When we first set out to piece together the puzzle of the past we’re each always advised to speak to our families, to gather clues from the census and certificates, and to write it all down carefully lest we forget. This is tip-top advice that we all do well to remember. But that’s where the similarity in our family history ends. Each one of our families is a unique mix of remarkable people – a very particular combination of personalities and places, tragedies, triumphs and adventures that shaped our ancestors – and in turn, shaped us too.
This issue we’re looking at websites and records to help us trace our family from around the globe and the sources and snippets we’ve included shed a tiny light on the wealth of family clues and stories just waiting to be discovered by us. I feel sure you’re going to enjoy it – in what other hobby but the endlessly interesting one of family history could you find a magazine that covers reader stories about cuckoo clocks and the KGB?