Dr. Sophie Kay
Pro Genealogist & Scientist at www.khronicle.co.uk, #Genealogy Expert for Time Team, #DNA Specialist Tutor at IHGS. Oxford D.Phil.(SysBio), Fiend for #maps & #research methods. Big hair, big heels, weakness for cake.She/her.
Blog: www.parchmentrustler.com
- It's back! Tonight it's Week 1 of my Research Skills Studio for Family Tree Plus: 4 sessions of #FamilyHistory training in #research methods. I'm aiming for fun & informative: each 60 minute webinar is followed by a 'Zoom afterparty' for chat & questions... www.family-tree.co.uk/store/geneal...
- Enjoyed this long read. Physical objects really can tether us to parts of our past, people no longer with us, & all sorts of layered memories. One for the material culture and #FamilyHistory researchers methinks... www.theguardian.com/food/2025/ap...
- About time for a little heads-up from me. I've been navigating some medical bumps in the road here, so social media has taken a back seat...and the #OccupationOfTheDay is taking a break too. Looking forward to some awesome #science & #history conversations with you once I'm back in action!
- Genetic genealogy: science & the arts combined! I'm back on Zoom for more live #DNA teaching next week - and looking forward to returning to the Society of Genealogists @sogorg.bsky.social to share this session with you. Bookings link in the post below: I'll see you there! #FamilyHistory #Genealogy
- 🧬 What Can My DNA Do For Me? with @scientistsoph.bsky.social 📅 Fri 25 Apr | 10:30AM (Zoom) Feeling overwhelmed by DNA in genealogy? This beginner-friendly talk focuses on how genetic testing can help validate, extend & connect your family tree. 🎟️ Book: members.sog.org.uk/e... #GenHour
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…COKE INSPECTOR: At a gas works, a worker who "investigates complaints from customers as to quantity and quality of coke supplied." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Selling Coke at the Gas Works (Tidmarsh, 1893-4) c/o M'cr Art Gallery
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…SERVANT: "A person engaged to attend or wait upon, or to obey the directions & meet the needs of, a particular person, or to perform specified tasks in a particular household or establishment..." OED (2025), buff.ly/4RC18mz 📷 Hogarth's Servants (c.1750-5) c/o Tate
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…CALICO PLAITER: A textile worker who "folds calico backwards and forwards, in folds of a given length, for convenience in passing it through calico printing machines." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Calico printing process (1835) c/o Wellcome Coll'n
- Reposted by Dr. Sophie KayOne of the things I wanted to achieve with BBC You're Dead To Me was to change the public perception of 'typical historians', to show that expertise isn't just a man in a tweed jacket and bow tie
- 👀 "Dr Alan Borthwick, softly spoken in his blazer and tie, looks every bit the typical historian." 👀 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…FLAP KEEPER: "greases and clears obstructions daily from iron flaps, fitted to sewer outlets to prevent entry of tidal wave." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Sewer worker (1958) c/o Seattle Municpal Archives, CC-BY 4.0
- Big news in the #DNA testing world this morning: genetic testing company 23andMe has filed for bankruptcy protection 'to facilitate a sale process' and CEO Ann Wojcicki has resigned... #GeneticGenealogy #FamilyHistory #Genealogy www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…CHAPE FILER: A skilled metalworker who made mountings for scabbards and/or small fixings such as buckles. 📷 Sabre with highly ornamented scabbard, c/o Met Museum
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…THREE BRANCH HAND: Term given to a workman who offers multiple skills, typically combining the work of a plumber, glazier and house painter. 📷 Jobs of a three branch hand, c.early 19thC
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…HAIR BLEACHER: "bleaches hair for wig making by immersion in solution of hydrogen peroxide, etc., to produce artificial white hair, or to reduce intensity of existing colour." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Trade card (c.1765) c/o British Museum, CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...ODD WORKER or ODD FILER (cycles): A worker who "finishes parts of cycles, with file, etc., at a bench." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Inventor in bicycle workshop, Netherlands (1945) c/o Wiki Commons
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…FLOWER MODELLER & PLANT MOUNTER: Skilled worker (usu. temp) employed by the British Museum's Natural History dept. to mount & arrange displays of flora for models of animals shown in natural habitats. Dict of Employments Open to Women (1898) 📷 'Edward's Dodo'(c.1620)
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…PUNCHCLOD: "A low peasant, a ploughman, one engaged in agriculture." Dialect term, chiefly Yorks. English Dialect Dictionary (1898-1905) 📷 The Ploughing Lesson (c.1890) c/o North Lincs Museums, CC-BY-NC 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…GAITNER: A skilled agricultural worker whose job it was to reshape bound sheaves into a configuration which allowed for ease of carrying and good drainage and drying. 📷 'Summer' (c.1644), Teniers the Younger, c/o National Gallery
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...ROTARY KILN BURNER: "in charge of rotary kiln [for cement manufacture]; regulates supply of slurry (mixture of limestone/chalk & clay with water) to kiln...regulates heat from furnace." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Rotary kiln burners (1926) c/o Wiki Commons
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...LORRY MAN or LURRY MAN (or woman!): "drives a heavy four-wheeled vehicle known as a lorry, or, in the North of England, a lurry." Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 17 yr old lorry driver (1958) c/o Nat'l Library of Wales, CC-BY-SA 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...SYRINGE COTTONER: "binds cotton, by hand, round plungers of syringes; usually also boxes and wraps up syringes" Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Enema syringes c/o Wellcome Coll'n, CC-BY 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...SCHOLASTIC AGENT: "advises parents as to choice of school, arranges placing of children at school chosen; also acts as employment agent for schools and teachers" Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 'Hygiene of the Schoolroom' (1911) c/o Wiki Commons
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...INSIDE HAND: "engaged in workshop where organ builders specialise in different branches; makes & fits up action controls, sound board and similar [on] inside of pipe organ" Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Church organ, Coggeshall, Essex (c.1895) c/o Met Museum
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...FAULT FINDER: "in [electrical] test room makes various tests (for insulation, resistance, etc.) on cable to ensure it reaches standard specification, using galvanometer." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Galvanometer room, Edison lab (1915) c/o Wiki Commons
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...DAILY GIRL or MORNING GIRL: A female general servant who did not live in the household of the family for whom she worked. Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 The Servant Girl, Gertler (1923) c/o Tate, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is...BIBLE DEPOT KEEPER: "a retail shopkeeper who sells bibles, texts, tracts, and religious publications; sometimes sells from private house instead of from shop." Dict of Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Bible (1683) c/o Wellcome Collection
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…FLORAL DECORATOR: "decorates ball rooms, tables, churches, etc., with flowers, ferns, palms, etc., in various designs or colour schemes for special functions." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 The Bouquet, Bland c/o M'cr Art Gallery, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…GRAFTER: "a white mender [mender of bleached lace] who works a patch of net into a damaged place, to cover defect." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Women Making Lace c/o Wellcome Collection
- "Don't be fooled by this frock that I got, I'm still, I'm still Dolly of the Chop..."
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…CHOP HOUSE KEEPER: "proprietor or manager of establishment which provides meals of a cheaper variety." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 'Dolly of the Chop House' (19thC) c/o Wellcome Collection
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…PUBLIC LETTER WRITER: A literate worker who wrote letters on behalf of illiterate clients. Tasks might vary from penning love letters for sweethearts, to composing requests for employment or demands for money. 📷 The Public Letter Writer (1880) c/o York Museums Trust
- Today's #OccupationOfTheDay is…PRIVATE POLICEMAN: "a watchman usu. wearing uniform; is frequently an ex-police constable on pension; sometimes specifically designated, e.g. private constable, river policeman (water supply)." Dict Occup'l Terms (1927) 📷 Night watchman (1943) c/o Library of Congress
