Ex Met Police, former deputy registrar, and now retired professional genealogist and family history researcher with a special interest in the records of civil registration in England/Wales. Fellow of AGRAhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mtbt4ovs622aLove an #RC marriage record that gives you info the civil registration doesn't - in this case, of my 2xg grandparents in 1840, the names of both their parents and where they each came from ... "of Lancaster" - the key evidence of the origins of my 3xG grandfather. #Genealogy17 Aug 2026 13:37 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtbt4ovs622ahttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3msvur4cb2k2jAn interesting & fairly close #Ancestry #DNA contact this week - no paper connection but I suspect my grandfather's brother may have had a part to play.... #Genealogy #FamilyHistory12 Aug 2026 19:34 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3msvur4cb2k2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3msurout3h225I asked for a couple of days off when my 2nd son was born (in 1988). My Chief Supt told me to F...Off and said "you've had 9 months to plan for this, what do you think annual leave is for" https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/12/paid-police-paternity-leave-double-england-wales?CMP=share_btn_url #TimesChange #MetPolice12 Aug 2026 09:07 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3msurout3h225https://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3msnh2767zc2mSo true - why do so many businesses try and promote themselves with awful #AI generated images, usually with strange orange/amber tint, that look like they've come from a 1950s #Ladybird book. An immediate #turnoff. #RantOver [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Aug 2026 11:08 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3msnh2767zc2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mru3tpzbd22hAny #Genealogy researcher in England/Wales will know the sinking feeling when you reach this point in a #FamilyTree ... (my 4xG Grandfather from #Rishton, #Lancashire)30 Jul 2026 09:11 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mru3tpzbd22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mrovxn3bks2l40 years ago .... memories of doing hundreds of #PNC computer checks on names & vehicles for the incident room at #Kensington. Lived just up the road from where she went missing in #Fulham too. #Metpolice #SadCase https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jul/28/40-years-suzy-lamplugh-vanished-police-hope-find-her?CMP=share_btn_url28 Jul 2026 07:42 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrovxn3bks2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mrhpa7d6ys2cI keep seeing "advice" given that says a dash for the maiden name on the GRO on-line birth index means there is no father named on the entry. NO, it means there is no maiden name recorded for the mother, no more, no less. A father's details could be there .. #Genealogy #CivilRegistration #GetItRight25 Jul 2026 10:53 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhpa7d6ys2chttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mrhoorqdd22sA WW1 note from my grandfather to grandmother. I can read most of it but a couple of lines are faded and a bit unclear so as an experiment I asked #ChatGPT to try. It deciphered it as a beautiful love note - but a completely fictional one ! Every word it "read", except one, was wrong. #AIInvention25 Jul 2026 10:43 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrhoorqdd22shttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mqokbx64xc2xSome people just set out to confuse future researchers. Joseph was baptised in 1855, to unwed parents shown as #Hough and #Borough. They did go on to marry a couple of years later, but Joseph switched between the surnames #Hough and #Burrow(s) for the rest of his life... #MakeYourMindUp #Lancashire15 Jul 2026 10:48 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqokbx64xc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mqetsoixqc2iSome interesting new relationships shown on #Ancestry transcriptions these days.... I've got one of these ..11 Jul 2026 14:12 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqetsoixqc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mqbw4excmk2nA tragic case, which helped the push for the abolition of the death penalty at the time - I was once shown (in the 90s) the bullet marks which were still visible on the wall at the scene of the crime, and have visited her burial place (Amersham). https://www.theguardian.com/law/2026/jul/08/ruth-ellis-last-woman-hanged-uk-posthumous-conditional-pardon #RuthEllis10 Jul 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqbw4excmk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mqbt2vrvd22mI was often asked why registrars use special ink, in a fountain pen, to sign register entries - was it really necessary ? Here's why - this is a document from only 14 years ago signed by the Met Police Commissioner - signature almost gone already. @mpsheritage.bsky.social #CivilRegistration10 Jul 2026 09:20 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mqbt2vrvd22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mpgbns3isk23Just removed my account from "the other place" - haven't really used it since it became such a toxic place, so a very good feeling #X #NoThanks29 Jun 2026 10:27 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpgbns3isk23https://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mpg7rx7rks2xSometimes unravelling a complex family means going back to the drawing board ... literally. One of the best tools for solving a difficult #Genealogy problem #PenAndPaper29 Jun 2026 09:53 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpg7rx7rks2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mpg5r65s5223Interesting to find an infant relative, born in 1874 who sadly died a couple of months later. Birth and death both registered as Wilfred, a boy, yet the RC baptism clearly shows Winifred, a daughter . #Genealogy #Mystery #WhosRight #Blackburn29 Jun 2026 09:17 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpg5r65s5223https://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mouhhevxss27Had a lovely family #FathersDay #BBQ yesterday with sons and grandchildren, was a little confused by the instructions on the apron I was given though ❓️22 Jun 2026 08:23 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mouhhevxss27https://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mos5ecsltc27Having a good #FathersDay so far, my son got me a great #vinyl album from the year he was born (1988). Best supergroup ever ? #80s #TravellingWilburys21 Jun 2026 10:17 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mos5ecsltc27https://bsky.app/profile/chalfontr.bsky.social/post/3mokn2xz4sc2kI know it's a #Catholic record and therefore in #Latin, but #Ancestry really has no excuse for this level of transcription error. #BuriedAlive #Genealogy #AncestryHour18 Jun 2026 10:37 +0000at://did:plc:noif2fjfdjdp2gl246yit44j/app.bsky.feed.post/3mokn2xz4sc2k