Es gibt Leute die scheinen zu denken, dass man nur seit der Erfindung von Flugzeuge reist und eine internationale Familie zu besitzen gehört nur an moderner Managers. Wir, die Familienforscher wissen es, dass die Realität anders ist. Als Beispiel dient dazu ein Schreiben von 1717 beurkundet von einem Madrider Notar. Gerardo Adrián Voetz y Villalón,…
I spotted a curious notarial instrument yesterday while working in Seville. Recorded in April 1570 before notary Juan Pérez, it appears to be either a Power of Attorney or some type of authorisation needed to fulfil an earlier agreement, recorded before another notary in the same city. Notary Pérez employed several different scribes and the…
‘…We know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.’ —Donald Rumsfeld, US Secretary for Defence, 2002 The famous quote above, not at first glance relevant to genealogy, is applicable to a particular blind spot which may affect…
No, si de aqui a unos años el libro más breve de la Biblioteca será uno titulado algo así como Compendio de Heráldica Muncipal Española. Por lo menos, si se limita a escudos entonces vigentes. Ultimamente los escudos parecen estar desapareciendo de las ‘imagenes corporativas’ municipales con más rapidez que de la fachada de un…
Last night’s episode of Who Do You Think You Are? treated the American viewing audience to the family history of one of the nation’s best known actors, Martin Sheen. I’ve been gratified by how well the broadcast was received, and in particular how much interest was elicited by one of the strands of the story…
Life after combat has never been easy for the wounded warrior and is not today either, as some of the stories of young men returning from Iraq or Helmand Province show us only too well. But next Remembrance Day (or Veterans Day, if you’re in the US) spare a thought for Captain Juan Meyer. On…
One may wonder if there are any heraldic consequences to Sir Fred Goodwin’s loss of his knighthood, a matter receiving a great deal of media attention today. I’ve not been able to find any reference to his having received a grant of arms and it may simply be that the great man was so busy…