My interest in family history started at my grandmother’s knee, listening to her stories, but I have been carrying out actual research into our genealogy for the last 20 years.
My son had just started crawling and whilst following him around on the floor at my parents home I came across our Brown family bible. It was presented to my great x 3 grandparents Walter Brown & Amelia Edgcome Richards on the occasion of their marriage in 1867 from the congregation of the Ebeneza Chapel, Albion Road, Hammersmith. They were the first couple to get married in the new chapel and were married by Amelia’s father, John Edcombe Richards an independent minister.
The family pages had with details of their 10 children. Tucked inside was a photo of Walter and the birth certificate of my great grandfather Arthur Edgcome Brown and a note in my grandmother’s handwriting with more recent family dates.
I copied down all the information into the back of my sons colouring book! Later that night when my he was in bed, I started to research using an ancestry 14 day trial. My husband bought me Family Tree software on a CD so I could keep track of my research. I now realise how lucky I was to discover the information about the Browns to start me off as it is obviously a difficult/common name to research. I attended some talks at the Society of Genealogists to help me learn and have loved using their excellent library and online resources. During the pandemic I have become an active volunteer with the society, hosting & co hosting Zoom classes. This community has been a real support over last 2 years.
My family are from England, but I have many cousins in US/Canada due to migration. My husband was born in Malaysia and is “Eurasian”, a very mixed up cocktail of ethnic origins. Our family tree is based around our son, who is now in his 20s and actually quite interested in the stories I have uncovered and has accompanied me on some research trips. Our family therefore very widespread, from Great Britain to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, China, United States of America and Canada….and most recently Paraguay via DNA match!
In 2019 I completed the University of Strathclyde Post Graduate Certificate Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies and am now considering whether to resume my studies and complete the full Masters! Last year I was accepted as an Associate member of AGRA.
The last few years have been tough for our family, we have lost 2 Aunts, 1 Uncle and our beloved mother. BUT this also brings with it the burden and responsibility of being the family archivist. Not only do I have so many photos to digitise it will take me years, I also have many valued items such as my great grandfathers WW1 medals and my grandmothers veil! Need to move house for more storage.
I am particularly interested in DNA and administer 8 tests for family. With my husband’s diverse background I have had to “think outside he box” in order to learn about his family, and am keeping my fingers crossed that we may actually be able to visit the “National Archives of Malaysia” some time this year, variants permitting (and see my mother in law, we missed her 90th birthday last year)!
I have been carrying out some paid research over past 2 years, but last December made the brave move to give up my job teaching Maths & English to apprentices. Now have more time to focus on our own family history and more client work. I am giving my first talk in March to the local WI, and am a volunteer (events coordinator and Twitter) with the London, Westminster, Middlesex Family History Society.
I have learnt so much through my research, history, geography and IT. It is a wonderful hobby now career with wonderfully supportive community.
not just any family 
Hi Karen,
I think I might have messaged you via Ancestry in the past, but my memory about who I sent to and received from is in the forgetful box of my brain! Anyway, I have been doing a little bit of research on the Scully family only because I found a marriage of Ernest Scully to Ellen Alice Ward about 1898. They had a son Ernest Alfred Ward Scully. My Great Grandfather was William Ward and he was Assistant Manager of the Batu Kawan Sugar Estate on the mainland not far from Penang. William’s father, William Ward was in the Police Department in Penang for about 20 years from my research. From family stories, their was a son, Alfred so this is why I pricked up my ears (or opened my eyes!) when I saw Ellen Alice Ward whose father was Alfred marrying Ernest Scully.
Family story is that William Ward (b about 1804, calculated from his 2nd marriage in Penang in 1858. I believe his first wife was a native named Mary Maria. We don’t know where William Ward Snr came from but we know that his father’s name was Thomas (again from his 2nd marriage record).
So I am trying to do 3 things
– see if this Scully family is linked to Thomas Bartholomew Scully (Tree on Ancestry)
– determine if this Alfred Ward is my “missing” Alfred – son of William and brother of William (b 1843) presumably in India but I haven’t found his birth record. I have found a birth record for Alfred in India, but not sure if it is the correct Alfred.
– Find William & Thomas Ward family – where did they come from.
In my tree when I have researched the Civil Lists in the Singapore Public Library Board facility I have noted other names and included them in my tree hoping for some hints.
I have been in touch with Vincent Boudville and Marcus Langdon asking questions. Do you know them?
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