1^st of July 2008
Just some more guestbook maintenance today.  Please be assured that your email/article is coming next (just like everyone else's).

19^th June 2008
I thought business was kinda slow!  Having not had any notifications of Guestbook signings recently, it came as quite a shock when I learned that, not only had there been visitors, but an entire Family Tree had been left there for us.  Enormously grateful though I am, the Guestbook isn't best place for such articles.  So you'll find Gillian Hogarth's contribution has now taken root in the Family Trees module of our Reference Section.  Thank you Gillian.

27^th May 2008
I'm still here, if a bit quiet.  The good news is that my illness is responding to treatment far better than I could have expected.  The bad news is that I must persevere with chemotherapy for at least a couple of months longer.  So, what this effectively means is that it's only the toxic medication killing me now!  However, the picture is a whole lot better than it was at the end of last year, when I was informed that there was less than a 50/50 chance of success.  In the meantime, I check my pulse every morning, and if I've still got one I go to work.

By way of a peace-offering, I've just added the 1860 Death Cert of William Hoggarth of Littlebeck fame, that was kindly sent to us by Angela Hoggarth.  As you might imagine, there's also a ton of other stuff waiting (including more obfuscating), but I will tackle it eventually - honest!

17^th January 2008
You'll be pleased to hear that I've finally finished obfuscating (yes, it IS a real word!) all the email addresses in the older guestbooks so we can sleep a little easier at night.  My next task is to do the same with the other addresses littered around this site, from an age when I was more trusting (and dim).

I'll get there soon, but spare time has been quite hard to come by just recently, what with my car being wrecked by a motor-cycle while parked on the drive of this house, and the electrical fire that broke out on Tuesday.  What I can't work out is, if the odds against this kind of stuff happening to me all at once are so astronomical, why haven't I won the lottery yet?

17^th December 2007
My mum, Dorothy Louise Hogarth, passed away at 4:20 a.m. today after a battle with Leukaemia.  Mere words cannot express the sadness her three children feel.

 

14^th December 2007
I'm delighted to welcome Geoff Hoggarth of East Yorkshire to the growing band of Hog*s able to prove that they share a common ancestry.  Four of us have now participated in the DNA project and whilst our results are pretty similar, Geoff's are the most distinct thus far - differing from the majority in two of the 43 markers tested.  Such a result indicates that Geoff's ancestor may join the tree a little further up.  To view a table of the test results, click [ here ].

Ok, now we own Yorkshire, how about Scotland, Oz, NZ, Canada, USA, etc?  Any volunteers?  The exchange rate appears to be quite favourable for many of us at the moment, so go ahead and make someone's Christmas a very happy one!

15^th September 2007
Due to some health problems, I've recently been a bit quiet but am now trying to catch up again.  Today sees an 1849 marriage cert from Chris Bocking, which ties in very nicely with the one from 1870 that she sent us in June.  Just in case you were wondering, the groom is my 1st cousin 5 times removed!

31^st July 2007
Back to the certs again, until I have a bit more time to spend on other updates which are pending.  This 1840 marriage cert is one of Bryan's and the happy couple is, as yet, unplaced.  Any ideas?

16^th July 2007
Just time to tell you about a new link in our 'Your Security Online' section.  Please check out PrevX and also visit their blog.  We've been awarded five, FREE, individual 1-year licences (total value $124.75) for those who wish to install this excellent anti-malware application.  I already use two licences myself.  If you'd like one of the five freebies, just drop me a line.  First come, first served.

UPDATE:  It seems the information I gave you yesterday was incorrect.  That very nice fellow Jacques at PrevX has actually given us 10 one-year licences for the fully paid-up version.  Please form an orderly queue...

15^th July 2007
I haven't been around very much just recently, as Mum has been diagnosed with Leukaemia.  It developed almost immediately after she received a second dose of radiation therapy to treat a Thyroid problem.  What I have managed to do though, is add the 1865 death cert for my 3x Great-grandfather, Luke Hogarth, which arrived last week.  I'm hoping that it will be the last one for my immediate family for quite some time.

2^nd July 2007
Just the usual six-monthly shuffling of guestbooks today.  Oh, and adding a few more whatsanames to our new secret project.  Wait and see...

22^nd June 2007
More certs!  Not only has the 1870 marriage cert arrived from Chris Bocking for her G2 grandmother, Ann Elizabeth Hoggarth (in which she's described as a 'minor'), but also one for my grandparents, Wilfrid & Edith Hogarth, that I ordered last week.  If you've been keeping up with developments on The Noticeboard and read Bryan's very useful guide to 'Levels of Cousins', you'll no doubt have worked out that Ann and Wilf were 2nd cousins, twice removed -- despite their different spellings.

Suddenly alerted by a rattling sound from the closet, I put on my Junior Detectives Club cardboard deerstalker and deduced that Ann was actually a few months short of her 21st birthday when she got married - shock, horror!  Thus fired with a new-found enthusiasm for sleuthing, I then noticed my grandparents were married just 7 months before my Dad was born.  Obviously a premature baby, eh?  Perhaps I ought to shut up.

17^th June 2007
If you're of the 'Cloggie' persuasion, you may be interested to learn that I've just added a further 48 Lancashire Parish Records to the 173 we had already.  That makes a new total of quite a lot, or something.

14^th June 2007
An 1862 dead cert this time, from incurably-blonde Gillie Millar in Oz, for one Mary Hogarth (aged 83) who died in London.  Because of some dodgy handwriting, the address may be a bit awkward to read.  It's a shame they couldn't write proper like wot we can these days.

11^th June 2007
Just one marriage cert today.  As discussed on the Noticeboard, this is from Nick Lancaster and concerns his 3G grandmother's 1845 marriage in Westmorland.  Is anyone with a talent for joined-up writing able to decipher George's occupation?  My money's on 'Fishmender'.

---

On behalf of the editor of The Baronage Press who has contributed 'The Hogarths of Berwickshire' and other very valuable material to this site, we request any information regarding the ancestors of the artist William Hogarth.  Please drop me a line if you are able to provide any details, however small, on William Hogarth's forbears and thus help us bridge a gap in history.  Even the tiniest of clues may help!