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The Family Histories PodcastAuthor: The Family Histories Podcast
The Family Histories Podcast is a show that celebrates those of us sat in archives, libraries, and spare bedrooms all around the world, tirelessly piecing together our collective social and family history.Join British family historian Andrew Martin as he interviews a fellow genealogy fan about how they got hooked; listen to his guest tell the life story of their most fascinatingly good, bad, or plain ugly relative; and then it's time to face 'The Brick Wall' - where it's over to the listeners to see if they can help solve the guest's family history puzzle. As a parting gift, Andrew offers each guest a surprise that no family history fan could possibly turn down.... a trip in his secret time machine.Find out more at: familyhistoriespodcast.com Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/familyhistpod.bsky.social Instagram: @FamilyHistPod Facebook: TheFamilyHistoriesPodcastTwitter: @FamilyHistPod Language: en-gb Genres: History, Hobbies, Leisure Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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S10EP05 - 'The Adventuress' with Kathy Wilshaw
Episode 5
Monday, 8 December, 2025
In this fifth episode of Season Ten, host Andrew is joined by professional genealogist, adoption research specialist - Kathy Wilshaw. She tells Andrew about how she got hooked on family history, the challenges of researching as an adoptee, and her work to mediate for other adoptees and their birth parents.THE LIFE STORY - IVY COLLISON Kathy has chosen to tell the story of her... shhhh.... Great Aunt, Ivy Collison who was born in Northamptonshire, UK in 1893. The problem for Kathy in researching Ivy, is that no-one was supposed to talk about her. Obviously, Kathy had to go rummaging as soon as she could...What Kathy found was, at face value, a woman living a somewhat uneventful life, but then a turn of events leads Kathy to the newspapers... and suddenly Ivy's extravagant and criminal lifestyle began to appear.Ivy was a con artist, a fraudster, and she managed to take large amounts of money from unsuspecting hopeful men, and from those who fell for her schemes. Of course, this landed her in trouble many times and this led her to prison sentences and a host of pseudonyms too.Amongst Ivy's story, Kathy has found what is perhaps a woman who was unwell, or desperately sad and lonely, leaving her wondering who the real Ivy was. THE BRICK WALL - JOHN WILSHAW One of Kathy's longest-running brick walls is in her husband's family - with his 3x Great Grandfather John Wilshaw born circa 1804.Whilst Wilshaw is an unusual surname, it isn't unusual in Staffordshire, England, and Kathy wants to know where her husband's ancestor John Wilshaw was from. Sources seem to point to a birth circa 1804, and there's references to Cheddleton too, but despite there being John Wilshaw in the Cheddleton parish register, they don't appear to be him.Can you help her find the correct John Wilshaw, son of John Wilshaw? If you think that you can help Kathy to break down this brick wall with a research idea or clue, then you can message her via her website or via the email address she gives in the episode. Alternatively, you can send us a message and we'll pass it on to her.In the meantime, Andrew offers Kathy help to break that brick wall... but she chooses a different adventure...- - -Episode Credits:Andrew Martin - Host and ProducerKathy Wilshaw - GuestPharos TutorsAdvance your research with a family history course from Pharos Tutors.Support the showThank you for listening! You can sign up to our email newsletter for the latest and behind the scenes news. You can find us on Twitter @FamilyHistPod, Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky. If you liked this episode please subscribe for free, or leave a rating or review, or consider giving us a 'tip' to keep the show funded.
