Finding the past!

Hello this Thursday. Hope you are all well and that your week has ran smoothly?

Many years ago now I started researching my family history. Me and my dad spent a Sunday afternoon searching local church graveyards for our ancestors. We found my dad's great-grandparents (my great great grandparents!) headstone and I wrote down the information.

 Not so clear here but in real life I was able to get the information I needed.

It's still in good condition really. 

So Thomas Young and his wife Harriet set me on a path that I'm still following today. Over the years I've spent many many hours researching the census records, parish records and certificates. I'm in touch with distant cousins - found through reading message boards and trees shared.

I subscribe to Ancestry so that I can access records online. If you watch the popular BBC 1 programme Who Do You Think You Are? the celebrity often looks on the Ancestry site at the census, though the programme doesn't tell you how much the certificates/records are when they hand over that brown envelope to the person!

My advice is to find out where the record is registered locally. Local registry offices will provide copies of certificates at a cheaper cost than ordering online. At present my local office charges £12 I think. 

I've traced my family lines back many generations. I'm currently following a line that goes back to at least 1400's. Further even but it all gets sketchy the further you go so I have to retrace my steps and try to verify what I've found. Much easier these days with so much online.

I did find out that my 2nd cousin 2x removed died in The Battle of the Somme.

Here is a page I crafted to show the information and to honour him. 

 His details. You can find out from the Common Wealth Graves Commission about your ancestors if they died in service.

This page shows how we are related. I coloured the poppy stamps (from Sheena Douglas) and kept the layout simple. I'm planning on creating lots of pages like this using records etc. It's going to take a long time to document what I've found.

It'll keep me busy.

Today my Q & A journal asks - 

How much time do you spend commuting?

Honestly, zero for myself. But at the moment I am having to collect Keagan from his work experience which is 20 mins away. So that could count!

Take care Zo xx