Hello!

Well, why have I decided to join the blogging world? I guess on the off-chance that someone might read it and be able to offer help with a brickwall or a link to something useful.

My intention is to witter on about the research I am doing into my family tree. I am not, as far as I know, related to anyone of note. No heroes, nobility or anything just a good solid working Midlands family.

The names i will be researching are:

Woodward, Meakin, Dolman, Thompson, Mazey, Fox, Cox, Sansom Fox, Hemsley, Tomkins. Mainly based in the East Midlands but with some forrays into the West Midlands as well.

We have our fair share of disreputable characters from what i can see, mainly multiple wives and illigitimate kids nothing too dramatic.

When I first started this journey of discovery i said i didn't want my family to be beige. I got my wish.

I did find, however, that you cannot believe what your grandparents tell you as "fact". My paternal grandmother always said her father was buried with "Full Military Honours". I later found that he had a paupers burial in an unmarked mass grave. I can only assume that as he was an ex soldier the local british legion turned up with a wreath although I find it hard to believe.

My maternal grandfather used to tell tails of a distant uncle who was an apothecary and would stride around with a silver topped stick. Well, he has failed to materialise. They are all Ag Labs!

My maternal grandmother was adamant that she was related to Florence Nightingale. This looked promising as we had a prayer book given to my grandmother by Hannah Nightingale (said to be a cousin of Florence??) but it now seems that it was supposition based on having teh same surname.

My husbands family are no different. At various stages his parent said they were of irish stock, from itinerant Romanian gypsies etc etc. It seems, as far as i can find out, that they are all from Birmingham. The closest the get to ireland is drinking the odd glass of Guinness.

One story that seems to have some legs is that my maternal G G Grandmother was French. The census returns do support that she was "Borin in France, British Subject" so I am not quite sure what that means.

After a lot of emails to the Calais registrars office in my very best French, I got a reply that there was a birth int he right year to the right surname but her given name was different so I am now confused. I am hoping to get over the Calais to see the records for myself soon.

Anyway, back to the grind. I have a confession - I am mainly an e-genealogist so far. Trawling the various websites for nuggets of info. I am also trying to collate the gaps for future trips to records offices in Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Shropshire and possibly Birmingham......

The next step is to find out where my G G Grandfather was in 1891...... He doesn't seem to be in any census returns.