With St Patrick’s Day on again on 17 March it’s rather strange that the person who was to become St. Patrick, the patron saint of , was actually born in another country - about AD 385. Or is it so strange? It seems that more and more people are asking the question “Where do I come from?” or “What are my origins?”.  

In fact the BBC in the has recently shown a television series “Who Do You Think You Are?” It featured a number of celebrities finding out about their ancestors. They were no doubt aided by BBC research assistants, but were also aided by many tools that are now available on the web.

The BBC website itself is a fantastic starting point for such research. Although focused on British history it does help you to structure your research along various timelines. The family secrets timeline allows you to trace the threads of lives that might be clouded by secrecy. The military timeline researches ancestors who served in the armed forces or whose lives were affected by war. And the working life timeline helps people follow up ancestors whose occupation is known, or can be guessed. Whereas using a migration timeline enables people to follow the trail of ancestors who came to from overseas or who emigrated - voluntarily or otherwise.


 More details on websites offering services to help you find your origins.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |