Tag: Family History

  • Doing Family History from Byzantium through Today

    Doing Family History from Byzantium through Today

      By Ana Núñez (@anac4_nunez) The Byzantine princess Anna Komnene (1083-1153) appears to have been a most devoted daughter. The first-born of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r.1081-1118), Anna took it upon herself to continue the work started by her late husband, Nikephoros Bryennios, and write a history (The Alexiad) of her father’s eventful…

  • Who do I think I am? – My experience with AncestryDNA

    Who do I think I am? – My experience with AncestryDNA

    By Stephanie Brown (@StephEmmaBrown) Thanks to programmes like Who Do You Think You Are? there has never been more interest in family history. Since the turn of the century, family historians have started to look beyond traditional records such as the census, and birth, death, and marriage indices to new scientific methods. DNA tests are now…

  • 1. Oriel College Postcard

    1. Oriel College Postcard

    by Lucy Inskip (@lucyskippin) Rather than finding the most outlandish historical object from a heritage site or online collection, I looked to my own bookshelf for an interesting piece of history. I bought this vintage Oxford coloured postcard print from Antiques on High whilst reading History at Oriel College, University of Oxford (2016-2019). It is from…

  • 7. The Pot on the Windowsill

    7. The Pot on the Windowsill

    By William Gaby Towards the end of a telephone conversation with my grandmother a few weeks ago, I was startled by a surprising revelation. As if a fleeting afterthought, she revealed that her mother had recorded an oral history in the early 2000s. “It was only a very amateur recording – I can’t imagine it…

  • Molly Groarke – Historian Highlight

    Molly Groarke – Historian Highlight

    Historian Highlight is an ongoing series sharing the research experiences of historians in the History Faculty in Cambridge and beyond. In this instalment, Chris Campbell sat down with second-year History PhD student Molly Groarke to discuss imperial history, heritage organisations, and public-facing research.  @mollygroarke | @chriscampbell Molly, let’s start by talking about your PhD research.…