I'm looking at a card that has been pinned to my notice board since I started researching my ancestors. "First Axiom: Follow the distaff line, for the blood runs through us. Second Axiom: Only the ladies knew for certain, and sometimes they were not too sure." I agree that one cannot prove paternity. When we find certificates stating a child is born to Mr. & Mrs. So and So we can only assume parentage. Even our history books which go back hundreds of years exposed royalty and the gentry as being less than faithful to their spouses. Perhaps, if we go back far enough, we really are all related...but how to prove it! May > Not unless one can prove paternity which is quite impossible whether it > be 1100 or 1900. The recent trend using DNA to establish relationship is > revealing surprises for many and some of those thought to be kin cannot > possibly be. I doubt if human nature has changed much. That is why " > family history" seems more acceptable than "genealogy". > > Adrian Verry