RUBY One-Name Study : studying the Ruby surname across the world

Through Ruby surname individuals, Nikki Brown presents the challenge of researching those who were forced to the workhouses in Victorian England. So many of these people lived their life in the shadows, often leaving little lasting imprint in the core records family historians access. People queuing at St. Marylebone workhouse circa 1900 (Wellcome Images, Wellcome Trust) When researching their family tree, many hope for a connection to royalty, a notable or famous person. However, finding individuals from the other end of the social scale, can    sometimes give insight into a different aspect of life. For example, for times around the       Victorian era, examining records relating to those who were in a workhouse can be useful. While researching Edwin George Ruby , I found a staggering 1,100 records relating to his admission to and discharge from two of London’s workhouses between 26 Nov 1895 and 5th January 1907. . During these...

Photo from supercars.net Thanks to Paul Howes, we are able to celebrate American racer Lloyd Ruby ( 1928 - 2009) on what would have been his one hundredth birthday on January 12th.  For those who are speed aficionados, the Ruby surname study has something for everyone - read about Lloyd's life in sport.  It’s not often that you run a newspaper search on someone and find more than 25,000 articles.   This I did recently when I found reference to Lloyd Ruby.    I’d either never heard of him ( a not unreasonable excuse because I’m British by origin!) or had forgotten.   As I read more, I came to appreciate the man for what he was: honest, unassuming, focused, hard-working, loved by his peers, loyal to his family and friends and, yes, unlucky.   It’s a great pity that he is mostly remembered these days for not having won the Indianapolis 500.   Consider his other achievements: he won seven USAC National Champi...