How it all began
I thought I would use this blog to tell you a bit about me. My interest in genealogy began in the early 1980s, when my maternal grandad began telling me about his family history. His mum, Hetty, descended from the Gray line of Romany gypsies (born Amberetta Gray). He told me how the family travelled around the country, and worked on the markets in Leicestershire. He knew some words and phrases used by his ancestors, and I learned a few – sadly long since forgotten. My great-gran, Hetty, lived in a bungalow in the 1980s, and looking back, I can see how her history was evident in her home - it was a cosy home, full of home-made items such as crotched doilies, square blankets, and dressed dolly pegs. There were trinkets and horse-and-cart ornaments, with horse shoes and brass on display. She had a cottage garden, and she often had wild flowers in small vases on her windowsill. My interest in genealogy began with my grandad, and I wanted to know more.
My mum’s side of the family are fascinating – we had Romany gypsies on my grandad’s side, and my nan’s family came from Bingham and Cropwell Bishop in Nottinghamshire, where some of them worked in the Creamery. My nan told me about when she first met my grandad – they arranged to meet, and were heading off to a dance. On the way, they walked along a canal path. My grandad pointed something out to my nan, and as he lifted his arm to point, he caught my nan, and she ended up in the canal! It broke the ice, she saw the funny side, and they were together for over 40 years, until he died in 1991.
My dad’s side of the family were more elusive. My dad has no interest in family history, and back in the 1980s, in pre-internet days, research involved visiting record offices and archives – something I wasn’t aware of as a teenager. So, I knew my surname (Woodings), and I decided to write to every Woodings I could find in telephone directories from my local library. I wanted to find out whether we were related, and I had quite a few replies. So much so, that I discovered my Woodings line came from Newborough in Staffordshire.
My nan on my dad’s side was Scottish, and I knew she came from Fife. I had to wait until the internet became accessible and websites such as Ancestry and Find My Past became available before I could search for her family. She told me that there were twins in her family, and that her brothers played professional football in Scotland – I am yet to find evidence of this.
All four lines of grandparents and beyond are still work in progress. I don’t think you can ever say your family tree is complete – there’s always more to find, as more records become available.
So, that’s how it all began – my grandad piqued my interest, and it’s something that’s stayed with me ever since.
Life today
My life today revolves around my family – I am married with a son and daughter, and we have a ginger cat that seems to be missing a few brain cells. My husband is a self-employed copy-editor and proofreader, and our daughter is planning to go to university this year. Our son has complex special needs. He was born in 2010, and he has a very rare genetic condition called Macrocephaly Capillary Malformation Syndrome (M-CM, also known as MCAP and M-CMTC). In 2010, there were approximately 150 people worldwide with the syndrome – now there are thought to be in the region of 350‒500 people. He has physical differences, including chiari malformation syndrome, hypertonia, hemi-hypertrophy, leg length discrepancy and all-over birthmarks. He has learning delay, speech difficulties, he is autistic and epileptic, he has sensory processing disorder, and he often has challenging behaviour. When he was born, I was a self-employed copy-editor, proofreader and indexer. Thankfully, I could work around our son’s needs, as he requires 1-2-1 support.
My interest in genealogy has always been there, and in 2014 I decided I wanted to work in the field. I studied the Higher Certificate in Genealogy with the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS), and later gained the Diploma in Genealogy.
I am currently mixing my family history research with editing – some days are spent looking for typos in people’s written family histories and some days are spent buried in an archive looking for someone’s elusive ancestor. I like the mix – life stories are always interesting and whether I am at the beginning of research, where I am looking at old documents and trying not to get covered in dust, or at end of the process, helping someone to publish their findings, I find it all fascinating.
I also do some voluntary work transcribing parish registers, and I particularly love deciphering sixteenth-century handwriting. Strangely, others are quite happy for me to take on that one! I have just embarked on a research project to identify people from the coats of arms and crests found on wax seals. It’s a project for the IHGS, and I will tell you more about this in the next blog.
So, that’s me! My life involves spinning many plates, and I am happy with the mix. I intend to blog once a month, so look out for one towards the end of March, where I hope to tell you more about the transcription work and the wax seals project.
Thanks for reading!
Sarah
