<![CDATA[Projectkin: Emma Explores]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/s/emma-exploreshttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zTGw!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc4e523bc-4fb7-4714-b248-b33ff31c0820_1280x1280.pngProjectkin: Emma Exploreshttps://projectkin.substack.com/s/emma-exploresSubstackTue, 09 Jun 2026 02:54:09 GMT<![CDATA[Emma Explores… All the Twos: Celebrating 2 years of “Emma Explores” on Projectkin]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-all-the-twoshttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-all-the-twosThu, 21 May 2026 20:20:21 GMTThank you to , , , and all of you following along with this recording. Your thoughtful engagement in Emma Cox’s presentation today, the lively conversation that followed (and your comments below), are what make this such a special program.

Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see.

These free programs are made possible by the generous support of our Patrons. Learn more, Projectkin.org/about & join us!

Plucked from Emma’s Family Tree

After a little break, is back with another creative twist on her family history. In this episode, Emma shares tantalizing bits of her workflow. She shared how she leverages the nearly 10,000 ancestors in her Family Tree Maker database to export a kinship report and explore over 1,500 second cousins. From that listing, she’s shared three of particular interest.

  • Reginald Charles Edward Abbot, Lord Colchester 1842-1919 (Emma’s 2C5R)

  • Joseph Stanley Holmes (Lord Dovercourt) 1878-1961 (2C2R)

  • Ernest William Moir 1862-1933 1st Baron Whitehanger (2C3R)

  • Charles Edward Littledale 1843-1918 (2C4R)

And why stop at cousins when you can have a second earl? (Don’t miss the castle on the hill.)

  • Thomas Holland, 2nd Earl of Kent, 1350-97, half-brother of Richard II, King of England, and Emma’s 18th great-grandfather.

Lessons to be Found

There are always tips and techniques to be gleaned from Emma’s explorations. Probably the most significant from today’s program was the tip to appreciate the power of your gateway ancestors. This was a topic she’d explored in one of her very first Emma Explores programs.

While it’s easy to get distracted by the discovery of pedigreed ancestors with castles, a key benefit of your gateway connection is that those fancy pedigreed ancestors will have been carefully researched. If you can find even a second or more distant cousinship, the connection can get you a quick bounce-back in history.

In the US, the equivalent might be Revolutionary War or Mayflower ancestors. In Australia, we’ve talked about “Convict Royalty.” What is it in your region?

Leave a comment

Other episodes in Episodes Emma mentioned in the introduction to the topic:

Patterns and names:

Maybe we’re related?

In our March Episode, just after RootsTech 2026, Emma and I started a discussion about the Relatives at RootsTech program, large relative counts, and the incredible value of learning from others attending. That’s all over now; however, the lessons learned linger. Did you know:

  • In many cases, if you have a FamilySearch account and are logged in and viewing someone you are related to, you may have special access to view details on others who contributed to the profile. Tap the name, and you may discover a cousin:

    If, during Relatives at RootsTech, you had made contact with this person, perhaps through a shared ancestor, you’ll still be able to chat with them.

    Example profile: Johannes George Mertz ID K24P-M13

There’s more. If you’re interested in collaborating with others in our community, join us at Relative Finder. This does require a FamilySearch login and is really only as interesting as your FamilySearch profile is deep, but it can be a fun, open-source way to find connections across our community. Please visit the site and search Groups for “Projectkin.” You will have to request access, though it’s generally granted within 24 hours. If not, drop me a message.

RelativeFinder.org

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation. You’ll find these a useful resource in your own research:

Slides from Projectkin Emma Explores All The Twos
2.04MB ∙ PDF file
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Program slides as shared by Emma Cox, Journeys into Genealogy.
Download

Resources Mentioned

As Projectkin, we’re here to help families tell their stories in any form. I feel strongly that our collections of photos and other artifacts are key to our memories and, in turn, our stories.

If you have a publication of your own, and you think your friends might find this interesting, why not let your friends know with a recommendation?

This nifty button, “your.substack.com/publish/recommendations,” takes you to your own recommendations dashboard. (Seriously, try it!)

Naturally, I’d love a recommendation, but I also encourage everyone to be generous in sharing recommendations for the publications you enjoy. It helps us find each other as family history buffs in the nicest possible way. 🥰

Recommend Projectkin

Oh, one more thing — if you think this post might interest a friend or colleague, why not just pass it along?

Share

These are public posts, and our events are free because sharing your stories is that important. Let’s get this started!

See all coming events in our calendar at Projectkin.org/events.

Emma explores footer
]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Researching Artists, Sculptors and Painters » March 2026]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-researching-artistshttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-researching-artistsThu, 19 Mar 2026 20:09:17 GMTThank you to , , and all of you following along with this recording. Your thoughtful engagement in Emma Cox’s presentation today, the lively conversation that followed (and your comments below), are what make this such a special program.

Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see.

These free programs are made possible by the generous support of our Patrons. Learn more, Projectkin.org/about & join us!

With memories of RootsTech still fresh, our discussion before the recording began once again touched on the Relatives at RootsTech program, large relative counts, and the incredible value of learning from others attending. Remember, the program will remain active through the end of April.

If you’re interested in collaborating with others in our community, join us at Relative Finder, which uses the same database mechanisms as the “Famous Relatives” pages. and adds to the value with a view of multiple relatives shared. Please visit the site and search Groups for “Projectkin.” You will have to request access, though it’s generally granted within 24 hours. If not, drop me a message.

RelativeFinder.org

Emma’s presentation today walked us through her discoveries related to these individuals. Those related to Emma are listed by their relationships, such as (1C3R) for first cousin, three times removed:

  • James Forsyth (1827-1910) - painter, sculptor, furniture designer, gilder, and wood carver, and his son:

    • Rae Dudley Forsyth (1907-1979) - painter

  • John Dudley Forsyth (1874-1920) - stained glass artist, and his wife:

    • Gwendoline Elsie Upcott Gill - stained glass artist

  • John Anster Fitzgerald (1819-1906) – fairy painter (1C5R), and his daughter:

    • Florence Harriet Fitzgerald (1857-1927) - painter (2C4R)

  • Darsie Napier Japp MC (1883-1973) - painter (1C3R)

  • Gilbert Acheson Cattley (1892-1978) - painter of horses and illustrator of “Quacky Duck” (1C3R)

    In the context of Quacky Duck, Emma makes reference to “Pumpie the Elephant,” which was a topic of a 2020 blog post of hers on her blog at EmmaCox.co.uk.

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation. You’ll find these a useful resource in your own research:

Slides: Emma Explores Artists Sculptors And Painters
2.72MB ∙ PDF file
Download
Program slides as shared by Emma Cox, Journeys into Genealogy.
Download

Resources mentioned

In addition, Emma shared links and sites that can be useful as a guide to finding artists and other creatives in your family. These and other links are included in the PDF document but I’m calling the high level links out here to make them easier to find and explore. Here are a few of the sites and example links:

Emma explores footer

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Researching Military Ancestors » February 2026]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-researching-militaryhttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-researching-militaryThu, 19 Feb 2026 21:31:43 GMTThank you to Jennifer Jones, Linda Teather, Ann Rockley, , Bill Butcher, and all of you following along with this recording. Your thoughtful engagement in Emma Cox’s presentation today, the lively conversation that followed (and your comments below), are what make this such a special program. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see.

These free programs are made possible by the generous support of our Patrons. Learn more, Projectkin.org/about & join us!

Before our recording started, we had a lively discussion about the upcoming RootsTech conference and the related Relatives at RootsTech feature, as well as the ongoing comparison tool for the FamilySearch family tree at RelativeFinder.org, where Projectkin has created a private group. Just look for it under Groups and request access. 

On the topic of RootsTech, take a moment to explore our partnership to produce a fun way to join the conference together, whether you’re on-site or online. Learn more at

RideAlongPartners.org

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation. You’ll find these a useful resource in your own research:

Projectkin Emma Explores Military Ancestors
1.82MB ∙ PDF file
Download
These are the slides Emma Cox used to introduce discussions in our Emma Explores episode on 19 February 2026.
Download

Because these notes can be so useful when searched from the web, I’ll detail each of the individuals whose stories she explored.

Whishaw family in New Zealand

She started with the eleven siblings of the Whishaw family from New Zealand and their heartbreaking loss of three family members of the four who served in WWI. These are links to the resources she mentioned:

Mabel Helen Whishaw 1883-1918

Recognized in the WWI Army Roll of Honour as a registered nurse.

Harry Whishaw 1885-1916

He saw action in Gallipoli with the Wellington Infantry Battalion, Egypt, and Western Europe. Was killed in action near Armentieres, France, on 3 July 1916, aged 31.

Harry Guthrie Whishaw 1885-1916

Trooper, served in the New Zealand Mounted Machine Gun Squadron. Died at the 27th General Hospital, Cairo, on October 17, of malarial pneumonia.

James Henley Whishaw 1881-1959

Served in the WWI Military reserve in 1916, survived the war.

Japp family: Emigrated from England, Served for Canada

Frank Bradshaw Japp 1896-1918 (2C2R)

Canadian Infantry (West Ontario Regiment) and served in the 47th Battalion. Died of shrapnel wounds on 5 May 1918.

England: Father of the Royal Air Force

Hugh Montague Trenchard – Father of the RAF (4c3R)

Air Marshal, Knight Commander, DSO, suffered wounds in the Boer War, learned to fly by 1912, moving on to head the Royal Flying Corps, and by 1918 was appointed chief of the Air Staff of the newly formed Royal Air Force. Highly decorated and made a Viscount. Lived through WWII, passing in 1956, and was buried at Westminster Abbey in a public ceremony.

Requesting Military Service Records / other sources

In addition, Emma shared important bits of advice and terrific resources for military service records in general:

Emma also made reference to the work of Graham Brady:

Further research:

In addition to the sites mentioned above, these are other sites Emma has used for this research

Recommending Reading & Coursework

Books by Simon Fowler. Available via Amazon

Simon Fowler is running a course on Pharos Tutors starting in June 2026.

While I often talk about Emma’s other publication and her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, this time, there are two very relevant podcast interviews you may want to explore:

About Emma Explores

All of our programs are recorded and shared in the Emma Explores section of the Projectkin Substack, the Projectkin YouTube channel, and major Podcasting platforms like Apple and Spotify, and an RSS Feed for platforms like Feedly.

About Emma Cox

If you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family:

Emma’s Substack
My personal Substack where I share my family history and find interesting ancestors and stories
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with references and a transcript:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing you next month. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. See all past recordings at Projectkin.org/emma-explores.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… A Reflection on 2025 Programs, Learnings & Insights » Jan 2026 ]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-a-reflection-on-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-a-reflection-on-2025Thu, 15 Jan 2026 22:33:37 GMTThank you to , Linda Teather, Bill Moore, and so many of you for joining us and engaging in the conversation so actively today during Emma Cox’s live presentation and in your comments below. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see.

Subscribe to Projectkin and get these recordings delivered straight to your inbox.👇 Learn more Projectkin.org/about.

Today’s episode had Emma experimenting with a new format that had all audience members joining in on the conversation.

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation.

Emma Explores Slides, January 2026
2.27MB ∙ PDF file
Download
These are the slides Emma Cox used to introduce discussions in our Emma Explores episode on January 15, 2026.
Download

To get us started, Emma began with Caroline Edith Rumpf, or was she Catherine, or any of four other combinations? And what about dates: Did she lie? Were they unsure?

From there, we explored with references from past episodes and mysteries. To help you in scanning through the video, these links may be helpful

  • Naming Patterns:

    • Patterns that repeat, see “Rosalina and Gylby - Unusual Names and Naming patterns,” and extraordinary families.

    • This initiated the “85-Grandchildren Challenge.” In her research, Emma discovered a relation, Sir Robert Wigram (1743-1830), who, through two different wives, fathered 23 children. That was pretty remarkable. But then there was James Blatch Cox (1801-74), whose 9 children produced 85 grandchildren (one son had 18 children). See “James Blatch Cox and his Cornish family and wider diaspora”!

      • ⮕ Have an ancestor with more than 85 grandchildren? 👇 Let us know in the comments!

  • Full-text Search Results on FamilySearch:

    • Digging into Full-text Search as introduced by FamilySearch in 2025 and now available in Ancestry, and expanded on by FamilySearch as Simple Search. In “Philipps and Fonblanque Letters,” Emma shared how this flexible search approach revealed extraordinary connections in letters reprinted in a Family History.

About Emma Explores

All of our programs are recorded and shared in the Emma Explores section of the Projectkin Substack, the Projectkin YouTube channel, and major Podcasting platforms like Apple and Spotify and an RSS Feed for platforms like Feedly.

About Emma Cox

If you don’t already know Emma, you can find her here on Substack in two publications, first the one she uses to share research on her own family:

Emma’s Substack
My personal Substack where I share my family history and find interesting ancestors and stories
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

You won’t want to miss her second publication about the Journeys Into Genealogy podcast. It adds value to the ongoing podcast with references and a transcript:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I hope all of this is helpful, and I look forward to seeing next month. Remember to register to get your free Zoom link to join us. See all past recordings at Projectkin.org/emma-explores.

Projectkin.org/emma-explores
]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Signatures…Where to Find Them and What To Do with Them » Dec 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-signatureswhere-tohttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-signatureswhere-toThu, 18 Dec 2025 21:01:34 GMTThank you to , , , , , and so many of you joining us and engaging in the conversation so actively today during Emma Cox’s live presentation and online in the comments below. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. It’s been an extraordinary year for us here at Projectkin and in this fantastic series.

Subscribe and get these recordings delivered straight to your inbox.👇 Learn more Projectkin.org/about.

After our conversations on Kathy’s Corner about correspondences and postcards, it was fitting that today’s program for Emma Explores would center on signatures.

Signatures are one of those elements you rarely pay much attention to during the process of family history research. This presentation reminds us to look closely not only to validate the documented person or event, but also to see who else was involved. As you’ll see in the presentation, Emma shares creative ideas for creating customized artifacts, such as mugs and teatowels, to engage loved ones and family members in your ancestors’ stories.

Inspiration, just in time for holiday gift-giving. (Or… milestone birthdays, celebrations, and other events.) When you think of these kinds of objects as a gateway to family history, simple pieces could be a good investment.

Our discussion included several audience members sharing their own stories about signatures and family members’ handwriting. Feel free to share more in the comments and links to your own posts, notes, or external articles relevant to handwriting and family members’ signatures.

Leave a comment

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation.

Slides: Emma Explores — Signatures
3.6MB ∙ PDF file
Download
Download

Project Ideas & Tips

  • Organizing signature files into folders on a drive helps you associate relevant context with each file. Try to reference or mirror that organization in your paper files.

  • Create a family tree or other listing of your “My Eight” or “My Sixteen” grandparents or great-grandparents.

  • Create an assembly of different implementations of common names, like a surname or shared given names.

  • Use these collections of signatures to customize common objects as gifts, for example:

    • Tea towels

    • Mugs

    • Coasters

Resources

  • Canva.com offers many features to free account holders. Paid accounts give you a full range of functions. Tip: You can use Canva to create your design, then select your printers based on price, shipping economies, or to take advantage of local vendors.

  • Wikipedia and Wikimedia for images and research sources.

  • Family wills (E. W. Cox’s was from the London Metropolitan Archives).

  • Visits to and downloads from local and national archives.

  • Snagit software on Windows or Preview (standard with MacOS) for screen grabs.

  • Printster.co.uk for creating coasters, for example, for local delivery in the UK. Save on both shipping and duties by considering printing or fabrication sources near the destination for your delivery.

Journeys into Genealogy

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I know Emma - Journeys into Genealogy joins me in hoping you can make it for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all recordings in this series on Projectkin.org/emma-explores.

You’ll find these and all upcoming programs at Projectkin.org/events. 👋
]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Edward William Cox, Publisher » November 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-edward-william-coxhttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-edward-william-coxThu, 20 Nov 2025 21:32:37 GMTThank you , and so many of you for joining us and engaging in the conversation so actively today during Emma Cox’s live presentation and online in the comments below. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. As a bonus, it’s also great fun.

Subscribe and get these recordings delivered straight to your inbox.👇 Learn more Projectkin.org/about.

In today’s talk, Emma gives us a front-seat view of a family empire during the 19th century, a period of extraordinary growth in the global publishing industry. By the time his first newspaper, the “Somerset County Gazette,” was published in 1836, printing technology had benefited from the Industrial Revolution. Edward William Cox’s first publication, tailored to the “Nobility, Gentry and inhabitants of Somerset,” also coincided perfectly with a reduction in the stamp tax on newspapers. The result was a burst of new publications.

Emma’s talk takes us through this creative entrepreneur’s success in this period, with his many publications from the “Law Times” and the “County Courts Chronicle” to “The Field.” Each of these publications revealed his entrepreneurial knack for recognizing markets and opportunities for advertising revenue.

The masthead for “The Field or Country Gentlemen’s Newspaper,” as discussed in the comments at the end.

Emma then takes us through her family tree to explore how family members were involved in the businesses and how the businesses' inheritances flowed into future businesses.

In each of these programs, Emma generously shares both her slides and the resources she used to compile the presentation.

Projectkin — Emma Explores Publishing, November 20, 2025
4.68MB ∙ PDF file
Download
Download

Resources

You’ll find these links in the slides above, but since links in PDF can be troublesome, they’re reproduced below:

Publications by descendants and relations
Used in this presentation:

Journeys into Genealogy

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I know joins me in hoping you can make it for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all recordings in this series on Projectkin.org/emma-explores.

You’re more than welcome to share this recording with others who may be interested in joining us in future events and the discussions at Projectkin.org

Share

Finally, with the American Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week, we’ll skip the week for programming and follow it on Sunday, November 30th in the Atlantic-friendly hours with a preview of Kathy’s Corner. will share a little of the very special Kathy’s Corner program she has planned for December 4 with a series of guests talking about postcards in their family story.

You’ll find these and all upcoming programs at Projectkin.org/events. 👋

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Philipps and Fonblanque letters » October 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-philipps-and-fonblanquehttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-philipps-and-fonblanqueThu, 16 Oct 2025 19:44:10 GMTThank you , , , and so many of you for joining us and engaging in the conversation so actively today during Emma Cox’s live presentation. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. As a bonus, it’s also great fun.

Subscribe and get these recordings delivered straight to your inbox.👇 Learn more Projectkin.org/about.

Today’s episode sent us back down a warren of rabbit holes as Emma explored her extraordinary family with revelations uncovered from an experiment with FamilySearch’s new full-text search features. This came about following Emma’s interview with Lucy Reynoldson from FamilySearch for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast. Here’s a preview:

Journeys into Genealogy
Family search with Lucy Reynoldson
Lucy Reynoldson is the Family Search Europe North Area Expert. She tells us what resources are available on Family Search, recent innovations including Full Text Search, the impact of AI, Experiments in the Labs and how you can help by getting involved in reviewing computer transcriptions amongst other things. A short extract is below…
Read more
8 months ago · 6 likes · 1 comment · Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

Today, Emma’s story focused on her Fonblanque family, which has Huguenot roots in France. As she explains at the top of the program, she discovered a treasure trove of letters, family trees, and more buried in the body of a related family history book. Below you’ll find the slides Emma so generously makes a practice of sharing.

Projectkin Emma Explores Philipps And Fonblanque Letters (Slides)
3.8MB ∙ PDF file
Download
Download

Below are the resources and references mentioned in the presentation and during our discussion.

Resources

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I know joins me in hoping you can make it for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all recordings in this series on Projectkin.org/emma-explores.

You’re more than welcome to share this recording with others who may be interested in joining us in future events and the discussions at Projectkin.org

Share

Finally, I hope you’ll consider joining me on Sunday as welcomes as her guest in a special Kathy’s Corner preview. This is all a lead up to Thursday’s Kathy’s Corner event where she’s invited , the Photo Detective to talk about metadata in digital images. You’ll find these and all upcoming programs at Projectkin.org/events. 👋

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… The Mosley Family » September 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/the-mosley-family-sept-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/the-mosley-family-sept-2025Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:46:06 GMTThank you , and so many of you for joining us today during Emma Cox’s live presentation. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. As a bonus, it’s also great fun.

Subscribe and get these recordings delivered straight to your inbox.👇 Learn more Projectkin.org/about.

Today’s episode was a fun romp through one incredible family line. Emma’s thoughtful examination of roots and shoots of the line yield unexpected connections that take us from a dashing young Formula 1 driver to the Queen Mother. Emma's generously provided the slides to her talk including even richer resources than are linked below.

Projectkin Emma Explores The Mosley Family — slides
1.33MB ∙ PDF file
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Download

The slides include a dazzling array of links anyone can use. I pull out the most significant ones you can follow along with the video:

Resources

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I know joins me in hoping you can make it for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all upcoming episodes at Projectkin.org/events. See you then. 👋

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Finding and Reading Wills and Probate in the Cattley, Cox, Upcott and Edwards Families » August 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-aug-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-aug-2025Thu, 21 Aug 2025 21:13:41 GMTThank you , , , , and so many others for joining us today during Emma Cox’s live presentation. Your generous ❤️s, restacks, and shares have helped turn this publication into the supportive community we all want to see. Truly, thank you!

Learn more at Projectkin.org/about.

You won’t want to miss today’s episode, as Emma explains how to sort through and interpret wills, the role of probate, and sources in the UK. Our discussion also includes American and Canadian perspectives.

Resources:

These resources are listed in Emma’s slides, which makes it handy to scroll through them. In the recording, you’ll hear Emma’s guidance on each resource.

Tip: You can use the “Transcript” button above to search the transcript and get to the specific spot in the video where she talks about each resource.

National Archives (UK)
Ancestry
FindMyPast
Probate Search (UK)
Transcription Tips
Recommended Reading

Many of you will already know Emma for her Journeys into Genealogy podcast, where she interviews guests worldwide. As Substack publishers and readers, you can explore her full catalog and get previews of different episodes by subscribing to her publication:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

I know joins me in hoping you can join us for our program and the Substack live preview next month. You can see all upcoming episodes and when they are scheduled in our events calendar listing. See you then. 👋

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… The Upcott Family in Devon, Piracy and the Trans-Atlantic Wool Trade » July 2025 ]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-july-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-july-2025Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:10:55 GMTAs with each of her Emma Explores programs, professional genealogist Emma Cox regaled us today with stories from her family tree. This time, she focused on the Upcott family and their involvement in the Wool industry in Devon.

Is Projectkin new to you? Subscribe for free and get these posts directly in your inbox.

As in each of these episodes, generously shares her slides, notes, and tips. In fact, among the resources she used to collect the material for today’s program was a book she picked up in a Devon museum while on holiday, “Tiverton Cloth – The Story of the Town’s Woollen Trade 1475-1815” by Peter Maunder. Delightfully, many of her ancestors are mentioned in the book, which reminds all of us of the benefits of a tight focus in research. These are the slides from her talk:

Projectkin Emma Explores: Wool, Trade and Piracy in the Upcott family
1.83MB ∙ PDF file
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Slides used during Emma's presentation.
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Included among the tools Emma mentioned was this remarkable map in the collection of the US Library of Congress. You can explore the full map here or in the link below.

“A compleat description of the province of Carolina in 3 parts.” US Library of Congress Geography and Map Division. (hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3870.ct001123)

These were some of the other tools Emma mentioned:

You’ll know Emma for her two Substack publications: My Family History, where she shares stories from her tree, and the acclaimed podcast:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

Have you just discovered the Projectkin Community Forum and this wonderful genealogy community on Substack? Welcome, it’s a delight to have you. I look forward to seeing you at future free Projectkin events. You’ll find many more programs like these in our events calendar:

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]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Rosalina and Gylby - Unusual Names and Naming patterns » June 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-jun-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-jun-2025Thu, 19 Jun 2025 20:00:30 GMTWe’re delighted to welcome back to Projectkin for this monthly series. You’ll know Emma for her two Substack publications, one, named My Family History where she shares stories from her tree, and the other is the acclaimed podcast:

Journeys into Genealogy
Journeys into Genealogy is a podcast with interviews with experts and people with interesting stories to tell.
By Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

For Projectkin, Emma dove into two particular names in her family tree, Rosalinda and Gylby. They are both unusual names, yet they criss-cross her tree, revealing pedigree collapse and unexpected connections. I hope you enjoy her story.

For our reference, Emma has kindly shared the slides from her talk:

Projectkin Emma Explores Rosalinda And Gylby
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Slides Emma Cox used during her talk today, June 19, 2025
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As tools, Emma referenced not only Getty Images and a private tree on Ancestry, but also:

If you enjoyed this program, please take a moment to thank Emma with a ❤️ and share this post with friends.

Share

If you’ve just discovered the Projectkin Community Forum and this wonderful genealogy community on Substack, welcome! It’s a delight to have you. I look forward to seeing you at future free Projectkin events. You’ll find many more programs like these in our events calendar:

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Are you thinking about genealogy and family history? Join us at Projectkin.org/about. We’re hooked on stories.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… James Blatch Cox and his Cornish family and wider diaspora » May 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-may-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-may-2025Thu, 15 May 2025 20:07:15 GMTWhat fun to welcome our special guest, , back to Projectkin’s Emma Explores series. In today’s program, the extended family of James Blatch Cox of Falmouth, England,1 provided a framework for storytelling about the home life, business enterprises, and historical context of 19th-century Britain, Canada, and the United States.

We learned about James Blatch Cox’s varied career and how he and his wife, Harriet Newberry, went on to have nine children and a breathtaking 85 grandchildren!

Projectkin's "Emma Explores" James Blatch Cox And Family
1.63MB ∙ PDF file
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Explore the slides from Emma's presentation today.
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In the slides, you’ll see a number of references Emma shared as sources for her research, including:

In our conversation, we also talked about tools for such things as exploring maps in various forms. Among the sites we mentioned were:

If you enjoyed this program, please take a moment to thank Emma with a ❤️ below and subscribe to her podcast, Journeys into Genealogy. You can also explore Emma’s personal publication, My Family History, which features more stories about Emma’s family.

If you’ve just discovered the Projectkin Community Forum and this wonderful genealogy community on Substack, welcome! It’s a delight to have you. I hope to see you at future events. You’ll find many more programs like these in our events calendar:

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If you're curious about genealogy and family history, there’s much more to explore. Learn more and join us at Projectkin.org/about.

1

I know many of us are outside of Britain. If you were also curious, I thought I’d tuck a link I happened to capture to show where Falmouth is in Cornwall. 😉

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Florence de Fonblanque and the march from Edinburgh to London for Women’s Suffrage » March 2025 ]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-march-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-march-2025Thu, 20 Mar 2025 20:57:02 GMTEmma Cox’s story today explored her 2nd great-grandaunt, Florence Gertrude Sparagnapane (1864–1949), and her place in the social history of the UK in the early 20th century.

Florence was an actress who went by the name of Florence Kingsley. She married fellow actor Robert de Fonblanque. In the fall of 1912, at age 43, she leveraged her reputation and standing to organize and lead the March, Edinburgh to London for Women’s Suffrage.

You can explore the slides and links referenced in Emma’s presentation below:

Projectkin Emma Explores Florence De Fonblanque
3.09MB ∙ PDF file
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Slides from Emma's presentation.
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The party of as many as 300 women (local groups joined and left the group along the way) made the nearly 400-mile trek in just over a month, traveling an average of 15 to 30 miles per day. For those outside Britain, here’s a modern Google Maps preview of the trail as it followed along today’s A1 highway.

Resources

For further context and details, you can explore some of these links:

Note: Though this is generally a monthly series, we will NOT have a program at the regular time next month in celebration of Easter Week. Good Friday, 18 April is a Bank Holiday in the UK.

If you enjoyed this program, please take a moment to thank Emma with a ❤️ below and subscribe to her podcast, Journeys into Genealogy or My Family History, which features more stories about Emma’s family. 

Do you have Suffragettes in your family tree? Tell their stories. As always, you’re welcome to share today’s program with your friends and family.

Share

If you’ve just discovered the Projectkin Community Forum and this wonderful Genealogy community on Substack, welcome! It’s a delight to have you.

You’ll find many more programs like these in our events calendar:

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Was this post forwarded to you? Curious about genealogy and family history, there’s much more to share.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Andrew Handyside – Engineer, Bridge Builder and Manufacturer » February 2025 ]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-feb-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-feb-2025Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:39:46 GMTAs shares in her presentation, her third great-grandfather, Andrew Handyside, 1805-1887,1 was born in Scotland. He benefited from learning his trade by working for his uncle’s engineering works in St. Petersburg, Russia, before coming to Derby, England. In Derby, he first acquired an interest in an iron foundry before turning it into Andrew Handyside & Company, Limited, and growing it internationally.

Today, installations include massive architectural iron construction like St. Pancras Station in London to collectible cast iron fountains, urns, and postal boxes. As Emma asks, have you found any artifacts built by the company in your area? Drop her a note!

Emma graciously included the slides from her talk today. You’ll find it loaded with valuable tips and linked references.

Projectkin Emma Explores… "Engineers and Manufacturing"
3.71MB ∙ PDF file
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These are the slides Emma Cox has kindly shared for her presentation, "Engineers in my Family Tree"
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Andrew Handyside Resources:

For further context and details, you can explore some of these links:

If you enjoyed this program, take a moment to thank Emma with a ❤️ below and subscribe to her substack for . Feel free to share the program with your friends and family.

Share

If you’ve just discovered the , and this wonderful Family History community on Substack, welcome. It’s a delight to have you. You’ll find many more programs like these at

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Was this post forwarded to you? Curious about genealogy and family history there’s much more to share.

When you’re ready, subscribe to receive all of our event recordings in your inbox for free. More Projectkin.org/about

1

In celebration of the RootsTech program, I’m including this link to Andrew Handyside’s profile on FamilySearch.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Surnames, Middle Names and Patterns in My Tree Including Blatch, Sweetapple and Orchard » January 2025]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-jan-2025https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-jan-2025Thu, 16 Jan 2025 20:58:08 GMTNames seem to be one of the first ways family members learn about their history. Sometime after settling on grandparents' pet names, they ask questions about surnames and relationships soon after.

Today’s episode focuses very specifically on the names in Emma’s family tree as a thread to pull us through some incredible resources you might never have known about. She’s kindly offered her slides here as a reference.

Projectkin Emma Explores Names And More
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A full set of the slides Emma shared including live links to referenced resources. Review these slides Emma shared from her presentation. For questions, contact Emma directly on Substack at JourneysintoGenealogy.Substack.com or at EmmaCox.co.uk.
Download

As with each episode, Emma thoughtfully included several unexpected tips. Among them were:

Examples of individuals & their stories:

Useful References

Emma’s assortment of helpful sites for this kind of research:

  • Find a grave

  • Family Tree Maker (or other desktop family history software) for reports

  • The London Gazette (or other local newspaper)

  • Old family wills

  • Europeans in West Africa

  • Newspaper obituaries

  • Imperial War Museum oral histories (UK)

  • Grenadier Guards & Photographs of individuals (example above)

  • Companies House for living people associated with companies in the UK. (In the US, such details are called annual information statements and are available from the Secretary of State for each state. A great many corporations are in Delaware.)

  • Useful free Windows software called “Transcript” for transcribing wills

  • To find the distribution of surnames and learn about their origins (ad-supported):

If you enjoyed this program, take a moment to thank Emma with a ❤️ below. Feel free to share the program with your friends and family.

Share

If you’ve just discovered this program and want to learn more, visit us at Projectkin.org. You can see our full calendar of free events at

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]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… The Markham family and their clergy, army, navy and aristocratic connections » December 2024 ]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-19bhttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-19bThu, 19 Dec 2024 20:33:55 GMT1In today’s episode, Emma Cox dove into her family legacy to explore stories woven through our shared Anglophone history.

Stories associated with The Most Reverand William Markham, archbishop of York, took us from Westminster Abbey plaques to tombs without bones. As with these programs, Emma’s insights help us all learn how to separate fact from fiction and use her stories to help us in our research.

Emma’s graciously shared her slides as PDF files. Note the many underlined text references on each slide. These are active links to external resources such as the Church of England Database, the History of Parliament Online, and the Napoleon Series for its military database and other useful resources.

Projectkin's “Emma Explores: The Markham Family”
2.27MB ∙ PDF file
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In her discussion, Emma also mentioned a recent Journeys Into Genealogy podcast episode, “The Prize Papers with Anne Ramon,” which discussed English naval ships and the privateers they battled in the Atlantic. 

Journeys into Genealogy
The Prize Papers with Anne Ramon
The Prize Papers are a treasure trove of documents giving an insight into life in the 1700s. Captured by English naval ships and privateers they include crew lists, captains logs, poetry, shopping lists, doodles, fabric samples and price lists and even instructions for a Dutch East India Company spy…
Read more
a year ago · 2 likes · Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

For more tips, view all past episodes of Emma Explores here. Then, join us for our first program of the new calendar year, Emma Explores, on January 16th.

Register for Emma Explores on January 16

All of Projectkin's programs are listed on the Projectkin Events Calendar.

Subscribe and become a member! You’ll receive this and all Projectkin articles and recordings delivered directly to your inbox.

1

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Ancestors in the Theatre, Films and Television » November 2024]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-actorshttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-actorsThu, 21 Nov 2024 20:46:10 GMTThis month, Emma kicked off the program with her discoveries at the West Surrey Family History Society Fair. There, she spoke with several of the specialists in their “help desk” stalls, including Graham Bandy, who helped her identify a long-cherished photo.

You can read more about that in her recent post for “A Genealogy Fair and a Mystery Solved.” What a terrific reminder of the extraordinary resources available to you among local historical societies, antiquarians, and collectors.

Today’s episode focused on a theme Emma has wanted to explore to discover the actors and other thespians in her family tree. She’s kindly offered her slides here as a reference.

Projectkin Emma Explores Actors And The Theatre, 21-Nov 2024
2.56MB ∙ PDF file
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Review these slides Emma shared from her presentation. For questions, contact Emma directly on Substack at JourneysintoGenealogy.Substack.com or at EmmaCox.co.uk.
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As with each episode, Emma thoughtfully included several unexpected tips. Among them were:

  • Keep an eye out for stage names that are distinct from birth names. Regulations may require the connection to be printed in a newspaper.

  • Wikipedia.org: Most series (such as movies or television) will have Wikipedia pages listing who was in each episode. If such a series page doesn’t exist, you can create one yourself.

  • eBay: Anyone who was an actor or in theatre may have advertising or newspaper writeups treasured by collectors. Don’t overlook collectors’ sites like eBay. Search by title, topic, author — even address.

  • Hathi Trust: A tremendous resource for digitized books, pamphlets, and documents.

  • Abebooks.com or abebooks.co.uk, a reseller of out-of-print, rare books, fine art, and collectibles.

  • Google searches (use “” around groups of words, “-” or “+” for exclusions or inclusions, for example.) And while searching, look for…

    1) Theaters, production companies, and more

    2) Photos – search from photos using images.google.com or lens

  • Use Google alerts for search terms you are always on the hunt for.

For more tips, view all past episodes of Emma Explores here, and join us for our Emma Explores program on December 19th. That will be the last program of the calendar year.

Register: Emma Explores December 19

All of Projectkin's programs are listed on the Projectkin Events Calendar.

Join us, won’t you? You’ll receive this and all Projectkin articles and recordings delivered directly to your inbox.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Writers and Journalists in the Fonblanque Family Tree » October 2024]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-writershttps://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-writersThu, 17 Oct 2024 20:52:58 GMTOne of the wonders our “Emma Explores” programs is how Emma’s articulation of her research journeys can be so inspiring to our own.

In today’s program, Emma described the writers, journalists, and a diplomat in her family and how she could explore her ancestors’ lives through their work as accessible from the modern web. Here are the slides she shared

Projectkin's “Emma Explores” featuring Emma Cox with the ”Writers and Journalists in my family tree”
2.08MB ∙ PDF file
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The fabulous tips Emma suggested in her presentation quickly fueled the discussion at the end. Among them were:

  • Carefully explore the objects, trunks, and other physical materials you’ve inherited to identify related search topics.

  • Don’t discount Wikipedia.org you can author your a page or edit those others have written.

  • British Newspaper Archive

  • eBay: Search by title, topic, author — even address. You never know what you’ll find. (See Emma’s recent Podcast on postcards.

  • Abebooks.com or abebooks.co.uk, a reseller of out-of-print, rare books, fine art, and collectibles.

  • Other online booksellers

  • History of Parliament online: historyofparliamentonline.org — where Emma found a profile for her ancestor who had briefly been a member of parliament. Do the same for any government member in your country.

  • Google searches (use “” around groups of words, “-” or “+” for exclusions or inclusions, for example.) And while searching, look for…

    1) Occupations – where they worked

    2) Publications – add photos if possible

    3) Find old covers of magazines/newspapers

    4) Covers of books found online (plus extracts of you want)

  • Google alerts for search terms you are always on the hunt for.

Emma graciously offered tips and help on searches in Britain, primarily England. Our delightful discussion extended past the recording.

Join us for our next event on November 21. Learn more and register. All of our programs are listed on the Projectkin Events Calendar.

Please join us as a subscribing member to receive these posts by email as soon as the recording is available.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Patterns in Places and Occupations in my Scottish family tree » August 2024]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-0f7https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-0f7Thu, 15 Aug 2024 20:10:31 GMT

As a professional genealogist, Emma explores archives, churchyards, and online to compile histories, charts, tours, and books for clients. When collecting material for clients or engaging experts in discussions on her podcast, Journeys into Genealogy, and substack of the same name.

Today’s exploration focused on patterns in a family tree, whether from location, industry, physical characteristics, or illnesses. Today’s pattern focuses on places. Emma introduces us to Scots terminology and some remarkable resources available to anyone on the web.

Projectkin Emma Explores Patterns In Scotland
3.3MB ∙ PDF file
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Emma Cox's slides for today's talk, including a generous array of resources and links.
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The discussion that followed Emma’s talk today included an outpouring of shared references and experiences. Among the links are:

Exploring Montrose, Scotland

Exploring Kildrummy, Scotland

Research Tools & Websites

Additional resources from the discussion that followed:

It was a delight to see so many Projectkin members and contributors in our discussion today.

Previous contributions from participating Projectkin members:

  • : Kathy is responsible for our ongoing series, Kathy’s Corner. Join us next week on August 22nd for our next episode. Register here. Here’s the most recent episode from last month:

Finally, don’t miss next week’s Open House as the inaugural Roundtable discussion for the new . This is the new genealogy community just starting here on Substack. Learn more about the program:

Mission: Genealogy
Building a Community for Genealogy on Substack
With this post, we’re launching “Mission: Genealogy,” a not-for-profit newsletter, podcast, and event series to encourage community conversations among family historians and genealogists here on Substack…
Read more
2 years ago · 10 likes · 11 comments · Robin Stewart and Barbara Tien

And I hope you can join us next week. (Of course, it’s free.)

Mission: Genealogy | Open House

Thank you so much for being a part of the .

If Projectkin is new to you, please join us. You’ll receive all programs and resources free of charge in your inbox.

Feel free to keep the conversation going by adding comments below and sharing your stories in Notes.

]]><![CDATA[Emma Explores… Caroline Rumpf an Ongoing Mystery and a Brick Wall » July 2024]]>https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-2b9https://projectkin.substack.com/p/emma-explores-stories-mysteries-and-2b9Thu, 18 Jul 2024 21:40:25 GMT

As a professional genealogist, Emma explores archives, churchyards, and online to compile histories, charts, tours, and books for clients. When collecting material for clients or engaging experts in discussions on her podcast, Journeys into Genealogy, and substack of the same name.

As we explore family history, we generally expect to research our ancestors based on their names and what we’ve learned about the dates and locations of important moments in their lives. Sometimes, however, it’s not so straightforward.

An Ongoing Mystery and a Brick Wall

As Emma describes in this episode, one of her ancestors changed her given name, family, and married names several times during her lifetime. Emma shared her own journey as she followed Caroline Rumpf through her baptism, marriages, and homes as captured in census and church records.

You can explore and download her slides here:

Slides from “Emma Explores Brick Walls And Mysteries”
2.35MB ∙ PDF file
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Emma’s discussion of Caroline’s changing name triggered an interesting discussion of how immigration records and other clerical errors also changed names in former British colonies in the Americas and Australia. It also revealed how records might be hiding behind institutional name changes. In the discussion that followed, Emma mentioned the British Newspaper Archive, Australian Trove, and her recent interview for her podcast with Ruth Graham of the Society of Australian Genealogists:

Journeys into Genealogy
Resources for researching ancestors in Australia
Ruth has kindly provided me with a resources sheet which explains how Australia is setup and where some of the records can be located. To download the resources sheet please click the button below. The interview itself can be found on the usual podcast hosts such as Apple. All links available via…
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2 years ago · 4 likes · Emma - Journeys into Genealogy

The lessons and tools Emma shared with us can be applied to your family research, too. Learn more about Emma at:

Our next program in the series will be on August 15; you can register for that event or any in the series here:

Emma Explores—Zoom Registration

Emma Explores, like all programs from Projectkin are accessible to all members and the family history community for free. To learn more about coming events, please visit:

Projectkin Events

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