I thought a few words might be appropriate at this time about our family tree. The Tree exists on the genealogical research website Ancestry.co.uk. Obviously a tree must have a root but Family Trees work backwards and have to start somewhere or with someone and in the case of our tree that someone is me. If you ask me your relationship to an individual on the tree I first find my relationship to you and from that I can tell you the answer. As of this moment the tree contains the names and biographical details of 3,722 individuals who are related to me, however distantly, by blood or marriage. As an example there are twenty-three surnames beginning with the letter "A" alone (If you look in the right hand column you'll see a list of these names.) It also contains the details of my late partner's family. By their very nature family trees are never 100% accurate - wrong turns are taken, wrong branches followed and I've been as guilty as any researcher of this. I constantly review the information I store, re-examine and correct where necessary. I have often been asked what information the Family Tree holds and the answer is simply - anything I can find that tells me something about a persons life. This could be something as important as their Army Service Records down to where they went on holiday in 1935 (I have receipts for a chalet rented by my mother in Bognor Regis in that year) or even the name of a pet dog. When it comes to living relatives the system is different. People often mention personal things about themselves, relationships etc and I do not record these as I feel privacy is a big issue. Questions or additional information is welcome.
I agree with your comments on publishing information on living people. But, wouldn't it have been great if someone had written about our living ancestors during their lifetime? Maybe you could make a time capsule, revealing all at a specific date in the distant future.
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