The Family Detective

LOOK AT RECORDS BEFORE AND AFTER YOUR RECORDS Having already established that James Hardy was a Military Pensioner, I have previously tried to look at his service records and found little on them. A hint that I need to remind myself about is when you find a record on someone, check the records before and after in the set. It can give you insights into people they may be connected with, or give a historical perspective on what was happening in the area around them at the time. In doing this I have found a lot more out about James including his description, service history, health and that he had been in Canada (which might open up some more searches for him). MILITARY RECORDS While we know James was a soldier, it is often good to search surnames and districts of soldiers in the years where your ancestor might have been old enough to enlist. You might find a relative. Something in my "to research" list is John Hardy who's military record comes after James'. He was also ...

This post will be controversial, but I hope that anyone coming across it will add something to my theory or discussion. To date no one seems to question the validity that John Ross, the convict shoemaker is John Lees Ross' father.  John Lees was christened at the same church John Ross, the convict, was buried at. The time was only a few years apart. But what more do we have to connect the two? Nothing that I can find. John Ross, the convict, was closely connected to another convict Sarah Bird. In one report his brother Joseph was reported as being Sarah's brother-in-law. John and Sarah ran a brothel together in the inner city of Sydney.  I haven't found any connection between them in England, but they had lived in neighbouring towns. Sarah (nee Hill) married Robert Bird at Whitehaven, in 1816 prior to his transportation to Australia. At around the same time John Ross, the convict, was convicted at Wigton to transportation for stealing a watch. It is most likely this time wa...