Family History
Every name has a story, came from somewhere, laughed, cried and dreamed
Who do you think I am?
The journey, over the last forty years, delving back in time through my family history has been frustrating, and exciting and has taken me to places I never imagined I had any connection to. Far too many brick walls still need to be dismantled to allow me to investigate and get to know my missing ancestors.
My parents and paternal grandmother loved to tell me stories about the past. Some were fiction but others had a kernel of truth. This gave me a love of history and the desire to know about the people who have shaped me. The lives of men and especially the women who lived in fishing ports, and capital cities and fled their homeland as refugees leaving a life behind.
I now know that my heritage is a mix of British and European and I have not started my DNA research! They have come from Cornwall, Isle of Wight, Derbyshire, Kent, London, Yorkshire, Ireland, Netherlands, Prussia (via the Royal Navy in 1799) and Huguenots who fled France in 1685.
Selection of Surnames
Why a Family Tree?
Each generation doubles in number, starting with your two parents.
Four Gt. Grandparents, Eight 2xGt, Grandparents, Sixteen 3 x Gt Grandparents - you get the picture. By the time I get back to my 7 x Gt. Grandparents and find Jacob & Madelaine de Rouffignac fleeing France. I have a total of 512 - 7x Gt. Grandparents!
The total of direct descendants to find is a whopping 1,024 individuals. There are as you can imagine many branches missing from my tree. Those I have discovered all have a story to tell and inform my creative writing. Then there are the brothers and sisters, cousins and aunts who take us down some marvellous rabbit holes.
