The fourth episode of Series Five – The Glazier – sees host Andrew talk to genealogist and Family Tree Magazine columnist, Paul Chiddicks. He tells us how he got hooked on researching his family history, about his Old Palace School Bombing project, his ‘Dear Paul’ magazine column, and what a genealogy-themed range of Lego sets might look like.

Listen to the episode

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and others…

The Life Story – William Wootton

Paul has chosen to tell the life story of his maternal Great Grandfather, William Tom Wootton, born 28th May 1863 in Kentish Town, London, England, whom he describes as an ‘entrepreneur’ although others may describe him as more of a ‘chancer’, living in the incredible poverty of the East End of London.

William married Elizabeth Ellen Compton in a Register Office in St. Pancras, London, in 1875, and the couple had 7 children.

William is recorded on the 1881 census as a ‘lead glazier’, but this was just one of his many skilled occupations. This work would take him around the country, moving to wherever the lead glazier work took him, including at York Minster and Salisbury Cathedral.

Sadly Elizabeth died during the birth of the couple’s 7th child, resulting in William’s re-marriage to an Emily Dodd. With Emily, they added another 9 children – bringing the Wooten brood to 16! Times were hard, and so William used a wide range of labouring skills, musical skills, and Punch and Judy shows, to make ends meet… including a tantalising family rumour about some well known East End songs.

The Brick Wall – Samuel Chiddicks

Paul is looking for help in tracing a Samuel Chiddicks – a brick wall that has bugged Paul for almost 30 years.

Paul knows that Samuel died in February 1816, and was buried in the village of South Fambridge in Essex, England. He was noted as being 55 years old, giving him an approximate birth year of 1761.

Samuel is believed to have married Mary Turner in 1787 in South Fambridge, and certainly to Ann Beard in 1794.

What Paul doesn’t know though is – where was Samuel Chiddicks born?

He has undertaken an autosomal test with Ancestry, and a Y-DNA test with Family Tree DNA, and this has given him a much deeper look back in time, and some matches in the USA and Northern Ireland, that all lead back to County Tyrone and County Fermanagh in Northern Ireland.

• Where was Samuel Chiddicks born?
• Who were his parents?
• Is Northern Ireland in his Chiddicks ancestry?

If you think that you can help Paul with a clue or a research idea that will help him bust his brick wall, then you can send him a message through his website or via Twitter @chiddickstree alternatively, you can send us a message and we’ll pass it on.

Meanwhile, Paul is cautious of Andrew’s offer of help, but maybe he has a good reason to be…

---

Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
• Paul Chiddicks – Guest
• John Spike – Sándor Petőfi