021
- 1 min
A Halloween Story!
With Halloween this weekend, it seemed appropriate to revisit a blog post I published last October about the 4th Esme Quentin Mystery,...
Wendy Percival
- Jul 9, 2021
- 2 min
One mystery solved... and tennis
I’ll get to tennis in a moment. First, an update and an exciting discovery… While digging around for information on my gran’s singing...
Wendy Percival
- Jun 25, 2021
- 2 min
Ancestors in the “beautiful game”
They say, if you can’t beat them join ‘em. So, as the whole of Europe is currently fixated on the European Football Championships, I...
Wendy Percival
- Apr 30, 2021
- 3 min
Scandal at the Post Office
How ironic that the very week I’d been researching a branch of my family who’d been postmasters (see Elusive Ellisdons), the next episode...
Wendy Percival
- Mar 19, 2021
- 3 min
Propaganda & Mystery
I found an odd – and slightly disturbing – postcard amongst my family history collection this week while searching for something else. I...
Wendy Percival
- Feb 19, 2021
- 3 min
Flat on his back & plastered!
If you read this blog last week, posted on my late dad’s birthday and you clicked to read Preserving the Memories, you’ll know that my...
Wendy Percival
- Feb 5, 2021
- 2 min
From ankle deep to knee deep
If I was hoping to find some easier surnames to research while wading through the Roberts quagmire (see, The Nightmare of the “too...
Wendy Percival
- Jan 29, 2021
- 3 min
Postcard from Auntie Lizzie
Following my recent mystery aunt post (see Who's the Mystery Aunt) I found another postcard sent from an aunt while organising my old...
Wendy Percival
- Nov 20, 2020
- 3 min
Illegitimacy & Mystery
I’m currently listening to the audiobook version of In the Family Way, by Jane Robinson. It’s a fascinating account of illegitimacy and...
Wendy Percival
- Oct 16, 2020
- 3 min
Mystery and death
Sometimes during family history research you make assumptions – not unreasonable assumptions – but, as we all know, what we discover...
Wendy Percival
- Oct 2, 2020
- 3 min
Assaulted in the Line of Duty
This week saw the anniversary of London’s Metropolitan Police appearing on the streets of England’s capital for the first time, in 1839....
Wendy Percival
- Aug 28, 2020
- 2 min
Mystery Letters - coincidence or connection?
Today English Heritage is unveiling one of its famous Blue Plaques in memory of WWII secret agent Noor Inayat Kahn, who was brutally...
Wendy Percival
- Jul 17, 2020
- 2 min
Politics on a postcard
Sorting through my gran’s postcard collection at the weekend, I came across this one, dated 27th September 1918. Although it shows an...
Wendy Percival
- Jul 10, 2020
- 2 min
Masks by the Million
With masks being a hot topic at the moment - sewing enthusiasts making their own and extra clever versions being invented, such the ones...
Wendy Percival
- Jul 3, 2020
- 2 min
Any witches in your family history?
I once read a fascinating article in Family Tree magazine (15 years ago, as it turns out!) about someone's ancestor who’d been accused of...
Wendy Percival
- Jun 26, 2020
- 2 min
Placing your ancestors
One of the many items on my Family History Projects To Do list, is a One-Place Study, inspired by reading Janet Few’s book, Putting Your...