An emotional journey

[Sparklingsilver]

What a joy to find an online forum devoted to British Genealogy!
When I first began this fascinating all absorbing subject, I knew nothing about my paternal family other than my grandfather had been in the army. My parents and I born in Birmingham, and without ever knowing my Victorian grandparents (both deceased before my parents’ marriage) and the recent death of my father there was no family from whom to seek information - even if so inclined. In 1964 and a professional move to London and a visit to Somerset House on the Strand (which in those days held the GRO Indexes) change everything. In one of those lightening moments, I decided to look for my grandfather's death certificate and forty years on I am still absorbed.
The emotional journey in pursuit has covered thousands of miles. First, from London, where I discovered my grandfather born one of ten children, via his long professional army life in India and short retirement in the West Indies, to his return to England and at 47 his marriage to my grandmother. Following his ancestral life from London to Essex to finally arrive at the natural home of Garrard (and many variants) in Suffolk, where it has been a hereditary surname for almost 900 hundred years; and includes journeys to Australia, Canada, and USA to meet distant and not so distant cousins.

[christanel]

Welcome to the Brit-Gen forums
I have given your post a thread of its own, which it deserves, so it doesn't get lost and given it the title "An emotional journey." It is still in the Introduce Yourself forum.
It is a good job we don't know just how much our initial interest in our closer ancestors will take up years of our lives. Not being satisfied with our own research we choose to get involved in helping others solve their mysteries.
Enjoy exploring the Brit-Gen forums and reading about others genealogy journeys
Christina

[Sparklingsilver]

Thank you Christina how very kind of you. I am so very pleased to have found the forum.
Best wishes,
Valerie.