How Many Swallows?

 This story is inspired by the 52 Ancestors prompt “Conflicting Clues” (it is a prompt from earlier in the year but I am only just getting around to writing the story).  It is my attempt to untangle the Swallow branch on my family tree by telling the story of my ancestor Hannah Woodcock.

Hannah Woodcock was, I think, born around 1697 in Birstall, Yorkshire, and baptised in the Birstall Parish church on 10 October 1697.  She was the daughter of William Woodcock and Elizabeth.  I am still searching for more details about William and Elizabeth, including their marriage.  The only marriage of a likely date that I can find took place in Finningley, Nottinghamshire, quite a distance away and it seems to be a different family. I do know William and Elizabeth had at least eight children all baptised at Birstall: John (born about 1692), William (born about 1693), Joseph (born about 1695), Hannah, Mary (born about 1700), Benjamin (born about 1702), Joshua (born about 1704) and Sarah (born about 1708).  The Birstall records for the period are difficult to read and are not well indexed, so I might have missed some.  I do not know any more about their lives as I haven’t found any other records.

A Shore Thing

The inspiration for this story is the #52Ancestors prompt “Unexpected”. I have come across many unexpected and surprising stories while researching my family history, so there is plenty of choice.

I discovered my ancestor Elizabeth Shore many years ago, but I only recently discovered her birth and the story of her childhood family because it did not take place where I expected.

A Somerset Family

Elizabeth Shore married Jesse Flower on 14 June 1770 at the parish church of Farmborough, Somerset, by licence.  One of the witnesses was James Tidcombe; when I first found this record, the name did not seem significant.  Elizabeth put a mark in the marriage register, whereas Jesse signed his name.

James Tidcombe's significant signature

Family Connections

The prompt for this post is “A Breakthrough Moment”.

A few weeks ago, I decided to investigate my somewhat mysterious ancestor, Susannah Hobson.  Susannah Hobson married Eden Davies* in 1781, in Passenham, Northamptonshire, England.  It was the second marriage for both.  I am descended from their daughter Elizabeth. 

One method for investigating family history is to look at their family, associates and neighbours (known as the FAN club), so I had a closer look at Susannah’s son from her first marriage (to Francis Cull), Richard Cull.  I discovered that Richard Cull moved from Passenham to Hertingfordbury, Hertfordshire, which distracted me away from Susannah Hobson.

Vintage Map Collage, Copilot generated 27 Jan 2026