My paternal grandfather, Peter Julius Otto von Fircks, was born at Nurmhusen on 23 February 1876. At that time Nurmhusen, the Fircks family estate, was in Kurland, now Latvia. His name, date of birth and death, are recorded in the family tree composed by my cousin. My cousin was the
If, like me, you have ordered one or more DNA tests through organisations such as 23andme, Ancestry or My Heritage, have you thought about who can access your data? Should you be frightened of who can use the data to identify you? Did you even realise that organisations such as the police are,
I’ve always been fascinated with family history. The genealogy of both sides of my family interests me but it is the history and the stories which arouse my curiosity. I am always searching for the unique stories of my ancestors, the stories which explain their way of life and the
We are all stories. Our stories are woven from the stories of our parents, our grandparents and so on through our ancestral trail. Some of our stories are more complex than others, their narratives ducking and weaving across and around war and trauma and flight. Some of our stories are
Ask your family. I’m lucky. My cousin on my father’s side of the family compiled a comprehensive genealogy of our family, wrote books on the subject and developed several family trees. My aunt wrote a journal which, despite being in German, is a valuable resource for me. I’ve also asked
When researching your family history, there is always a chance you will find a dark secret, or a skeleton in the closet, or the random tyrant or warlord. There is more of a chance you will discover your ancestors were honest hard-working people who got up in the morning, slogged