Genealogy group member Sue Willis describes how the group has helped her trace her ancestry back to the time of William the Conqueror
Members do their own research under the guidance of group leader Paddy Neville, who has been running two weekly genealogy sessions for the past 17 years.
Once members have progressed from beginners to non-beginners and have made good headway with tracing their ancestors they often get stuck on what and where to find the next piece of information (commonly known as a ‘brick wall’). Often an ancestor will change his name, and where he is born and sometimes his age can vary on census returns. This is where the help and support comes from the leader and the group generally.
Much information we need can be found on commercial websites such as Findmypast.co.uk and Ancestry.co.uk but there are a lot of resources that are free and Paddy encourages the group to use them.
In the old days to do research you had to go to the appropriate record office, but a lot is now available on the internet without having to travel, sometimes long distances, to find the appropriate records. Research is now so much easier.
I have been lucky with one of my own lines going back to the Battle of Hastings, but this was due to an ancestor writing a small book which he called My Grandfather’s Pocket Book, all of which can be verified through different records.