Fellow Family History Sleuths,

This month I had a blast diving into the roots of Ted Lasso star, Hannah Waddingham! If you've got a few minutes, be sure to check out the video of her 106-year-old, Dunkirk-survivor grandfather. The National Archives has its 11th and first female Archivist – and good news for genealogists as there's a resurgence of young antique collectors so your kids and grandkids just might want your stuff after all! Finally, I was lucky enough to get delayed but delightful feedback on two completely unrelated fronts this month when Top Chef fans selected their favorite episodes of all time and Bruce Springsteen visited Rathangan, Ireland, the town I traced his roots to. Until next time, here's wishing you some wonderful and unexpected results from all the genealogical seeds you've been planting over the years!

6 Things You Didn’t Know about Hannah Waddingham’s Roots

Hannah Waddingham on March 20, 2023 in the Oval Office of the White House (P20230320AS-2571, cropped) (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz, Public Domain). For more, check out these delightful photos of President Biden and First Lady Biden meeting with the cast of “Ted Lasso”.

What can’t Hannah Waddingham do? I’m late to the party discovering her talents in her portrayal of team owner, Rebecca Welton, in Ted Lasso, but oh, how I wish I had seen her in Spamalot, Into the Woods, or Wizard of Oz. And if I weren’t enchanted enough already, her turn as one of Eurovision 2023’s hosts — seemingly having the time of her life and casually dropping bons mots en français and even the occasional Ukrainian — sealed it.

So it was all but inevitable that I would take a genealogical dive to learn more about the family that has given us Ms. Waddingham, and it didn’t disappoint.

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Genealogy Roundup, May 17

Photo Credit: Tima Miroshnichenko under Creative Commons license

‘We’re Not All Ikea-Loving Minimalists’: Historian and Author Michael Diaz-Griffith on the Resurgence of Young Antique Collectors – Good news for family history buffs. Your kids just might want your old stuff after all.

Colleen Shogan Named 11th Archivist of the United States and First Woman to Lead the Agency – New head of NARA!

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Genealogy Roundup, May 10

Photo Credit: Dharmabumstead under Creative Commons license

Bruce Springsteen sings and pulls a pint in Kildare pub – Another unexpected but very cool outcome of my research. For my fellow genealogy geeks, here’s how I identified Rathangan as Springsteen’s town of origin

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Genealogy Roundup, April 26

Photo Credit: Robert Kroos under Creative Commons license

'Top Chef': 10 Most Rewatchable Episodes, According to Reddit – Well, this is cool. The 2nd most popular episode of "Top Chef" ever is the Ellis Island one I about killed myself researching. Was doing the genealogical equivalent of quick fire challenges 19 hours a day, 7 days a week to prep for this episode! 😆

Bailey Bailey Explains How Her Extremely Unique Name Came to Be – I feel you, Bailey Bailey. 😂

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