Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree by Hannah Howe

Genealogy— Researching Your Family Tree

by Hannah Howe

It’s possible to construct your family tree with pen and paper using paper records, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, and parish registers. However, with the Internet widely available it makes sense for genealogists to take advantage of this vast resource.

To develop your family tree on the Internet you might decide to explore a hosting site. There are many hosting sites available. These include Ancestry, Find My Past and MyHeritage. I have been with Ancestry for over ten years so will concentrate on their site.

Hosting sites allow you to collaborate with other genealogists and potentially to discover living relatives. The sites contain a catalogue of records and on Ancestry hints direct you to these records. Records can include census and electoral rolls, birth, marriage and death registers, wills, military, immigration and travel, school and business directories, plus newspaper archives.

It’s possible to discover a ‘gateway’ ancestor, someone who will connect your Victorian ancestors with noble families from the medieval period. On my tree, Barbara Aubery is such an ancestor. Along with her husband, John Bevan, she was a founder of the Welsh Tract in Pennsylvania. My Aubrey line stretches back to William the Conqueror. Indeed, I’ve been fortunate to discover many gateway ancestors and their lines all stretch back to medieval times. Through Welsh genealogies some of my branches stretch back to 4 AD (!)

The profile page of my 9 x great grandmother Barbara Aubrey displays her timeline, immediate family and links to sources. As my research develops, I will add more detail to Barbara’s profile, including pictures and her life story.

The green leaves on my tree represent hints for further research while the black arrows lead to more ancestors. Sometimes, the historical record dries up, but once you connect with your sixteenth century ancestors it should be possible to reach back even further.

Of course, hosting sites like Ancestry require a subscription, so you need to be certain that genealogy really is for you. Some sites offer pay-as-you-go and monthly options, which are good if you want to discover how these sites work and how they could assist you in your research.

Hannah Howe is the author of the Sam Smith Mystery Series, the Ann's War Mystery Series and the #1 international bestseller Saving Grace. Hannah's books are published by Goylake Publishing and distributed through Gardners Books to over 300 outlets worldwide. Her books are available in print, as eBooks and audiobooks, and are being translated into ten languages. Discover more on Mom's Favorite Reads website:

https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/hannah-howe

Creation & Innovation

Interviewed by Sylva Fae

I have always been a creative soul and enjoy learning new crafts. While I love dabbling in different crafty activities, and encouraging my children to explore their own creativity, I’m just a happy amateur. I am inspired by those who do master these crafts to such a degree that they are able to run a creative business. This last year of lockdowns and home schooling has been challenging for most, but it has also given people time to do things they wouldn’t ordinarily have had time for. In addition, those who have a creative career have had to find innovative new ways to do business. Each of the people featured in this article do arts/ crafts I enjoy or I have tried in the past, they run local businesses, and have become friends because of their skills. I met Katie, of Popadoodle Design, after I noticed her artwork adorning the same shelves as my children’s books, in a local shop. Katie went on to illustrate my book, Elfabet. I met Kate of Jiraffe Kraft at a school Christmas fair, back in the days when we could freely socialise indoors. With Kate’s stall next to mine, I had plenty of time to admire her needlework skills. Alyson runs Sally Squirrel Sews. Her felt creations popped up on my local Facebook group, just as I was looking for gift inspiration. Finally, I met Tara recently when we both agreed to help a mutual friend publish her first book. Tara’s main business, making signs, is fascinating, but I was particularly taken with her stained-glass hangings.

Sally Squirrel Sews – Cross stitch and Felting

I've always been crafty and loved art since childhood, it is a family trait, my mum taught me to embroider, draw and paint. I picked up my needle in the first lockdown and started cross stitching again. This then led me to needle felting when I found a kit at the back of a cupboard while looking for sewing supplies. This developed into a new hobby, that developed into a business much to my surprise. Strangely the lockdowns have boosted my business as I only decided to start up at the end of 2020. I think if it hadn't been for the lockdowns, and needing to find something to occupy my time and unwind, I would never have had the courage to start up. I also think people have been sending more little gifts to each other while they haven't been able to see each other face to face. The gifts personally made for that loved one have so much more meaning. Juggling home schooling and making has been a challenge. I found my days were taken up with schooling and dealing with my 3 children and my nights with making felts and sewing. Sometimes

I'd be up until the small hours to complete orders. The positives far outweigh the negatives for me though. I've found a hobby that I love and can share and I find that so rewarding. People can find me at: www.facebook.com/sallysquirrelsews Or at my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ SallySquirrelSews

Katie Weaver – Illustrating and Writing

I’m an illustrator primarily specialising in art for children and storytelling. I love to help get children’s imaginations going. My stockists have been closed for most of the year, Brexit has increased the price of my print on products effectively pricing me out, and on top of the market difficulties I have had two young children at home to do remote schooling with so time has been short! got clear in my mind which bits of my business I like most and want to focus on.

You can find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/popadoodledesign

I started writing a longer book for KS2 children as sometimes it was easier to pick up a laptop or have ideas going in my head than going to my art studio with the children around. So that’s something new to me. I’ve written before but never with a view to completing and publishing. Eventually I realised this wasn’t going anywhere fast, and I had the children at home again, I was really beginning to miss having something creative (and something that wasn’t just being mummy). I received some lovely parcels from friends and thought how nice it was to receive post. The children rarely received post and were always complaining it was us that got the letters (mostly bills). I decided to create an elf character who would write to children about his life living in my garden. I was thrilled with the uptake and intend to do other similar projects including Christmas elf letters. I’ve found new ways to share my stories and art. I’ve taken writing further than I have before. I’ve Or on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/popadoodledesign

Tara Collette – Graphic Design, Textiles and Stained -Glass

Since graduating in Graphic Design in 2017, I have had an art studio at Islington Mill in Salford. Here, I create large textile pieces which aim to deliver bold and provocative messages in the hope to address social and personal issues. More recently, I have been learning how to make stained glass suncatchers.

Lockdown if anything, helped my business, which is a lucky thing to be able to say. With people being home so much I found a lot of people were wanting to decorate their spaces more by adding art to their walls. As a result of this, my banner sales have been

growing throughout lockdown and January was the busiest month I’d ever had. During the lockdown, I began to learn about stained glass and how to make small glass pieces, at first I just thought it was a ‘lockdown hobby’ and I wasn’t sure if people would buy the work I was making, but on March 1st I launched my first glass pieces for sale and they went down a treat! With the pandemic nothing changed too much for me, I was working independently before it and I still am. My art studio closed down during the first lockdown so I worked from home from that time which was nice, I got to experiment with things I had never worked with so much before like hand-dying my fabrics and cyanotype exposures. I also found myself applying to a lot of artist open calls which lead to being in some exhibitions and winning 1st prize in Warrington Contemporary 2020! There are a few positives from the last year for me, for a few months I was on furlough so that was a good time to not have money worries but to continue making artwork. I was soon made redundant it was the push I needed to realise that my selfemployed work could be a ‘main’ job whereas before I had always just seen it as a ’small side hustle. More of my work can be viewed on: www.taracollette.co.uk

Or you can follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taracollette Photo credit: Uskees Clothing for the 'forget fast fashion' photograph.

Jiraffe Kraft – Needlework

For the past couple of years, I have been focusing on fabric crafts but I like to try new things so what you see on my page can change like my mood! I was raised by two artists so creating is in my blood but, for me, it is something I do for pleasure and catharsis rather than to make money (if I do, then that's a bonus!) I am a member of a number of creative groups and I know that many of my fellow creatives rely on sales to make a living - I have really seen the impact that lockdown has had for them. This was especially visible at Christmas when many of us would be relying on Christmas events and fairs for sales. People were left with surplus stock and nowhere to sell it. Initially, I suggested that we post our products in the groups and try to support each other when doing our Christmas shopping but the response was so huge, I felt that it needed more organisation to make these posts visible and make it easier for people to find what they were looking for. This is how 'Girl's Galleria' was born. I invited people to post examples

of their work and a link to their personal pages, which I then organised into sections. The group is not for profit so there are no fees for promoting your work, as there might be with other sites. For me, the main benefit has been that I have 'met' lots of lovely people through the group and been able to connect with people despite lockdown. Although it was set up as a Christmas endeavour, I am currently in the process of 'rebranding' to keep the group running, due to the ongoing lockdown. You can see more of Girl’s Galleria here: https://www.facebook.com/ groups/267250954464897 And you can see my own work at: https://www.facebook.com/JiraffeKraft Over the last year, I have noticed an increase in community spirit – maybe it was always there, but I’ve only really noticed what lovely neighbours I have because of the situation we are in. While the big shops are closed, and crafty items are deemed non-essential, the local community has supported its own. I too have enjoyed shopping locally, supporting those who live close enough to hand deliver one-of-a-kind gifts with a ‘social distanced’ smile. My daughter happily packed her own lunch today (a very rare occurrence) because she had a brand new lunch bag, made by Kate of JiraffeKraft, and my little felt mouse, made by Alyson of Sally Squirrel Sews, sits on my writing desk, giving me inspiration while I work on my own creative projects, collaborating with Katie of Popadoodle Design, and Tara Collette. These crafty creative businesses can only thrive if their local community supports them. Have a look at the businesses featured here, but also check out your local community next time you are wanting to buy a special gift for someone – you will not only receive a unique handmade gift, but also the knowledge that you have done good for your community.

Sylva Fae is a married mum of three from Lancashire, England. She has spent twenty years teaching literacy to adults with learning difficulties and disabilities, and now works from home as a children’s writer and illustrator.

Sylva has published several children’s books and also writes a blog, Sylvanian Ramblings. Her debut book, Rainbow Monsters won the Chanticleer Best in Category award. Discover more about Sylva on Mom’s Favorite Reads website: https://moms-favorite-reads.com/moms-authors/sylva-fae/