2013 - Genes Reunited Blog

We can't believe that it was the start of the tenth series of Who Do You Think You Are? Last night. Ten series, and still each episode is individual and interesting. The series began with the story of Una Stubbs and her family. A popular actress and entertainer, like many of us starting out in family history she knew nothing of one side of her family.

It’s been a brilliant series so far and episode 5 of Long Lost Family was no exception. This week we saw the stories of twins Gail and Juliet looking for their twin brothers. We also saw Robert who was looking for the mother who disappeared from his life when he was just a toddler.

Last week the third series of Long Lost Family returned to our screens and what an emotional start it was! If you have never watched the show before, Long Lost Family traces and reunites divided family members.  The show is hosted by Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell and sponsored by Genes Reunited.

And the winning recipe is ... Fillet of Sole a La Pagons (Serves 4)

As we follow our roots further and further back into the past we will inevitably reach a point where we lose the support of our safety net and are forced to continue our quest without the familiar, reassuring assistance of birth, marriage and death certificates and census returns.

By Peter Christian, author of The Genealogist's Internet (Fully revised 5th edition out now from Bloomsbury £16.99) If you've spent any time using online resources to explore your family tree, you will almost certainly have come across information that seems to be wrong. And while you try to think all the ways in which your surname could have become mangled, you undoubtedly ask yourself: why isn't this material more accurate?

Baroness margaret Thatcher died yesterday at the age of 87. She was the first ever female Prime Minister in Britain and her time in office was marked by controversial policies that divided the nation. 

We're all big fans of Call the Midwife here in the Genes office, and were very sad that last night saw the last episode of the second series. However, our latest family story featured on our YouTube channel www.youtube.com/genesreunited, might get you through another week without a new episode. 

Tracing a family’s history; carrying out genealogical research; investigating your family tree: whatever you call it, the moment you decide to set out on the trail, you’re almost certain to find yourself hooked.  Where else will you find a hobby that allows you to become a detective, searching for clues in faded documents written hundreds of years ago? Which other pastime can take you on such an amazing voyage; unravelling mysteries from the past and discovering how your ancestors’ lives were touched by some of the great events from history?