Jane Hough 🌳🧬🏡
LightNews LightNews
banner
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Jane Hough 🌳🧬🏡
@allthosebefore.bsky.social
1.4K followers 430 following 3.4K posts
Family historian, blogger, podcast guest and speaker. Pharos student. Also Mum, wife, and full-time public servant of 33 years and counting. Fuelled alternatively by coffee and wine.

#FamilyHistory #Genealogy #OnePlaceStudy
www.allthosebefore.org.uk
Posts Replies Media Videos
allthosebefore.bsky.social
@fourteeneighteen.co.uk has encouraged me to ‘drop an album that was important to you when you were nineteen’. I give you the Hothouse Flowers’ debut album from 1988. I saw them play live at university several times, and at Glastonbury. I still listen to them now.
A photo of the album cover ‘People’, by the Irish band The Hothouse Flowers. It shows three men each with a musical instrument: on the left, an accordion; on the right, a guitar; and at the back, a mandolin (or similar).
February 15, 2026 at 9:23 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Today’s dog walk started well, but ended up muddy. Everywhere is muddy at the moment!
A wide path through pine trees sweeping round to the left. Under the trees the ground is covered in dead bracken. A very muddy path, with a small stream winding its from top left to bottom right. A small brown dog can be seen in the left hand corner, and a wooden bench in the top right.
February 14, 2026 at 5:56 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
They’ve arrived. #Rugby #SixNations
A picture of Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. People are queuing to get in, and to the right are stalls selling merchandise for the Scottish rugby team.
February 14, 2026 at 3:51 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
No flowers, chocolates or cards here; the menfolk are on their way to Murrayfield in Edinburgh to watch the #SixNations. I have my loyal and trusty research assistant though. #FamilyHistory
A brown cockapoo dog asleep on the carpet with a bookcase behind.
February 14, 2026 at 12:05 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
My Mum found this one in an antique shop; I assume it would have been worn on a watch chain. What is especially lovely is that it was awarded to someone I knew as an elderly man when I was a teenager in Over.
A silver ornament which is made up of the interlinked letters N, S and A, sitting on top of an ice skate. The lid of the box which the silver charm or ornament came in. It includes the jeweller’s name and handwriting shows it was a “skating 2S badge” awarded in the 1933-34 season.
February 11, 2026 at 3:30 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Sadly I have no #SuperbOwl to share, but I do think this bowl of mine is rather superb. It’s hand-painted by Hannah from Suffolk.
A shallow ceramic bowl with a painted design of grey pebbles.
February 8, 2026 at 9:27 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
A late entry for #PostboxSaturday. This is all that’s left of the postbox next to the entrance to our local park, after it was hit by a car over Christmas. The pillar of the park wall has been rebuilt, but the postbox is a sad sight.
The stump of a badly damaged Royal Mail postbox, with a traffic cone either side to mark the danger.
February 7, 2026 at 5:41 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
We still have endless rain in this part of England. Our dog is having so many baths right now; every walk he gets covered in mud. This picture was taken #OnThisDay back in 2012 - much more enjoyable!
A woman on the left holding a snowball above her young son’s head. In the background are plants and shrubs cloaked in snow.
February 6, 2026 at 8:25 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
I’ll take my time with this one …
A long post from Facebook outlining several generations of a family history which points towards possible royal connections in an unsubstantiated and unsourced manner.
February 2, 2026 at 9:12 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Did this include the bright green woodruff-flavoured syrup used to make the green beer of Berlin?
A plastic glass with green coloured beer (with a straw) sitting alongside a portion of curry wurst.
January 31, 2026 at 9:39 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Here’s my picture of St Patrick’s from 2022. It was a damp, dull day and the interior photos were poor. My 2x great-grandparents married there in 1846. It was the bride’s family who were Catholic.
The exterior view of a church.
January 29, 2026 at 8:36 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Much prettier than Greenwood’s 1828 version of the same area. Comparing the two shows there was some rapid development in the area.
A small extract from a map of London dated 1828. It shows Wilmington Square in the bottom left hand corner, and a waterworks towards the top right.
January 29, 2026 at 6:50 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Another packed day of studies; georeferencing, using GIS tools, tithe and enclosure maps, and seeing several rather splendid historical maps too. And a room dedicated to palaeography!
Lettering above a large doorway which reads Palaeography Room and Sterling Library.
January 29, 2026 at 6:24 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Something new for the next three days: a short course all about maps at @ihr.bsky.social.
The Senate House building of the University of London.
January 28, 2026 at 9:48 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
#HolocaustMemorialDay - never forget. I saw these Stolpersteine in Sophienstraße in Berlin.
Two small brass plaques inserted into the pavement commemorating Jews who were deported to Auschwitz during WW2.
January 27, 2026 at 7:54 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
A great escape for some fresh air and a dog walk earlier. Unfortunately, at this time of year Luca gets muddy all the time, so it was home for a bath afterwards.
A winter view of woodland on a hillside, sloping down from left to right. Dead leaves are visible on the ground, and the trees are mainly beech. A small brown dog is visible in the centre of the picture.
January 24, 2026 at 5:54 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
I thought I’d see if I could find my grandparents’ old house from 1933. Here it is, although I’m unsure if it’s just been modernised or completely rebuilt. It’s rather fitting for #PostboxSaturday too. 😉
A semi detached house built of red brick. The front door is on the right, and an old Royal Mail post box has been fitted into the wall to the left of the door.
January 24, 2026 at 9:46 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
#NationalHandwritingDay - a letter sent from my great-grandfather in #Huddersfield to my grandfather in Lincoln.
An envelope addressed to Mr Frank Dyson at 38 St Helen’s Avenue, Lincoln. The postmark is dated 28 July 1933. The stamp bears a picture of King George V and is priced at three half-pennies.
January 23, 2026 at 12:16 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
More books! 🤭 Trying to carve out some reading time.
Images of two book covers relating to the history of maps in Great Britain.
January 20, 2026 at 10:36 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
There’s no scientific basis to #BlueMonday, so let’s use the hashtag to promote discussions about mental wellbeing and check in with friends who may be finding things difficult. And if your spirits need a lift, this picture from Finland two years ago today may help.
A picture of the Northern Lights - a ribbon of green across the night sky. Below are trees covered in snow, with a frozen lake in the foreground.
January 19, 2026 at 8:29 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Today I’ve discovered that WW2 National Identity registration continued until May 1952. This is the identity card for my SIL, born in 1951.
An image of a United Kingdom National Identity Registration Card for someone aged under 16 years.
January 18, 2026 at 9:22 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
With the menfolk out watching rugby, I have a research assistant to keep me company.
A brown cockapoo dog sitting on striped carpet with a bookcase behind.
January 18, 2026 at 4:15 PM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Seeing as it’s #WinnieThePoohDay, here’s a couple of old pictures from a family walk at Pooh Bridge in Hartfield (Sussex). The first is playing pooh sticks and the second is discovering Piglet’s House.
Myself and young son standing on a wooden bridge waiting to spot our sticks appear in the stream running below. A small boy wearing a red coat discovers a door in a tree trunk. The tree stands at a precarious angle.
January 18, 2026 at 10:24 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Oops - I’ve bought another #FamilyHistory book. In my defence, my current study module is all about occupations and employment. Plus Mr H has lots of ancestors who were flatmen / watermen on the Weaver Navigation in #Cheshire.
The cover of a book entitled “Tracing ancestors who worked on the canals and rivers”, written by Wendy Freer. On the cover is a photograph of a narrow boat painted in traditional green, red and gold.
January 16, 2026 at 10:59 AM
allthosebefore.bsky.social
Ahh … I don’t think I can beat that. This is the River Grom that was mentioned in my post.
A woodland scene with a small river on the left of the picture. A path runs alongside on the right, surrounded by trees.
January 13, 2026 at 8:32 PM