31 May 2017

What do we know about William R. Powe? Part 1

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(Revised 31 May 2017) William Romulus Powe is my earliest known male ancestor. ‘Earliest’ doesn’t mean he lived in ancient times – he onl...
24 May 2017

From the War of 1812 to eternity via the Y chromosome

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One aim of researching family history is to discover the origins of the male line. This is a popular objective for genealogists as it s...
17 May 2017

Joan’s Treasures

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The house near Darjeeling where Mum was born looked out to the west across a deep valley. In the valley, tea bushes could be seen. Above th...
10 May 2017

Employers and volunteers: instructive models

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My last post described a few interactions from my student life. This post sketches some people in the next step – working life. Contac...
03 May 2017

A funny thing happened on the way to the Agora

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I spent a lot of time at university.   It took me ‘longer than average’ to complete my degree – and my education in life. But, the expe...
19 April 2017

Two Darjeeling horsemen: one Hindi mystery

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Amongst a small treasure trove of old photos my grandfather left is one blurry picture which holds a small mystery. It took me a li...
14 April 2017

Jesus: the most significant person in history?

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I n 2013 computer scientist Steven Skiena and the Google engineer Charles Ward published Who's Bigger? Where Historical Figures Really ...
06 April 2017

‘You’ve always been a bit oversensitive’

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One of the tools for self-understanding is to consider what people said of you when you were a child.  While I was tagged as sensitive ...