In this third episode of Series Six, host Andrew meets professional genealogist Clare Kirk, who tells him about how she got into family history, why she turned professional, the work of Friends Of Friendless Churches, and her hopes for a special 18th century document in Buckinghamshire, England, that details the cake man, the rat man, and a pig poker.

Listen to the episode

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music, and others…

The Life Story – Harriet Read

Clare has chosen to tell the life story of Harriet Read, who together with her sister Emma were the ‘cousins’ of her husband’s grandfather.

This story is surrounded by a mass of family rumours and conflicting stories involving nursing, Royal households, family vaults, workhouses, emigration, old letters, and a silent movie star, but where did fact end and fiction begin?

Clare being the family historian, soon picked up the trail, and began to research this fascinating story in her husband’s family, determined to find the truth and discovered a very tangled tree, hidden secrets, and that there is never smoke without fire.

The Brick Wall – Thomas Bowen Maultby

It’s Thomas Bowen Maultby – the brother of Clare’s great grandmother that is causing her a headache. Interestingly, the surname Maultby is not the common spelling of this surname – that title usually goes to Maltby.

Born on 15th May 1869 to Thomas Maultby and Eliza (née Randall) at Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire in England, Clare has been able to follow him through the census returns until 1881 when he appears as a ten year old. He then appears twice more – once, in 1915 named as a beneficiary in the Will of an aunt, and secondly as the person who seems to have lived in West Ealing, London when he purchased a plot in Hanwell Cemetery, London where his mother was buried in 1917.

Since then, no further definite mentions are found.

• Where did Thomas Bowen Maultby go?
• Is his name hidden by name variants?
• Did he travel overseas or did his railway roots take him to somewhere in the UK?
• Was he dead before the purchase of his mother’s cemetery plot in 1917?

If you think that you can help Clare with a research clue or idea, then you can contact her on Twitter at @DigUpYourAncestors or via her website digupyourancestors.com or alternatively you can send us a message and we’ll pass it straight on to her.

In the meantime, Clare is concerned by Andrew’s offer of help…. was she wise to worry?

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Episode Resources

A list of resources and websites mentioned during this episode.

• www.british-history.ac.uk – British History Online (BHO)
• digupyourancestors.com – Clare’s website ‘Dig Up Your Ancestors’
• friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk – Friends of Friendless Churches
• www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/poverty-poor-laws – Poverty and Poor Laws – The National Archives
• www.pharostutors.com – Pharos Tutors
• sedgwickclub.soc.srcf.net – The Sedgwick Club
• www.sedgwickmuseum.org – Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences

Episode Credits

• Andrew Martin – Host and Producer
• Clare Kirk – Guest
• John Spike – Sándor Petőfi