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Welcome

What is it about family history that’s captured your

Tracing Caribbean family history - ‘Finding your way home’

It was at his mum’s bedside in intensive care, that Adrian Stone took the first step to tracing his roots. That was 11 years ago. Today he has a family tree including 6,000 people from all over the globe. Here he talks to Helen Tovey about how he pieced together his family – and importantly – how you can do this too.

The Crusade in Europe

War had been raging in Europe for nearly five years, when the Allied forces embarked on an invasion of the Continent that would turn the tide of the war. Graham Bandy looks at the events of Operation Overlord – and the plans and preparations that were launched on a summer’s day 75 years ago

D-Day memories

This year marks the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Today it’s on the cusp of history within living memory, part of our shared cultural legacy, but also part of the very personal memories of the people who lived and fought through those times. John Leete gathers together anecdotes from those who experienced the build up to and launch of D-Day from Britain’s Home Front

How to start writing your family history

Discover how you can use your family history research to start writing stories that will capture the imagination of family and friends and create an enduring legacy for future generations. Chris Lightfoot makes it seem delightfully possible. Maybe it’s time to turn that dream of writing your family history into a bone fide project!

PUTTING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY INTO CONTEXT

No family lives in a bubble! Our lives are shaped, and even completely changed, by context – what goes on around us. Here professional researcher Kim Cook shows you how to gain a much richer feeling for your ancestors’ lives by exploring the five key research elements you really need to know about…

Windows into the past

When Valerie Brenton started as a volunteer researcher on ‘Unlocking the Bankes Archive’ little did she realise how many totally unrelated families would come to fascinate her and bring to life the economic and social history of a small area of East Dorset

Top 10 sins of a genealogist – & how to repent

It’s easy to make mistakes when you first start your family history but are you guilty of getting into bad habits? Paul Chiddicks reveals the top 10 sins a genealogist can commit… and – importantly – how to avoid making them in the first place

New centre goes ‘behind scenes’ of war graves work

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is opening

Exploring two centuries of elderly care

A new exhibition at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Proposals afoot for British Library North

The British Library is reported to be considering a

Hidden stories revealed at annual churches festival

Nearly 100 churches and chapels in Lincolnshire will

Irish famine film seeks funding ‘to break taboo’

A project is underway to crowdfund the first featurelength

YOUR FREE RECORDS

At Family Tree we’ve teamed up with UK family history

GOODBYE DEAR TOM

This issue we bid a fond farewell to an old friend of Family Tree, Tom Wood, who is hanging up his apron of genealogical gems for the final time. The Family Tree team delved into the archives to look back at Tom’s writing career at the magazine, revealing three decades of educating, entertaining and inspiring fellow family historians

Twiglets

Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster ride of researching her family history

Books

Karen Clare takes a look at some new titles of interest in the world of family history

DIARY DATES

Find or post diary dates at www.family-tree.co.uk/Events

Your letters

I thought that perhaps readers in the early stages

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Coming next in Family Tree

All you need to know for tip-top research. We show

Time tangles

Diane Lindsay maintains that although Einstein pointed out the scientific relativity of time, she nevertheless thinks any person of mature years could have told him that time is flexible…

More than words can say…

Images on your ancestors’ gravestones might tell you more about their lives and deaths than you realise, as Simon Wills reveals

FEATURED WEBSITE: 2MI3MUSEUM

This issue web guru Paul Carter reviews a reader’s delightful family history website and shares ideas for creating platforms to bring your own fascinating research and family stories to a wider audience

Taken a DNA test? Now what?

DNA tests grow ever more popular and can lead to fascinating new insights about your ancestry – but initially the results can be bewildering. Help is at hand, however, with Karen Evans’ practical advice for making so much more sense of your DNA

Discover the answers to last issue’s challenges How did you do?

Find out the answers to last issue’s Family Tree Academy challenges. Our Academy tutor David Annal explains all

Join the Family Tree Academy & become a skilled family historian

The Family Tree Academy is specially created to help you discover more about the records, resources and research skills you need to become the best genealogist you can be! Read on to join in with Family Tree Academy challenges

The lunch hour genealogist

Being busy doesn’t mean you have to neglect your favourite hobby, you can still learn in your lunch break! Squeeze just 60 minutes of family history into your daily routine and you’ll soon start to see your tree blossom. It’s time to tuck into Rachel Bellerby’s genealogy treats

Spotlight on… The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain

Leigh Dworkin, Chairman of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, explains the society’s important role in helping people around the UK discover more about their Jewish ancestors

ONE-NAME STUDIES

This issue, Julie Goucher considers research into non-British surnames

Your questions answered

With our panel of experts Jayne Shrimpton, Katherine Cobb, David Frost, Simon Wills and Beryl Evans