Go to the main tree site to view tree, information about families and individuals

This site is divided into two. This part (the information/contact site) is concerned with discussions, links, contacts, etc. plus general issues.  The other part (the main tree site - www.whobegatwhom.co.uk) contains all the information about individuals, trees, reports,etc.

Welcome to Philip Wilson’s family history website, and thank you for taking the time to visit. The purpose of publishing this site is:

• to provide a means whereby other family members may view the information therein, either passively or as part of a developing fact-sharing exercise;
• as a means of contacting people whose own families may have some link, however tenuous, with my family, thus encouraging the development of a wider community of people with a shared interest in the past;
• to pass on information about well-known family members whose lives may have an interest for the historian; fourthly, to share the experience of family history research with others whose families do not necessarily link, but who might be interested in the exchange of ideas about family history research in general, about family history software or about historical matters which inevitably come up during family research;
• to share findings with the “idle googler” who might just chance on the site and wish to browse and/or enter into debate.

Enter the debate on the purpose of family history research: what is it to you - a means of finding a sense of who you are in today’s overpopulated and anonymous world; a search for important and influential ancestors; a way of connecting to the past and making history real and personal; a philosophical journey making you aware of the smallness of any one individual life in the broader scheme; a means of getting to grips with the relative importance of individual and family; a field for thought on inheritance, bloodlines, race and society; or just a harmless retirement activity collecting dates and facts as one might collect stamps or photographs of trains....?

Are you interested in contact with people connected with any of the families here, in sharing information or finding out more?

Are you interested in a discussion on any particular aspect of genealogy, or in the various software packages around?