I have been absent from the site for more than two years now, and so much has happened ! I will make no promises, but hope to do some updating over the Christmas New Year silly season. D 15.12.13

Hello there!

Researching the tree of both sides of my family has always held great interest  for me. I have been lucky enough to have been given some very useful  background information from my late father and a comprehensive chart from my  late uncle, Horace Duddy - even though I'm having some trouble reading the  small print on that!

My late mother and I took it upon ourselves to start some 'proper' research in  Sydney in the 1980s, straining our eyes reading microfiche at the Society of  Australian Genealogists' chambers in The Rocks overlooking the harbour.  Unfortunately time and money got the better of us and progress was very slow.

I had a break from work in 2006 which gave me the time to get back into the  family tree in a big way and what you see here is the ongoing story. I update the  tree regularly as new items of information come to light. Investigations are taking  somewhat longer now, as I leave the GRO and Census records that started in 1837 and  now have to go back to Parish records - but I shall persevere. It must be emphasised  that much of the tree prior to 1650 is only conjecture, rumour or family lore, yet to  be proven with documented evidence.

From time to time I have turned to professional researchers to trawl through  information in further-flung areas. I must thank Val Teed, in Fredericton (Canada),  Kevin George in Gloucestershire and Sally Roberts, in Plymouth, for their efforts on  my behalf. I am absolutely indebted to Guild of One-Name Studies members Janet Few,  Jane Tytherleigh, Keith Percy and Ron Bebbington for pointing me in the right  direction with the Braund, Tytherleigh, Whitehouse and Babington lines. By no means  least I owe even more thanks to Bill Brown, Dorothy Bradbury, Shirley Barnett, Frank  Huddy, Harold Haywood, Adam Garner and Jeff Dawson for their kindness in responding  to my questions and providing invaluable leads, as well as to Dave Cross who searched  West Midlands Police records to find I have more policemen in my family than I  thought possible. Duncan Harrington has done a marvellous job in translating  fascinating documents relating to Thomas Sternhold from Latin and Old English.

I can thoroughly recommend the "Curious Fox" and "Irish Roots" websites through which  I have established contact with cousins I had no idea existed and who have provided  an absolute wealth of information - Adam Garner, Jann Wassell, Andy Rice, Gillian  Livett and Harold Haywood. Finally, but not least, I have even been contacted by new  relatives who have found a common link on Tribal Pages and the advent of Facebook has flung the  net even further.

You will find the odd "clutch" of people who may well share a surname with one of my family lines  but who don't appear to be attached to the tree in any way. These have been dubbed the "nearly- cuzzes" as eventually I hope to find that one missing link between us.

It's been lovely to see the interest my children show in our findings; each snippet  of information is welcomed and together we feel we are getting to know our long-dead  ancestors. There's been a lot of participation from my Rowley relatives and the new- found Whitehouses - those lines are growing apace and I find more cousins every week.  Such a shame that until recently I have been unable to engender the same interest in members of  the Bowden/Lott side (my mother's lines), as there is so much to marvel at and a store of  photographs somewhere in the family - still, I cannot force their involvement. You can imagine the  pleasure when I was contacted by yet another new cousin (in Malta, of all places - that is where  my parents met and married) who has provided more information and more contacts to put more leaves  on those branches of the tree.

Having thought that the only family I had in Australia after my parents died were my own  offspring, it was a pleasant surprise to make contact with a number of people who are, albeit very  distant, relatives downunder! It just proves what a small world it is becoming that we should have  a family link in the 17th century, be parted by 13,000 miles, live in the same country in the 20th  century unknowing of our connection, be again parted by the seven seas and then find each other  thanks to the internet. Oh how my father would have shaken his head!

I hope you find this piece of work interesting and enjoyable; it is but an outline of  the full tree that I'm still creating. If you would like the more detailed tree and  supporting photographs, documents, etc please let me know. I'd welcome your feedback  in the Guest Book too. If you are a close or long-distant relative - please do get in  touch. In these days of the marvels of the internet we don't need to feel half a  world apart. Most living relatives in this tree are contactable through me but I will not release  their contact details without their permission.

You may be visiting this site for the first time, having received a special invitation to do so.  This is probably because I have recently (comparatively recently anyway - in the past 12 months)  become aware of the link between us. It would be very helpful to me if you could send me a message  letting me know which line you fit into and where!

Finally, I ask that you keep this site private and not copy or share the information  or password without checking with me first. I have spent considerable hours and funds  on compiling the information and would be very disappointed to have my hard  work "stolen". I do hope you understand.

Debbie
 swmbo55@hotmail.com