A to Z 2025 reflections

Looking back at the 2025 April A to Z challenge

The A to Z Blogging Challenge is a friendly annual blogging event. Participants post every day of April except Sundays: 26 times, with a contribution for every letter of the alphabet.

This year, 2025—my twelfth Challenge—I wrote about twenty-six people in my family tree whose personal name starts with a different letter. It seems arbitrary to write posts governed by letters of the alphabet, but the challenge has prompted me to explore my family tree and add to my knowledge of my family history.

My posts were:

• A is for Agnes: My great great grandmother Agnes Helene Louise (Stern) Peters (1861 – 1918)

• B is for Bridget: My eighth great grandmother Bridget Trollope (abt 1641 – 1723)

• C is for Caroline: The great great grandmother of my husband Greg Caroline (Clarke) Young (abt. 1835 – 1879)

• D is for Dymphna: My fifth great grandmother Dymphna Cashell (before 1762- after 1793)

• E is for Edith: The maternal grandmother of my husband Greg Edith Caroline (Edwards) Dawson (1871-1946)

• F is for Friedrich: My fourth great grandfather Friedrich Goersh (1771-1825)

• G is for George Pollard Kay: “Letters from Bob”: “Letters from Bob”: An airman who had served with the Royal Flying Corps George Pollard Kay (1896 – 1917)

• H is for Henry: My fifth cousin twice removed Henry Champion de Crespigny (1882 – 1946)

• I is for Isaac: Great great grandfather of my husband Greg Isaac Dawson (1830-1872)

• J is for Jeanie: My great great grandmother Jeanie (Hawkins) Hughes (1862-1941)

• K is for Katherine: One of my 13th great grandmothers Katherine (Honford) Mainwaring (1471-1529)

• L is for Lydia: My fifth great grandmother Lydia (Wilks) Plaisted (1772-1861)

• M is for Mercy: My husband’s third great grandmother Mercy (Rose) Sinden (1779-1852)

• N is for Nigel: My 28th great grandfather Nigel de Stafford (bef.1065-bef.1124)

• O is for Odiarne: My 5th great grandfather Odiarne Coates (1704-1745)

• P is for Patience and Peter: Two of my husband Greg’s 5th great grandparents Patience (Bishop) Way (1757-1836) and Peter Way (1754-1836)

• Q is for Quintin: My first cousin five times removed Reginald Quintin Mainwaring (1828-1903)

• R is for Rowland: My 3rd great grand uncle Rowland Mainwaring (1811-1826)

• S is for Sarah: My first cousin 6 times removed Sarah Mainwaring (1774-1837)

• T is for Thomas: My husband’s third great grandfather Thomas Edwards (1794-1871)

• U is for Unica: My eighth great grandmother Unica Fewster (1665-1762)

• V is for Cyril Hughes remembered at Villers-Bretonneux: My first cousin four times removed Cyril Hughes (1875-1916)

• W is for Wilhelmine: My great great grandmother Wilhelmine Henrietta (Ritter) Bertz (1862-1942)

• X is for ex: The wife of my fifth cousin twice removed Barbara Rendel Dobb (1905-1991)

• Y is for Yakumo Koizumi: My fourth cousin four times removed Patrick Lafcadio (Lafcadio) “Koizumi Yakumo” Hearn aka Πατρίκιος Λευκάδιος, 八雲, やくも (1850-1904)

• Z is for Zachary: My sixth great uncle Zachary Philip Fonnereau (1706 – 1778)

Half the posts were about women (“Women hold up half the sky”, declared Chairman Mao), and I was pleased to have been able to include three of my German forebears.

Fan chart generated by Wikitree

During the challenge I managed to visit every blog that participated. 33 different bloggers commented on my posts and I was encouraged by their comments and interaction.

In particular I followed the following blogs every day during the month:

• Jill Ball JillBallAu: jottings, journeys, joy

• Linda Curry The Curry Apple Orchard: The Swinging Sixties

• Cassmob (Pauleeen Cass) Family history across the seas: Airports, Airstrips, Aircraft, and Airlines

• Carole McCullochNextGenGenealogy: A to Z of AI in Genealogy

• Jennifer Jones Tracking Down The Family: The Earl Grey Orphan Scheme

• Carmel Galvin Earlier Years Family history and clippings: On This Day in April

• GenieJen (Jenni) GenieJen Our Family History: Bamford and Heaney families

• Kristin Cleage Finding Eliza – family history blog: April Family Happenings

• Melanie Atherton Atherton’s Magic Vapour: a murder mystery

• Xanthe X-Factored – family stories

• Liz Cuckfield Compendium: a One Place Study

• Liz Craig Sudbourne: the history of a small Suffolk village

Many of these bloggers I have been following for most of the last twelve years.

I look forward to the A to Z challenge each year. I learn a lot by researching and preparing my posts. I enjoy and learn a lot from reading everybody else’s posts too.

I appreciate the coordination efforts of the A to Z Challenge Team. I cannot see any way they could improve the blog hop experience.

I am already looking forward to the April 2026 A to Z challenge.

See you all again next year.

– Anne