In the beginning

When I first started out on, to quote Tony Blair, “A Journey”, it was in the days of the Commodore 64 and continuous printing paper with green lines.

Over the years I have started and “rested” rather than “stopped” my research numerous times, but I always come back to it. Researching family history has a fascination, which never seem to leave you once you are hooked.

My biggest regrets are not questioning my parents and my in-laws enough before they passed on. I lost the opportunity to find out more about the past. Their lives, where they lived, where they went to school and what they knew of their parents lives. Much of this information is probably lost forever. My research has helped to fill in some of the gaps but not all.

When I started out I knew that my mother’s parents were born and married in Russia (now Poland) and came to England about 1905 with 2 children. My mother was born in London. My father’s parents had the same background although they were both born and married here. Their parents came here around 1880.

My wife parents were both born in England. Her father’s parents came to this country from Russia as an engaged couple with his grandparents. On her mother’s side my wife was brought up believing that her family had been in England for over 200 years. It was therefore this part of our family that I have spent the most time researching and have now been able to trace it back to the 1550’s in Spain. Her ancestors seem to have arrived in England in the early 1700’s.