This was news two years ago but I only recently stumbled on this newspaper story by Ellie Zolfagharifard.
This is the reconstructed face of "Beachy Head Lady", an 1800 year old skeleton found on a beach in East Sussex England.
Scientists were able to reconstruct her head with 3D scanning and other techniques. It is believed that she lived circa 245 A.D.
Read the rest of the story pubished on the Daily Mail at
A Facebook friend recently posted her top 10 Genealogy Mysteries. They aren't brick walls because there is probably an answer somewhere, just waiting to be found.
I
thought this was a great idea and I am following suit with my Top 10
Genealogy Mysteries. Of course any help or suggestions for further
research are welcome. You can read my other Genealogy Mysteries at Top 10 Genealogy Mysteries
Here is my Number 7 of 10 Genealogy Mysteries:
Edith Winnifred Finch's father is a mystery. Edith was born 16 September 1870 in the St. Pancras Workhouse in Brighton, Sussex England to Martha Finch.
The 1871 census for Sussex > Cuckfield > District Cuckfield Union Workhouse finds Martha and her daughter:
Martha Finch, pauper, not md, domestic cook, 32, b West Houghly, Sussex
Edith Finch, pauper child of 6 mos, b. Brighton Sussex
There were two possible birth registrations for little Edith but neither provided a father's name. Searching for her marriage record to Albert Charles Markham was more successful as it showed her father as "Lionel Finch" (mother's surname given?)
12 Aug. 1895. Albert Charles Markham, 29, bachelor, sailor son of Henry John Markham, deceased, publican & Edith Winifred Finch, 25, spinster, d/o Lionel Finch, deceased, commerical traveller. Witnesses: Frederick James Markham, Alice Smith.
I was able to trace Martha, her mother, but with no clues as to the mysterious Lionel. Edith and her husband Albert both died in 1898 in London England, leaving 3 children under the age of 8. The youngest, Elsie Phyllis Markham was only 8 months old. The children were sent to Orphanages - Albert Finch, an illegitimate child born to Edith, was sent to Barnardos, Frederick Markham to Miller's Orphanage and baby Elsie to an older couple who had no children. With their unsettled lives and losing their parents at young ages, they had no family stories or knowledge to pass on to descendants.
We have young Albert Finch's records from Barnardos and details on his life in St. Mary's Ontario Canada. Albert was able to save his money and eventually he brought his sister Elsie (my husband's great-grandmother) and his brother Frederick to St. Mary's to join him.
Martha Finch, Edith's mother, had two more illegitimate children: Esther born 1859 in the St. Pancras Workhouse and John born 1863 in Horsted Keyes, Sussex. Esther was living with her grandparents in the 1861 census, then she herself ended up in the Race Hill Workhouse having 2 illegitimate children, Arthur and Ruth.
I found it intriguing that Esther was given the middle name of "Martin". Perhaps this was her father's first name or surname?
Little John was raised by his grandparents and is last found in 1891 as a boarder at Hollycombe Stables, living on his own means.
Martha never married and is last seen in 1901 in Portsmouth, Hampshire where she is a servant in a household and listed as a widow. Her death was registered in Sussex in 1918.
I am no closer to solving the mystery of Lionel than I was 15 years ago. I welcome any suggestions!
The archives of the Ticehurst House Hospital, which are part of the
Wellcome collection, have been preserved and its records from 1787 to 1925 have now been digitized and
put online. These records provide a glimpse into life in an Insane Asylum.
Ticehurst House Hospital was opened as a private lunatic asylum at
Ticehurst, East Sussex, in 1792. At first the hospital admitted a number
of pauper patients as well as its more numerous private clients.
However no pauper patients were admitted after 1838, and the clientèle
became increasingly upper class as the century progressed.
In the 19th century and earlier, people were often committed to Insane Asylums by a family member who had grown tired of them. Aging parents could be sent away by resentful adult children; wives discarded by a husband who wanted a change, a well-off auntie whose scheming nephew wanted money - these were often patients.
The horror stories abound. Treatment was often cruel and neglectful. Little was understood about true mental illness so even those truly suffering from some type of illness were not helped by the treatments of the time.
Male doctors were in charge and women suffered terribly in this male dominated world. Patients could be chained to the walls, they could be dipped in icy water. Straightjackets and solitary confinement were commonplace for those who could not or would not keep quiet.
My Experiences in a Lunatic Asylum written by Herman Charles Merivale and published in 1879 was written by a former inmate of an Insane Asylum. It is free to read on Project Gutenberg.
This was news two years ago but I only recently stumbled on this newspaper story by Ellie Zolfagharifard. 
