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A Family Story

Exploring a Family Tree


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Update History

7th July 2008
People's location when they were not present in Desborough is now starting to be added - see, for example, information about John Tailby and his family


15th June 2008
Some World War II army photos have been added to the Portrait Gallery. You may find a photo of your father or grandfather here.


1st May 2008
Additional links have been added to the navigation bar to make it easier to move about in the Desborough Study, and the index pages within the study have had A-Z shortcuts introduced to improve navigation.


5th January 2008
Work continues on the census transcriptions, with links being added to enable you to see all that's available for an individual. It's also being enhanced with information from other sources. 


18th November 2007

A new section has been added: Historical Notes, giving background information on various topics, such as British coinage, lace making and weaving, and various types of school - 'British', 'National' and 'Board'.


15th November 2007
I've been following up the Coe and Panter families of Desborough, over the last week or two. I knew of more than one marriage between these two families, and I wanted to get a more complete picture. I've now found over 200 Coes and 100 Panters, and still more to come!


26th October 2007
More Kirtley information has been added. Sadly, I discovered that I was adding the same wife and family to two different Henry Kirtleys - both born in Tanfield, within 2 years!  I'm waiting for the marriage certificate to sort this one out.


9th October 2007
I've added more Kirtleys to the tree - yet more railway workers among them, plus one "oddity" - a single child in a family of Londoners, who was born in Australia: Louis.

The Places index has been modified to make it faster.


1st October 2007
A contact from Australia has diverted me from the Howletts to the Kirtleys - a fascinating family, deeply involved with the development of the Railways. A detailed write-up is coming soon, meanwhile have a look at the most famous son: Matthew Kirtley


25th September 2007
Check out the new transcriptions of obituaries

10th September 2007
There are some more Howletts and more information on the existing Howletts, plus some photographs from Meppershall Church where John Henry Howlett was Rector for 51 Years.


5th September 2007
Two more certificates have been added, one of which has added to the puzzle of Sarah, the "nurse child".

The family tree now includes several generations of Howletts, a connection by marriage of the Brattle family.


27th August 2007
The site continues to grow, but more importantly, the "details" page for each person has been extensively changed to include more family information and make it easier to follow.


11th August 2007
Two more pages have been added to the Portrait Gallery, and the Dunford Family information has been updated.


5 August 2007
The Dunford Family - Business and Bankruptcy. Some ups and downs of business in the 19th century.


21 July 2007
Several more BMD certificates have been transcribed, bringing the total on the site to 74. Links have now been added to all identified names on the transcriptions.


10 June 2007
Transcribed service records for Ernest Brattle, covering his service at the North West Frontier, South Africa and WWI