I love my family. Full stop. Warts and all, as my mum used to say.

I have also long been interested in history - mostly ancient history. I spent years of my adult life studying, researching and generally being obsessed with the archaeology of the Late Stone Age in Britain. What a fascinating time period - - - but that’s for another website.

I discovered genealogy about twelve years ago when my husband’s beloved grandfather died, leaving behind a trunk full of photos and papers. Such a treasure. Most of the photographs were unidentified, but there was just enough information to start me on a search to learn more about this family. And that’s how I discovered I could blend my twin loves for family and history into one fascinating, frustrating, time-gobbling but oh-so-satisfying hobby/obsession.

I have also always loved to read, but what I have noticed about reading history, archaeology, and often genealogy too, is that it can be a bit….well….long-winded. Boring, even. Too many dates and too much detail.

Long, intricate genealogical texts are not only difficult to read, they are also daunting to write. Which is why so much valuable family history research languishes in boxes and binders on the floors and in the closets of family historians everywhere.

So I decided to tell the stories of my family in short form - no more than 500 words. Just the interesting bits. Of course, I am also doing the background research that is essential to good genealogy - I’m just not going to tell you about all of it. If you’re one of the few people interested in the details, a PDF family tree for each family can be downloaded on their page.

I hope you enjoy these stories as much as I do. And if you can add anything, or have any questions, I would love to hear from you.