Journeys into Genealogy podcast

Alan Howard of The Talking Family Company has interviewed hundreds if not thousands of people over his career. He shares his tips on how to speak with your relatives and get them to tell their stories including the preparation to do beforehand, what to use to record and where to do an interview. Plus there's an opportunity to buy his video course at a discounted price. Transcript available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack.

Jennie Davey introduces us to the History of Parliament project and explains how government works in England. Biographies of members of parliament, lots of useful sources, oral histories and even mentioning Elizabethan clothing....

3 speakers (Jude Rhodes, Phil Astley and Nicholas Dixon) share about the talks they will be doing for All About That Place in October when there will be 100+ free talks about people and places. We talk about occupation, migration, Aberdeenshire and military ancestors. 

Nancy shares about the family letters she uncovered and the people and stories contained within them. We cover WWI, WWII, German relatives, the difficulties of the Kurrent script, prisoners of war and the Red Cross records and more. 

Janet shares how to find records for female ancestors and to enrich their stories by adding social history. We talk aout women's roles over the centuries, work, running a household, women's rights and more plus details of the courses Janet is doing and the books she has written. 

Ariel takes us on a tour of Portuguese records in both Portugal and Brazil. We discuss archives, naming conventions, geography, history, digitization and more. 

An interview with Corinne Hogan (librarian) and Georgina Thompson (archivist) of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. We talk about history, what records are available (you may be surprised as to what is covered), Sweeney Todd, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Plarr's Lives of the Fellows, the first female members and fellows, military surgeons, the East India Company and much more.

Cathie Sherwood talks about Queensland history, the records that are available and where they can be found. These include newspapers, electoral rolls and education records.

Did you know heraldry began knowing friends from foes on the battlefields? Paul Jagger of The Heraldry Society explains the history, what it means to be armigerous, some of the differences in England and Scotland, who is entitled to bear arms and much more. 

Liz Burling takes us on a tour of London, mentioning the 8 family history societies which cover London, including London Westminster and Middlesex of which she is chair.  What records are available, where they are located, cemeteries and archives. Transcript and map showing area cover by each society available in Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Hugh's father died when he was young and the stories he was told didn't make since. We discuss his journey to find out the truth about his mysterious father crossing from England to Canada, France and Ireland including breakthrough moments, DNA and meetings with living relatives. 

Denyse Allen of Chronicle Makers talks about some of the uses for AI for researching and organizing your family history. We discuss Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini and more and some of the things to be aware of. Denyse has created 5 prompts for getting started and the link is available in the transcript on Substack. 

Hear all about FACHRS and the historical research projects done by members on topics including station masters, lunatic asylums, almshouses, allotments and more. Brita Wood explains how it all works. 

Richard Hartley is researching the history of the village of Pirbright in Surrey, England. We discuss the one place study and his fellow researchers, how far they have got, some of the discoveries plus tips and do's and don'ts for anyone else considering doing their own one place study. Transcript with all links is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack

Life for women in 19th century USA was not easy. Gail Zona has transcribed family letters and turned them into a book "Dearest Clara". We talk about the letters themselves, the writers (her 2 x great grandmother Nell Nichols and sisters Clara and Alice, the life they lived (a hard and quite restrictive one) and the world they lived in with society's expectations of them including the effects of coverture. 

Lene Kottal and I talk about unique Danish records, naming conventions, spelling, censuses, military records, wills, estate administration, Danish history, the Danish National Archives, emigration and much more. 

Else takes us on a journey through her own family history and then the Society of Genealogists. We talk about the wealth of records available including some quite unusual ones like civil service applications, school records, trade directories, teachers, customs and excise and apprenticeships for the London Guilds and Livery Companies. The SoG has just launched their new website so it will be easy to navigate. The transcript is in Journeys into Genealogy on Substack.

Duff Wilson from Family Tree Maker (FTM) shared details of FTM history, what's in the latest version, new features, examples of charts and reports, opportunities for beta testing and the most underused parts of FTM.

Plus a special offer for listeners to Journeys into Genealogy starting on 11 February. Full details in the transcript/post on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Lucy Reynoldson shares tips about making the most of Rootstech 2026 (coming 5-7 March) including the preparation to do beforehand (hint: start as soon as possible), Relatives at Rootstech, searching for content and creating schedules and customised playlists. The transcript is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Find out more about Canadian research and what's available at Library and Archives Canada and elsewhere and how Canadian records work in this interview with François Simon Wathier and Marie-Eve Robert. Transcript with links available at https://journeysintogenealogy.substack.com

It's been 5 years since I setup the Journeys into Genealogy podcast. In the final episode of 2025 I include some clips from the most popular interviews of the year, details of the most downloaded overall plus details of what's to come in 2026. The transcript is available on Substack.

What does it mean to be Cuban American? Barbara Caver shares family stories, her visit to Cuba, connecting with ancestors, visiting ancestral places and her book "A Little Piece of Cuba: A Journey to Become Cubana-Americana"

Graham Holton of Strathclyde University talks about genetic genealogy, autosomal and Y-DNA testing, his book "DNA: a Guide for Family Historians", the 2026 online conference, potential future developments in DNA and much more. The transcript with links is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Emma Maxwell tells us about the wealth of records available on Scottish Indexes including criminal databases, paternity indexes, mental health, deeds, sasines, tips for searching and much more. We also talk about the Scottish Indexes Conference (next one is on Sat 22 November 2025). Transcript available on Substack. 

There were lots of secrets in Nicola Hanefeld's family. One item led to a treasure trove of sometimes upsetting documents relating to their past in Czechoslovakia, the Holocaust and the fate of some of her family. Following the stories Nicola wrote a book "The Unspeakable, Breaking My Family Silence Surrounding the Holocaust". The interview transcript is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Dennis Cronin discovered lots of stories about his great grandfather Michael Sweeney and his 6 children. The tales go from Ireland in the early 20th century to World War I, emigration to the USA and a long forgotten "murder". He discusses his research, visiting the old family farm, life and society in Ireland and the book he has written about it "Michael Sweeney". The transcript is available on the Journeys into Genealogy Substack.

Lucy Reynoldson shares some of the amazing range of resources and records available on Family Search including full text search, affiliate libraries, labs and experiments, Rootstech registration and what's coming up in the future. A transcript of the interview with links is available on Substack. 

A DNA test, an NPE and One Big Happy Family - actress Lisa Brenner's story of her life changing DNA results and the film she has made about it. 

I recently interviewed Steph Ford about her family history and how she is helping people record their family stories. We discuss migration from England and across the US, talking to living relatives, time travel, photographs, videos and more. The interview transcript is available on Substack. 

Chancery is all about money and disputes, often within the family and the details can be a goldmine for genealogists and family historians. Susan Moore takes us on a journey through Chancery records, visiting the National Archives at Kew and some of the delights to be found in the records. She explains what different records exist (there are many types including master's reports, affadavits and more), where to find them and shares stories she has discovered with some cases that lasted for decades. The interview transcript is on Substack alongside a second shorter interview about Francis Drake and his...

Peter Calver explains about Lost Cousins and how it can connect you with distant cousins (you have to add your relatives and see who pops up as a living cousin) and save you time with family history research.

Transcript (with links) available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Editor Sarah Williams talks about how she setup the magazine, the type of content within it and how people can submit stories, Q&As and letters for inclusion in future issues. Plus a special subscription offer for listeners.

Dr Jessamy Carlson talks about the history of the National Archives at Kew, the National Farm Survey, military nurses, maps, shipping records, the MI5 exhibition, Sir Henry Cole and even mentions rats! Find out what records they hold and how to locate them, what is available online and how to visit in person. 

Andy Kerridge takes us on a tour of Suffolk, mentioning resources, museums, universities, projects and the background of the Suffolk Family History Society. Plus where to find records in Suffolk and elsewhere. 

Tess Martin has lived in rental properties in Rotterdam, The Netherlands for many years. 

She researched one of her former homes and its occupants in Rotterdam. Using the Dutch archives and other websites like WieWasWie she found the 'house cards' listing residents and 'family cards' listing addresses and using this information to create a short film in the house about the passage of time.

Chris Hussey never met his grandfather, Frank Herbert Stacey, and his life wasn't discussed within the family. Through research, a bit of luck and later confirmation with DNA and living relatives he discovered hidden secrets, his military service in Canada and WWI and a second family.

Do you have family medals or are you interested in collecting them? Andrew Mann and Graham Grist from the Orders and Medals Research Society explain about British military medals, who was entitled to receive them (including some surprising recipients), where to find out about medals and the pitfalls to beware. Also included is a a resources sheet available via Substack

The Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society has a wealth of resources and local knowledge for anyone with ancestors from the Glasgow and wider west of Scotland area. Scott Fairie and I discuss what the society has available, Scottish records in general, burying grounds, shipbuilding, railways, weaving, memorial inscriptions and lots more. A transcript and resources sheet is available on Journeys into Genealogy on Substack. 

Sarah Pettyfer and I discuss how manorial, court and other records can be used to trace your ancestors back well beyond the 19th century including the court baron, court leet, copyhold and freehold land, yeomen and husbandmen and where to find the records as not many of them have been digitised. 

There is a second interview on Spittleditch on Substack and transcripts for both interviews. 

Join me to find out more about researching your Northern Irish ancestors with Martin McDowell and Linda Kilby of the North of Ireland Family History Society. We discuss the resources available within the society and elsewhere (many more than you may think), events they run including an annual DNA summer school and a roadshow plus the services they offer for members and enquiries.

A transcript of this interview is available on Substack: Journeys into Genealogy on Substack plus a second interview with Martin about the North of Ireland DNA project and a resources sheet full of useful...