I love genealogy and family history. I find it a big challenge, because you just never know what is going to pop up. I have been doing genealogy for about 5 years now, and I do classify myself as a genealogist.
I have done, as far as I can on the Internet, my partner's history, and after a bit of blood, sweat and toil, managed to get back to 1799. This was hard work, frustrating but fun, but be warned as things are not as straightforward as they may seem.
You just can't go on the Internet and convince yourself that you are going to find all your relatives in one easy hit. There are many resources out there to help you find what you looking for, but may I just say that genealogy is hard work, and I believe that if it was easy then everybody would be at it.
I believe that everybody should find out their roots, or where they come from beyond mummy and daddy. Who was my great grandfather? Did he fight in the great war? Was my great grandmother involved in the war, or was she at home with the children? Either way I knew that I wanted to find out where I came from or if I had any rich relatives, scoundrals, etc.
One thing I do know is that I should have spent more time with my dad and asked him what he remembers about his blood parents. Don't get me wrong; I love his adopted parents to bits, but "curiosity has killed the cat," and after doing my fiancee's family tree, I wanted to know more.
Sadly, I did not have that chance, and my dad passed away this September with only a few old and frail adopted members of his family who are alive. However, I can say with 100% certainty he called these adopted members his family.
I wanted to find his blood line, and all I had to go on was his mother's name and the fact that he had a half brother. I know that in the final few months my dad was getting curious as to his blood line, so that is now my duty to follow that curiosity and start digging.
I have built a website devoted to family history beginners. It is not perfect, but it is useable and very very easy to understand. It gives practical advice, links, contact details, etc. It is a free site, and as long as it does not get abused it will stay that way.
All I want to do at the end of the day is to help other people in a hobby that it growing at a formidable rate.
My website is www.simple-genealogy.co.uk
Please visit and help yourselves to the free resources.
Regards
Francis McGuire
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