This week I want you all to find the oldest photo in your photo album and tell us where it was taken, and who the person/people in the photo are. What I want you to do next is post the photo here....and we have to guess when it was taken, to the nearest decade!!!

Ceri has shared some great templates and help to keep you on track with your research in the ‘Genealogy Library’ but just thought I’d share my experiences of the benefits of being organised with your research. For more than 20 years, I've been tracing my family history, and I can only imagine how much money I've spent—and wasted—because I haven't consistently organized my research notes. Too many times I have found documents (that I have had to pay for) but I still haven’t been convinced that it is for the correct person so I haven’t added to my desktop family tree, only to go back to researching this person years later and paying for the same document again because my research material has not been organised!! Only last week I found my grandfather’s birth certificate (original copy) with some random paperwork in one of my folders and then realising that in 2024 I paid £11.00 for a transcribed copy of it from the Isle of Man Government (they do not provide copies of the original), nightmare!! And this is just one example. On a positive note, I’ve just renewed my subscription with Find My Past as they offered me a 50% discount after my old one had lapsed. I recommend disabling automatic renewal on your subscriptions. Usually, companies will send you special offers once your subscription ends. Although you might have to wait a few days, it’s often worthwhile. I now keep a spreadsheet where I set myself a monthly budget and keep a list of everything I purchase and always try to double check it before I buy anything to make sure that I haven’t already got it. Genealogy can be an expensive hobby, but there are some great ‘free’ websites out there which I would always recommend using first, and always stay on the look out for any offers for the paid sites. Hope my experiences help 🙂

Here's what we found for @Sonize Weakley records of baptisms, marriages and burials for her SHAW and HARDIE ancestors :D

It's a gorgeous sunny, hot bank holiday weekend and I've been relaxing with my wife. We've been to a nature reserve and a food festival...I'm a bit of a bird lover as I get older....and am proud of my photography skills too

How would everyone feel if I started posting ‘individual’ biographies of famous people and their family history stories? Taking inspiration from @Diane Fleetwood’s story about her family, I thought I’d start with Beatrix Potter? Good idea? Just an update....here's the Tale of Beatrix Potter https://www.skool.com/beginner-family-history-hub-4853/classroom/82cadb3f?md=3c38b11b760543a6b62f8ae787c90825