Well this is the genealogy bit.
I hope as time passes, to offer my expertise, experience and research skills to others wading through the “gene pool”.
There may be costs (none hidden) for my time, but I can answer queries and help with tips and ideas freely and willingly.
I know that cost is a major deterrent when looking to research into family history.
The fear of subscribing and then not being able to use the facilities provided to their cost effective best held me back for quite a while.
So, like many others I have wasted plenty of time and money in my early investigations and am therefore subsquently well aware of the worries people have regarding the expenditure incurred searching for ancestors.
My aim on here is more to share my experience so people find their own way, giving any help that may be appropriate or requested.
If my time is required, I can keep regular contact to update any progress and confirm any fees accrued.
For anyone confident in using the internet and able to set up an account with the
General Register Office
I can then help in locating the details required to order the relevant certificates.
That way you may order your own and save time and money having them sent directly to your home.
I have to blow my own trumpet somewhat here, but it is tempered by the fact that I, we are always learning and willing to listen to good advice.
I have read books, articles and papers on the art of family history research, but in the main my skills have been honed by years of painstaking, laborious and sometimes fruitless digging and delving through the resources available.
So now feel confident and comfortable enough to offer others my help.
By resources, I mean the vast array of information on the WorldWideWeb.
From starting my own family research, I vividly remember the trepidation and confusion I felt when faced with a "blank tree" and of the best way to begin.
I had an address where Dad had been born in 1913 and his birth certificate, but was at a loss to where to go next?
the 1911 census was not in the public domain then so I had to try and find his father in the 1900 version.
I found the grandfather I had never met in a house across the road with his parents and siblings and I was on my way.
As already mentioned, there are unavoidable costs for subscription sites offering access to records which vary significantly in price and functionality so care must be taken to get the best value for your hard earned pennies.
There are many free to use (donations appreciated) sites which can be valuable when cross referencing details prized from the past.
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates are an invaluable means to discover detail or confirm findings, but are expensive if used frequently and before exhausting other avenues.
My circumstances and caring responsibilities mean that touring the country scouring physical records available in libraries, churches and graveyards is near impossible. Having said that, the digitisation of records moves faster year on year and brings the world of the past to our fingertips.
Thousands of records have been added to the database since I first started.
I have developed my excellent eye for detail, and many insights on interpretation of the sometimes bewildering and inconsistent data found on these various sites.
We definitely have to view all records in their contemporary and cultural context and appreciate aspects of life when they were taken and committed to paper.
No access to medicines (including antibiotics) that we take for granted.
No welfare state as we know it.
No childcare facility other than family meant you will find widows and widowers re-marrying soon after their loss.
Less literacy meant a lot of variation in the recording of Names, Occupations etc.
Be prepared for disappointments amongst your discoveries, as records are not infallible where and if they exist.
Please don't fall into the trap I have seen so many family historians have, including myself...
It looks right so it must be?
Sometimes, leaps of faith must be made, but anything we find must be vigorously scrutinised.
Pitfalls are many and Brick Walls numerous, so we dig in the most fertile ground to find what we can to build our histories.
I am hoping to learn as well as help others, so here we go!
