Some time ago, whilst working on something else I stumbled across this website, the Institute of Archaeology based at UCL (University College London).

Scrolling to the bottom of the home page reveals the links for the Library as well as Museums and Collections.

As anyone with a One-Name Study or Surname Project will tell you, there is nothing more fascinating in locating a search box and inserting your study surname just to see what it reveals.

I did a quick search for the word Butcher and within the first page there was a reference to a book about a Mary Butcher who was confined to Worcester goal for murdering her male bastard son. At this present time, I have no idea who Mary was, but even that slither of a nugget of information does mean that this Mary Butcher potentially left a paper trail and who knows what I will discover in the coming weeks. One thing is clear though, this quick search provided me with a clue to an individual whose story does deserve to be told within my Butcher One-Name Study.

Key to undertaking a One-Name Study, is to search every catalogue & database you come across, even if you do not follow up on the material. Capture the information and the citation and leave it for the future and add to your to do list. Using Evernote, which has a web clipper for your browser means that you can capture either the entire page or the relevant bit -be sure to note the citation too and the date you checked the site.