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I found my 3rd great-grandmother and her only son on the Old Bailey website--convicted of stealing and receiving stolen goods. (84 pairs of shoes.) My great-uncle was transported to Australia. For me it was fun because some of my relatives made a big deal about Great Grandfather being descended from a rather illustrious family. Well, yes, some of them were, but times got tough for my direct line.

It happened, it was real. The family fell on hard times when they moved to London. It is all part of the true story. And I put it all on my family history website.

Anyone knowledgeable about older Masonic records? I have searched the Ancestry records for Masons in Cornwall and have found several records in the right place and time to be my ancestors.

Family has passed down certificate dates for two ancestors. My question is: could a certificate be dated as much as two years after the initiation date?

The certificate dates I have don't match up with initiation dates. This is in early 1820s.

Jews were readmitted to England in 1656 under Oliver Cromwell.  Many Spanish and Portuguese Jews had gone to Amsterdam after being expelled from Spain.  I have a couple of family surnames that are Jewish, but they seem to have assimilated into Nonconformist families.  I've been trying to learn more about them.

I came across the Cornish Cousins while net-surfing a few months ago and found out they'd be meeting in Grass Valley, CA in July this year, only about 3 hours from where we live.  We had a conflict, but signed up anyway and went to the last two days, not knowing what to expect.  We had a great time--I didn't know that there was a relatively large settlement of Cornish miners nearby.  We had people from all over, including Australia and Cornwall.  Highlights for me:  hearing Philip Payton talk on A. L. Rowse, and getting a chance to meet Payton afterward.  I have learned a lot from his books.  Another was the seminar on the Bards and Gorsedd by Grand Bard Vanessa Beeman.  Then there was the one-hour romp through 3,500 years of Cornish history. 

In nearby Nevada City at the Doris Foley Library there is the A. C. Todd Cornihs Studies Collection and the Nevada County Genealogical Collection.  I found some useful books there, and a couple of new stories about my Hornblower relatives. We also visited a couple of the mining museums including the Empire Mine.  There is a Cornish Pump operating at the North Star Powerhouse.  (It's just for demonstration, and works with a water wheel rather than a steam engine.)

We tried the local pasties and decided that the real ones we had last summer in Cornwall were much better.  Overall, the Cornish Cousins did a great job.

My emails have bounced and the website is no longer online, so I fear they are out of business.  I was there last June and had a difficult time deciding which books to bring back to the US with me.  I did buy several hundred dollars worth and wish I had bought more.  The person who worked there said she shipped books all over the world. 

If they are out of business, what happened their wonderful stock of old used books and publications?  Would another bookstore have bought them?

These old books (and a couple of new ones) have been invaluable to me in understanding and writing my own family history.