Hello World!

Setting up a blog seems like a good idea so that I can have some kind of place where I can answer questions about the family history CDs I publish under the Yesterday's Names brand name, based primarily on information extracted from Victorian parish magazines, as well as share news about them.

I also like the idea of being able to share my discoveries about my own family history - as anyone who's ever researched their family history knows, it's a never-ending journey, and new discoveries appear when you least expect them.

And last, but not least, as soon as anyone I meet discovers that I am allegedly a "genealogist", they immediately tell me their life stories. For example, the lady behind the counter in the bank yesterday casually asked me what I do for a living. When I told her what I do, she insisted on telling me that she knew nothing at all about her mother's origins, and (despite the queue behind me) went on to give me chapter and verse, and ask whether I could help. I confess I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff - it makes a change from extracting parish magazine data - which is why as soon as I got home I couldn't resist delving into the bank clerk's history. So I think this blog will also contain quite a few ramblings about these diverse bits of research that I keep finding myself doing.

I find that whether I'm ploughing through parish magazines, researching my own family history, or delving into the past for other people, there's always something new to learn. So hopefully through this blog I'll share some of that with anyone who's interested.

Of course - I do have a mortgage to pay - so I'll no doubt be mentioning my web site occasionally... www.YesterdaysNames.co.uk - and there will be the odd advert appearing on the blog - and no, I'm sorry but I'm not enough of a sucker to research for free the family history of everyone who asks me as a result of this blog! But I will try to share some learning and experience, and help when I can.