Andy Way writes: I’ve been researching my family tree on Ancestry for years. This has led to the writing of two family history books:

The Ways of Milbourne St.Andrew: A 250-year family history

Fanning the flames in Dorset and beyond

Front and back cover of Fanning the Flames for over 200 years in Dorset & Beyond, by Andy Way

If you are interested in either book, please contact me at andy.way@adaptcentre.ie.

Researching one’s ancestors is fulfilling on at least two counts: (i) you discover things that no living relatives know; and (ii) you find new living relations!

My May 2023 book The Ways of Milborne St Andrew: a 250-Year Family History focused on my direct ancestral line, but I did discover there that my 6^th great uncle was a blacksmith at the end of the 18^th century. I then came across the Dorset Blacksmiths site (unfortunately the URL has been taken over by a less salubrious offering!), where my 6^th great uncle is listed … along with 19 other Ways! Having researched the Way family for years, I knew that our surname is rare, so this got me excited! I quickly found that all 20 Way blacksmiths on the Dorset Blacksmiths site were related to each other, and to me, too. After a lot more research, I discovered another 40+ family blacksmiths, so more than 60 altogether, going all the way back to 1700, making 8 generations of Way blacksmiths altogether. 

So that partially explains the first attraction of doing ancestral research. To make it more relevant to visitors to this website, I’ve found evidence of Way blacksmithing in Piddlehinton spanning the years 1841-1939. This begins with George Way (1799–1874), although in 1841 George is already 42 so presumably has been a blacksmith for 25 years or so, meaning that I am fairly certain that there were Way blacksmiths in the village over 200 years ago.

For most of this time, blacksmithing took place in the forge named after the family in the picture above. I subsequently discovered that you can stay there as a holiday cottage (e.g. on https://www.dream-cottages.co.uk/cottage/DorsetSomerset-Piddlehinton/Ways-Forge-994768.html). This and other sites show some photos of the interior, which I thought was great!

Searching around on the internet a bit more, I came across Jane Dennison, the current owner, who very kindly invited me to have a look around the next time I was over. This worked out well on a recent visit, so my eldest daughter Lucy and I met Jane at Way’s Forge on 1^st August while she was in between guests. We had a great look around, and even helped out a little making beds! Jane told us many stories, one of which was that the Forge was used for work, with the family actually living in what is today Forge Cottage (see above photo) on the other side of the road.

Jane grasped the nettle and brought us over to meet the owners, a lovely couple from Scotland, who explained a little about some of the restoration work they had completed. From there – and this is where the second benefit of researching one’s ancestors comes in – we followed Jane to Piddlehinton, where we met Dawn Batten (nee Way), my 6^th cousin 1x removed (i.e. my dad’s 6^th cousin). Dawn is the daughter of the very last blacksmith in Piddlehinton, John Tilney Way (1920-67, see below), and she told us all about living in Forge Cottage and her dad working in Way’s Forge. When demand for traditional blacksmithing skills started to diminish, Dawn said her father erected a large hoist on chains which was capable of lifting an engine out of a car, as he transitioned from blacksmithing to becoming a mechanic, a path taken by many blacksmiths, with forges being repurposed as garages and filling stations.

In the next photos, you can see Jane and Dawn holding copies of my book on the family blacksmiths, and in the second, Dawn is holding exactly the above photo of her father Jack (as John Tilney was known familiarly).

Jane Dennison, Dawn Batten (nee Way), Lucy & Andy Way (c) Andy Way

So I’d encourage everyone to delve a little into your family history; whatever you find will be interesting, and chances are it’ll lead to you meeting not just old friends and family, but new ones too!