FamilySearch on the Road Exhibition comes to Portsmouth

The popular genealogy website FamilySearch.org is being brought to life in an interactive exhibition that has been touring the UK for the past few months.On the 14, 15th & 16th February 2008, FamilySearch on the Road enters Portsmouth.

FamilySearch on the Road is a major free family history exhibition with over one billion names available for research.
The exhibition features displays, free to use computer terminals, and state of the art software linked via satellite to the world’s largest genealogical database.On hand will be genealogy enthusiasts able to offer advice, help with getting started and tell you what it’s all about.

More details including directions on how to get there via this link FamilySearch in Portsmouth

Right to Use the Coat of Arms?

Be doing a bit of reading up on this as I have been trying to work out what the Gilmour coat of Arms is .  I found something very interesting about coat of arms whilst having a look for the Curtis family.  I must admit until I read this below I thought the same. 

Quote : www.curtis-curtiss.com

“The most important misconception about Heraldry today is the concept of  a “Family Coats of Arms”. Arms are associated with families or lineage. Not surnames! Many unrelated families share the same surname. Sharing a surname does not mean that you share the right to the same arms. Conversely, many families with different names have the same coat of arms. A coat of arms does not uniquely identify a family. Bearers of a surname today may not have even the remotest relationship to the original bearer of the arms associated with it. In short, just because your name is “Curtis” does not mean you can use a “Curtis” Coats of Arms. A coat was inherited by a child from his parent, either intact or somewhat modified, to truly validate your family coat of arms, you should not rely on these pages.

In order to determine what your arms are, you would need much more than your surname. You would need your pedigree traced back to someone who used a coat of arms. The standard of proof will vary with the needs. If you are of Scottish descent and wish to matriculate arms with the Scottish heraldic authority, you’d better have a well-documented pedigree, probably stretching over several centuries. “

Where do I start?

This is the question that I have posed myself recently and has been the reason why I have struggled to get enthused about family history work. 

The Gilmour side of things is quite complicated in the last three generations.   So the first place to start is with existing relatives.  That is easy said then done.  Having no contact with my natural father, by default means that my contact with the Gilmour side of the family is somewhat limited. 

So if like me, your options for contacting living relatives is limited then ask them anyway you may be surprised what you find out.  So I asked my mum and she mentioned that my Aunt and Uncle knew a little about the family tree so they could be a pretty good starting point.   

What’s in a name?

There has been a lot of interest growing over the last few years in the topic of family history and genealogy.  This growing interest can be seen in the popularity of TV programmes like Who do you think you are?  This programme has shown just how fascinating genealogy really is and the stories that go with it.  I remember vividly, watching the episode on Stephen Fry as he found out about Jewish relatives from Slovakia and the fate that became them in the second world war.  Stories like these made compelling television but also showed the real interest on the parts of the family members. 

Our interest in family history stems from our religious beliefs and that those who have passed before us are not gone and forever lost but are a part of our family and heritage and the time we come when hopefully we will met them. So it would be nice to know a bit about them maybe   So whatever the motive for researching ones family hopefully this section of our website will prove interesting and useful for others including our own family as we build it up.