The Family Tree

I've been dipping in and out of research on my family tree for a couple of years now, and this morning a copy of a marriage certificate turned up for my g-g-g-grandfather, which finally gave me some clues about his father.

Whilst this, in itself, is not a major leap, it's these small incremental steps that have characterised my efforts in genealogy ever since the initial burst of activity when info was far easier to find. Now I have over 1,000 relatives in my tree, branching out several times into the US and Australia. I've also discovered my roots are firmly in Derbyshire (even though I thought, as a child, the family was from Barnsley). It would seem the Shaw family followed the industrial revolution in the mid-1800s to Yorkshire, but as a clan they were all from the Belper area of Derby originally.

And now it's been over 8 days since my last ciggy, and things are going ok. Big test to my will-power tomorrow though, as I'm going into London to meet a friend for drinks in a club. No doubt it'll be smokey, and I'll have had more than one sherbet. This is going to be tough!