Task of the month

I spend a lot of time talking about DNA and I love sharing my experiences with it, but occasionally I wonder what really makes genetic genealogy work for me. Below I’ve distilled my thoughts into four

‘DNA isn’t a magic bullet,’ says DNA Detective Michelle Leonard. ‘Sometimes people think it’s going to be, and they think it’s going to “throw up the answers”.’ Occasionally this happens, ‘if you’re r

Many clients come to genealogists with family stories of connections to aristocratic families, or famous historic figures, that they want verified. These cases typically fall into two categories. Firs

Like many people starting out in their family history research I kept my personal tree on paper and then added it to one of the family history websites. I soon realised that I also wanted a program wh

There’s nothing more frustrating than finding yourself at a dead end when researching an ancestor. Often, it’s not because you’ve exhausted all possibilities, but rather because you’ve not realised wh

What responsibilities should we bear in mind when researching and preserving our family history in the current age? It’s a question that many of us will not give a moment’s thought to when getting sta