Bite-size blog | wendypercival

Thanks for dropping in!

Feel free to scroll down the posts below and discover the intriguing - sometimes shocking - discoveries I've made as I've explored my family history.

I hope you enjoy reading them!

From one mystery to more

Sometimes in family history a simple trail can explode in all directions, creating a myriad of new lines of enquiry. Which is what...

Wendy Percival

Oct 9, 20202 min read

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

Oct 2, 20203 min read

Every now and again, I take out one of my favourite mystery packages, a small leatherette pouch full of (mostly) unnamed photographs, and...

Wendy Percival

Sep 25, 20202 min read

Today is the 170th birthday of one of the Black Sheep of my family – Edward Henry Coules Colley. It was a while before I found out...

Wendy Percival

Sep 18, 20202 min read

Having corroborated the previously unknown story of my grandmother’s time spent at boarding school, (see On the Trail of the Mystery...

Wendy Percival

Sep 11, 20202 min read

Back to School has been on everyone’s mind this week, and I must admit to still being a little shell-shocked from solving the mystery...

Wendy Percival

Sep 4, 20202 min read

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

Aug 28, 20202 min read

A comment in my late aunt's family history notes about my grandmother, Winifred Griffiths, (the little mite in the middle, pictured left)...

Wendy Percival

Aug 21, 20202 min read

“She was a sweet gentle lady and we all loved her.” So my late aunt recorded in her family history notes about her great-aunt Minnie...

Wendy Percival

Aug 14, 20202 min read

I’ve always been fascinated by Lynn Heiden’s enthusiasm for collecting photographs (some would say, obsession!). So much so, that it...

Wendy Percival

Aug 7, 20204 min read