Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Family Tree Talk

Tune in to this week’s Family Tree Talk podcast as cohost Nathan Ward continues his quest to locate every last piece of the Hearn Family 1911 Census puzzle. With two of the sons found ensconced in an Industrial School, Nathan is getting the ‘colourful’ ancestors he’s hankered after. But what can he find about their parents and siblings? Tune in with cohost Helen Tovey to see how he’s getting on.

Tune in to this week’s Family Tree Talk podcast as we speak to reminiscence pioneer Rick Voight. Discover how those old family photos and memories are not just precious to you, but can also be transformative – in helping to improve the quality of care of older people in our lives, who may be experiencing memory loss. With a life-time of working in photography and a deep respect for the value of reminiscence in our lives, Rick has a wealth of insights to share. Podcast cohosts Helen Tovey and Nathan Ward listen in.

Tune in to this week’s episode as podcast co-host Nathan Ward scrutinises a First World War service record, which luckily was saved from the infamous fire (scorch-holes to prove it!). From tattoos, to children’s nicknames, he’s uncovered a wealth of info about his forebear and his forebear’s family. Join with cohost Helen Tovey to find out what Nathan’s been up to this week on the family history research front.

Hot on the heels of his first cousin 4x removed, podcast co-host Nathan Ward’s family history findings grow only more fascinating. From getting married in Sydney in 1888 to serving in the First World War at the grand age of 49, Elijah Hearn junior is one of those family members with a lot of story to tell. Far from being a rabbit hole, however, Nathan is relishing both the discoveries, and the fact that it’s helping him build his ‘down & out’ family tree. We’d love you to join him and co-host Helen Tovey – tune in today.

Tune in to this week’s Family Tree Talk with podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey. Nathan’s genealogy journey continues apace as he’s now racing along the side branches of his family tree tracing the life on the high seas of his 4x great-uncle Elijah. Helen, meanwhile has got a little lost in Lego and nostalgia. But it’s not all bad – as it turns out that trips down memory lane can be just what’s needed to improve the care of older people in our lives who may be dealing with memory loss.

Don’t miss our free webinar, on this very topic (22 September, 2pm UK time). Find out more and sign up here: https://www.family-tree.co.uk/content-library/genealogy-care-of-older-people-part-1/

Family Tree Talk podcast co-host Nathan Ward has been digging for weeks now, trying to find his Elizabeth Thing on the 1851 Census. While she’s remaining elusive, his family history is in no way standing still… In fact, being ‘forced’ to stick in one place, and one time period, has provided Nathan with time to look around him - to discover more about some of the other people in her life… her brother, her son… And what he’s finding is fascinating. Join him, with Helen Tovey, to tune in to the chat.

Cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up on their family history discoveries. Erstwhile tree-tracing newbie Nathan is now at the point of adding 5th (and maybe even 6th) times great-grandparents to his tree. Helen thinks that he should just go for it; he’s not so sure however, and wants to accrue more evidence before proceeding. Have a listen – and we’d love to hear your views.

Nathan’s busy researching his 4x- great-grandparents in the early/mid 1800s. Helen is, slowly, getting on with her digital filing. Progress is being made by both of them, but things aren’t progressing as quickly as perhaps they should… Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat through their family history and mull over what good research looks like, which thorough steps to take, and also when to think ‘hey is this a rabbit hole?’.

This week on Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat through Nathan’s recent research forays as he works to find records for his family in the early 1800s. What might those baptism, marriage and burial records reveal for him. Tune in – we’d love you to join us.

Tune in to Family Tree Talk as Nathan Ward shares details of his forays into the 1841 Census. Turns out it wasn’t half as scary as he’d thought and he’s now busy piecing together the puzzles of a potentially blended family. In the process he’s encountered eight (or more) children (two of whom are called James), he’s deliberating on merging two duplicate ancestors, and he’s begun collecting ancestors for his Thing (yes what a great surname!) branch from Suffolk. Podcast cohost Helen Tovey listens along.

Tune in to this week’s episode of Family Tree Talk as podcast cohost Nathan Ward shares the details and delights of picking up his family history research again. The past few weeks have seen him researching context; now he’s super-happy to be back to tree-building and dusting off his core family history skills. Join him and cohost Helen Tovey as they discuss what Nathan’s been up to and the best ways for picking up your research and finding your way after a little gap.

Where to start with this most complex of topics – our memories? Perhaps the best place is the kitchen of Janna Helshtein’s grandma, where – half a century ago – we see her preparing her much loved pickle recipe, with little Janna looking on. Perhaps you too have memories you keep with you, some happy, some not so. Tune in and take a trip down memory lane and take a look at the unique place that memories hold in our family history and our lives with Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey, and genealogist Janna Helshtein.

Tune in for this week’s Family Tree Talk with podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey. When doing our family history there is so much to discover isn’t there!? Sometimes it’s easy… and sometimes less so... But learning from other family historians is always a valuable experience. This week Nate and Helen take their hat off to some awesome pod-listener advice, share some of the tidbits from the upcoming issue of Family Tree, and generally enjoy a good old family history chat. We’d love you to join us.

Tune in to the latest episode of Family Tree Talk as podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat family history. Nathan’s been hunting for an elusive WW1 airfield and delving further into his grandfather’s life. Helen’s been dusting off research notes from a few years ago… and deciding that this time she really is going to solve the puzzle of her 6x great-grandfather. We’d love you to join us.

What makes you tick? What are the experiences that have changed the course of your life … That have made you who you are? How did you pick yourself up when times were tough?

Those who come after us would love to know the answers to these things…. But are you in danger of leaving the story of your own life a blank chapter in your family history.

Tune in this week as podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat to Janna Helshtein of Genealogy for Our Descendants about why our story matters.

Family Tree Talk podcast co-host Nathan Ward loves aeroplanes. Long has he wished to have an aviation connection in his family tree. And it was when he recently got the family talking that the clues – which would lead to his wish becoming true – gradually came out into the light. Tune in to hear about his recent family history discoveries and the power of chatting to parents, aunts, uncles, siblings and so forth, with co-host Helen Tovey.

Join podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey for this week’s Family Tree Talk chat, as Nathan shares where he’s got up to in his research. He’s looking at 4x and even 5x great-grandparents 🙌, but is feeling a bit unsure about the details he’s finding… Has he got it right or not? Together they mull over ideas to help with clarity and confidence about putting the pieces together and making sure they really fit.

You know the feeling when you’ve been researching all those great-great-grandparents… but you’ve not really looked into the generations that are closer at hand, because you ‘already know them’. This is the spot that Family Tree Talk podcast co-host Nathan Ward found himself in this week. Tune in as he and Helen Tovey share ideas for gathering clues about those family members that people remember… before it’s too late.

‘Don't beat yourself up for not doing as much family history as you want,’ says podcast cohost Nathan Ward. ‘Yes, even if you're doing a little, you're still winning,’ agrees Helen Tovey.

Join Nathan and Helen this week for your next dose of family history chat - and encouragement to keep going, even when it can feel as though you have the world of genealogy tasks you’d like to do. When that sense of overwhelm is looming, little by little is the key!

Join podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey for genealogy chat. This week Nathan Ward is continuing on the trail of his great-grand uncle Alexander MacKay. Feeling a little stuck where to turn next, he tentatively asked listeners for help… and they have come up trumps. Tune in for family history discoveries, learning points, and to see how a family history helping hand makes all the difference

Once we start on family history we all soon realise that it’s not that easy-breezy experience that we sometimes see portrayed on the telly. But, nonetheless, it can shake our confidence in our ability if we can’t find the info we need. This week on Family Tree Talk, cohost Nathan Ward weighs up the info he’s found, and not found, with Helen Tovey. Has he forgotten those family history search skills that he’s worked so hard to get? Or is he just facing a particularly knotty family history research situation? Tune in to find out. We’d love you to join us.

Tune in for family history chat as Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey discuss 'negative space', how to work out whether you've searched high and low enough, and the way in which Nathan's Excel sheet may be just what you need to keep your research in order. Plus Nathan dives into the whisper of a family mystery, a possible child, and the question of 'Who Was Dolly?'.... We'd love you to join us.

Tune in for this week’s genealogy chat with podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey … who are joined by a very special guest – Family Tree publisher Matt Hill. He’s got some exciting news to share about our BRAND NEW website, which is, though we say it ourselves, as delicious as a box of genealogical chocolates. Tuck in!

PS Has Nathan been visited by The Family History Angel?

This week Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey mull over the topic of ‘how do you know it’s right?’. You know, those questions that we’re all faced with when doing our family history, such as ‘How do you know that an index entry is definitely for your ancestor?’, ‘Is that old photo really who it’s said to be?, and so forth. Plus, they chat about which steps to take to try to minimise their chances of getting it wrong. Tune in for genealogy chat – we’d love you to join us.

Join Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey this week as they chat family history. What it feels like when you make a mistake... How you unpick the problem, and then pick yourself up and keep going. The value of stopping to take stock and reflect on your findings. The importance of learning about your ancestors' lives and times - both to help you get a feeling for the world they once lived in, and also to provide you with new ideas and inspiration for the next step on your research journey.

Join podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey as they catch up about their recent research forays. Nathan has completed his quest to find the death dates for all 16 of his 2x great-grandparents, while Helen has been enjoying the new 1926 Irish Census... and wishing she hadn't been leaping to too many false conclusions. (She'd like to apologise for getting into monologue mode in her excitement). Tune it - we'd love you to join us.

Are you feeling a bit stuck? Facing a family history situation that you can’t work out? Then tune in to the latest episode of Family Tree Talk, where Dr Sophie Kay will be chatting about some of the techniques she uses to make research progress – even when the going gets really tough. Plus, first, podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up on their recent research forays – and Nathan tells us about his (rather enviable) new genealogy journal.

For weeks and weeks now, podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey have been chipping away at their respective research goals. Nathan is working on finding the death dates for each of his 2x great-grandparents, while Helen is building her family tree out and down, tracing her ancestors’ siblings and their descendants. Is it taking time? Yes! But is it worth it? Definitely so. See how the research gradually adds up to so many new exciting discoveries.

Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up on their recent research. Discussing what they’ve found. Discussing how to look for answers without necessarily spending money. Reflecting on the importance of doing the tasks… but also how absolutely important it is to keep it fun! Thoughts on the possibility of ‘getting your tree done in a single weekend’… and why would you want to?! The correlation, or not, between a good attitude to physical exercise and to family history. You know, just shooting the genealogy breeze. Tune in – we’d love you to join us.

In this week’s genealogy chat Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about a world of family history related topics, from the ethical dilemmas of doing research for a friend; to how to make sure an online family tree is secret (if it needs to be), plus chat about Ancestry tags, scores and more!

Usually family history can be a bit of an escape, can’t it? … An oasis of calm in our busy lives. But sometimes those research puzzles and projects and send us hither and thither like headless chickens, rushing about making a lot of noise, but very little progress. This week in Family Tree Talk, podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about their recent research forays, and discuss ideas to get the research back on track – with the aid of a research plan.

In this episode of Family Tree Talk, podcast co-host Nathan Ward shares his most recent discoveries and reflections with Helen Tovey. They discuss the family history process – considering: what does it really feel like to do family history? What is the best next step to take, when you completed a family history goal, before you move on to a new chapter in your research? And they chat about the many different forms that family history can take – from formal research to conversations and memory sharing with loved ones today.

Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat family history, as Nathan discusses the research steps he’s taken recently to unpick an online tree tangle, dig deeper into the records, and work out once and for all who his 3x great-granny really was. Tune in to see how he got on, and the usefulness of enlisting the power of the Genealogical Proof Standard to help ensure your research is rock solid. And, oh yes, a bit about GEDCOM files to try and cure Nathan’s aversion to this trusty format.

Ertswhile newbie Nathan had nearly finished collecting all 32 of his 3x great-grandparents (superb effort, hey?) … when he realised that not all the facts were stacking up. Where had his research taken a wrong turn? And how was he going to get it back on track? This episode podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about recent research forays and share ideas and steps to help fix those facts.

Family history erstwhile newbie Nathan Ward has only been tracing his family tree for a little over a year, but this week sees him ‘collect’ the final missing ancestor of his 3x great-grandparents. But is that 32nd person really his. With impressive will-power, Nathan weighs up the facts before proceeding to add them to his tree. Tune in for Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey for nitty-gritty nuts-and-bolts family-history chat.

This week podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about the tools that help you manage your Ancestry tree the way that you wish: how to cope with hints; how to merge duplicate people on your tree; how to check that living people’s details are really hidden & more. Plus the battle of the tree score continues – Nathan is leading the way with an impressive 9.9. Is an Elite score of 10 out of 10 within his reach?

Making a start on your family history can be a quick and simple thing to do. Keeping going, digging deeper, sticking to the plan and getting your goal accomplished are another thing entirely. This episode podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about Nate’s on-going project to find all his 3x great-grandparents – with search tips and research hacks woven in along the way. Tune in & enjoy!

In the latest issue of Family Tree Talk, podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey talk about their recent tree-building exploits. Nathan Ward discusses his recent discoveries on his quest to add all 32 of his 3x great-grandparents to his family tree. He’s even found one set of 4x great-grandparents... without finding the 3x great-grandparents that should be the missing link. How is this even possible? Tune in to find out more

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey roll up their sleeves and get going again on the quest to trace Nathan’s ancestors in Scotland. It’s Nathan’s first research foray over the border from Pudsey and Nate and Helen chat about: ways to get unstuck, and some useful websites for embarking on Scottish family history research.

Tune in for genealogy tips and chat. In this episode of Family Tree Talk podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey reflect on death certificates: Why order them? What can you learn from them? What clues and insights do they provide beyond the cause of death? Plus they take a whistle-stop tour of some of the many other useful records that shed light on our ancestors’ passing. What will you discover?

This week on Family Tree Talk podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey discuss marriage records. Thinking about the go-to places in which to look for marriage records. Reminding themselves to make sure they’ve gleaned every last clue from these precious papers. Check that they’ve tracked down the family wedding photos. And perhaps even taken a peep at the historic Met Office report for the day – to see whether their ancestors wed in sunshine, showers, or perhaps, even a romantic dusting of snow…

In this episode of the Family Tree Talk podcast, cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey go back to the beginning, and reflect on the rich range of clues a birth certificate holds… quite aside from that little nugget of an ancestor’s birthday. Join us as we continue our tour of the key family history records where we are constantly reminded that there is always, always, something new and exciting to learn, even about the most familiar of old-friend family history records.

This episode podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about the census: the clues, the stories, the value of taking a new look at these oh-so-familiar documents and more. Plus Helen puts Nathan on the spot with a quick Census 101 test, and Helen has to admit the doesn’t know the answers to more questions than you’ve had hot dinners. The link to our comprehensive census guide is: https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/uk-census-records/

Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey are joined this week by a very special guest - genealogy AI guru Carole McCulloch. They ask her the how, what, why of using AI to help us with our family histories. Tune in to find out - is AI for you? And how can it really help you accomplish more in your genealogical research?

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about the how, what & why of creating a rock solid family tree. Plus learn about: Nathan’s multi-millionaire ancestor, how to assess whether an old photo you’ve found online is credibly that of your ancestor, and thoughts on when to call in the heavy guns and get some specialist help with your family history.

From free online palaeography courses to thoughts on AI transcription tools, learn about the resources that can help you read old handwriting. Podcast cohosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey chat about deciphering documents, setting realistic family history goals, working on new branches of the family tree and more.

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of the Family Tree Talk podcast! Our one-year anniversary! 52 episodes of stories, discoveries and plenty of genealogical detective work.

And speaking of detective work… there’s someone who’s been on quite the journey over the past year: podcast co-host Nathan Ward. When this all began, he was our resident family history newbie. But look at him now! He’s survived censuses, conquered civil registration, put tree hints under the microscope and so much more.

To celebrate one whole year of family history podcast fun, we’re putting him to the ultimate test. Join him and podcast co-host Helen Tovey and see how much you know. The clock starts now.

Don’t you just love it when you come across a new record or two, and all the details match perfectly? Nathan Ward shares just such a pleasing piece of research, about his WW1 air mechanic family member. And podcast co-hosts Nathan and Helen Tovey chat family history: from the importance of recording memories, to what to do when you spot a mistake on someone else’s tree, and the dangers of drawing false assumptions when basing conclusions on just a single fact.

Podcast co-hosts Nathan Ward and Helen Tovey catch up on their latest family history endeavours, reflect on the importance of remembering, and begin to think about which family history goals they want to actually complete between now and the end of the year. Wish them luck!

It’s a busy week in this episode of the podcast with co-hosts Nate Ward and Helen Tovey. If you only do a few things in the coming few days:

1. Order any wills you need from https://www.gov.uk/search-will-probate (£1.50 - going up to £16 on 17/11/2025).

2. Make sure you make use of the free access to online military records (eg check the major family history data websites).

3. Go download the combat reports of Czech Battle of Britain flying ace Jan Francsizek.

And yes, go on - tune in to this week’s episode of the podcast to find out more!