Negative Space: Making Your Genealogy Gaps Work For You (and your family tree)

How do you feel when your genealogy research hits a brick wall: frustrated, demoralised, perhaps downright bewildered? Sometimes what you need is a fresh perspective on your family history to kickstart your research process.

A brick wall has a substantial chunk missing from the middle, revealing wooden boards behind.
Looking at the negative space – what’s missing from your research – can be just as instructive as seeing what you do have.
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Walking in their Footsteps: Maps and the Family Historian

The best stories always start with a map. Whether I was in Narnia or the Hundred Acre Wood, Middle-Earth or Treasure Island, the books of my childhood were ever the richer for having a map at the front, ready to help me navigate those magical worlds.

For me, the maps fascination has never subsided, and I know I’m not alone in this.… Read the rest

Lost in Genealogy: Seven Steps to Battling Bias

Today, we’re going to talk about the elephant in every genealogist’s research room. It’s one we’ve all spent some time with, whether we realise it or not. And what’s more, this particular elephant tends to divert our research when it shouldn’t. At its worst, it can stampede us right off course.… Read the rest