Q & A Our team of experts offers tips and inspiration
KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset
EMMA JOLLY is a writer, historical researcher and member of AGRA
CHRIS PATON is a genealogist and author, and blogs at scottishgenes.blogspot.com
JAYNE SHRIMPTON is a professional dress historian and portrait specialist
ALAN STEWART is a family history writer, and author of Grow Your Own Family Tree
PHIL TOMASELLI is a military family history expert, and wrote Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors
PETER TOWEY is vice-president of the Anglo-German Family History Society
SIMON WILLS is the author of Tracing Your Seafaring Ancestors
Am I descended from a pirate called Captain Blood?
Q My grandmother, Kate Beatrice Bidgood (née Blood), once told me that she had a notorious ancestor – a pirate named Captain Blood. I think it’s possible this was Colonel Thomas Blood, who stole the Crown Jewels in 1671. I have gone back on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) as far as my 4x great grandfather Robert Blood, who died in Lichfield, Staffordshire, in November 1788. Thomas Blood’s ancestors came from Makeney near Duffield, Derbyshire. Can you confirm my suspicions?
Jim O’Sullivan
The lives of seafaring ancestors are often exaggerated down the generations. Elderly relatives told me that I had an ancestor who was a fearsome pirate with a hook for a hand. Actually, he was a cargo ship’s captain who lost his hand in an accident. I’m a bit suspicious that your Captain Blood
