Hello Everyone, With Christmas upon us in only 2 days and with the celebrations of several other religious holidays being so close date-wise, we will soon be seeing many new subscribers to the list. These people will also be putting queries on the message boards. They will, undoubtedly, make many mistakes. We were all newbies once, and I (for one) wrote many a query before I got the hang of things... like surnames being put in capital letters, for example. Some of the newbies may even be new to genealogy. And, unfortunately, some of them will expect that they can find all of their families' information on the internet. So, we'd all better be patient and help them learn. One of them might even end up being your (or my) very own BRIDGES cousin! MERRY CHRISTMAS! Leslie Bridges Kohler

Thank you for the timely reminder Leslie, I am sure that in the New Year there will be a lot of people venturing into the unknown territory of family history research. In the UK we have had an excellent series recently on BBC television 'Who do you think you are?' this has created even more interest in family history and using the internet as a research tool. Very different to 34 years ago when my husband John Fruer Bridges and I, as a newly engaged couple, decided to look into his roots (having found a whole lot of Bridges' Headstones under the Yew trees in the churchyard of his home town in Suffolk). Via my own web site I have been contacted in the last fortnight by someone looking for 'Francis Bridges' as noted in the 1881 Census. I have been able to tell her that indeed 'Fruer Bridges' was a half-brother to my husband's grandfather and whilst she has been able to bring me up to the present day with that branch of the Bridges family - I have been able to take her back to the 1400's. So we are delighted to discover another cousin ;-) There is no doubt that the internet has made this hobby easier and more accessible to all - but we do still need to do some 'hands on' research too. So with the UK holidays coming up for Christmas and New Year, we shall be taking time out to visit the Suffolk Record Office and we hope, the Norwich Record Office for some more digging around our roots. The URL for the BBC TV family history information is http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/index.shtml Happy Christmas and a very happy, healthy New Year to you. Best regards, Pat ... Every time I find an ancestor - I have to find two more! The Suffolk Surnames List - Plus a whole lot of Suffolk information at www.suffolksurnames.plus.com - Is your Suffolk Surname Listed ??? AVG7-Pro anti-virus updated daily > With Christmas upon us in only 2 days and with the celebrations of > several other religious holidays being so close date-wise, we will > soon be seeing many new subscribers to the list. These people will > also be putting queries on the message boards. They will, undoubtedly, > make many mistakes. We were all newbies once, and I (for one) wrote > many a query before I got the hang of things... like surnames being put > in capital letters, for example.> > Some of the newbies may even be new to genealogy. And, unfortunately, > some of them will expect that they can find all of their families' > information on the internet.> > So, we'd all better be patient and help them learn. One of them might > even end up being your (or my) very own BRIDGES cousin!> > MERRY CHRISTMAS! > Leslie Bridges Kohler