Why Family History?

I never knew my paternal grandparents, as they died long before I was born. I remember, however, hearing of them as a child and being curious to know more.

My father had already been tracing his family roots for a number of years, and so towards the end of 2005 I decided to act on my childhood curiosity and help him with his endeavours.

Why a Website?

By the middle of 2006 I had accumulated a wealth of information and began looking for a way to present this to my father, resulting in this web site. In addition to being able to share my findings with my father, this website has provided me with the opportunity to:

• Put flesh upon the bones of facts and figures to catch a fleeting glimpse of my ancestors - who they were, what they were like and what experiences they encountered throughout life.
• Preserve my findings for future generations interested in the same family branches.
• Connect with others researching shared ancestors.
• Share the data I've accumulated over time with other members of the family and fellow researchers.

Why Stop There?

Having been well and truly bitten by the family history bug, at the beginning of 2007 I began researching my maternal family line from Scotland.

Acknowledgements

My warmest thanks to family members, friends and fellow researchers who have contributed to this research. Your generosity has enriched my knowledge of my family and my heritage. I would especially like to thank my newly found second cousins:

• J and Z Baker for sharing their research of the Gardner, Baker and Huckett branches.
• G Gardner for sharing his research of the Gardner and Izzard branches.