A big thank you to all those who have replied to my previous mailings. Time has prevented me from answering you all personally - apologies for that. I'm returning now to my point about finding funding for a Family History website for the gathering of written material squirreled away by family historians, especially those of us with unrecognised and undervalued ancestors who have never-the-less, and against all the odds, made their mark and deserve to be heard. Emma Griffin, I believe, has led the way. From her position as a working, established, respected historian she has had the opportunity to research in Archives, Record Offices and Libraries and has written about what has already been found and deemed significant to our national history. I contend that there is yet another layer of such material still to be unearthed - under our beds, on top of wardrobes, even in garden sheds! So maybe we should begin a search for it and put it all together in one place. As I imagine it, the website would hold standalone documents written by individuals at the time - not modern day articles *about* individuals or families. A wealth of those can be found in the journals of county Family History Societies and in Family History commercial magazines sold on news-stands everywhere. This would be different. It would be composed of our ancestors' own words, showing their own perceptions, their own understandings of their own experiences. Web-based, it could operate as a wiki type thing. (I think?) All under the briefest of information about the author of the entry which could be given on a pro-forma with photograph where possible - this only in order to set the context of the document - the website would hold: . yet-to-be-recognised-memoirs/autobiographies, diaries, . letters, postcards, poems, . pictorial matter. Now, I am merely brainstorming here. I know very little about computers - how to set up such a website - what it would involve - how it would be supervised, etc., etc. All I know is it would need some financial investment and that is one thing I do know a little about - fundraising. Maybe this is an idea off the scale. Maybe it doesn't have legs. Maybe it doesn't have worth ie historical significance at all. But I'd really like to hear what other people think. I've chosen to send these mailings to the five Northern and Midland Counties to which I'm a subscriber and where many of my ancestors had their roots. But I would like to broaden the idea if it is supported. So please brainstorm with me. I hope that this is a germ of an idea at least. Could it be expanded in any way, shape or form? For me it has the warm feel of a cooperative, collective thing to do. What say you? Regards Ruth