I’ve spent a lifetime researching my family tree. It was never in the hope of finding an aristocrat, statesman, general or explorer among my ancestors. I just wanted to connect with generation upon generation of ancestors, probably all ditch-diggers and swineherds, who had clung on through thin and thinner, back into the mists of history.Continue reading “Location, Location: Devil’s Acre”
Category Archives: Research
Christmas starts now. Or it used to.
I am nicking this post, looking at the history of Christmas, from my business website which won’t be there for much longer (I am officially retired!) In 350AD the Pope decreed that the feast of Christ’s Nativity should be held on December 25. This was fortunate because in Northern Europe it was essential to findContinue reading “Christmas starts now. Or it used to.”
In Praise of Libraries
I was at an event in a library a couple of years ago, chatting with author Roz Watkins about crime writing. The library was Newport Community Library. No, not that Newport, the other very small ancient borough in Pembrokeshire. It is maintained by volunteers and donations because all around the country small libraries are beingContinue reading “In Praise of Libraries”
So Clear, So Obvious
There’s a difference between writing history and writing historical fiction, but sometimes the two can overlap. Write about a real historical character and the author has to do all the research that an academic historian would. The facts are there and cannot be changed. The difference is that the author of fiction is free toContinue reading “So Clear, So Obvious”
Thorne Moore 