OK, I shouldn't tell you this, but as a "newbie" you ought to know. As your work through your family tree, leave your bias and any prejudice behind.  My mother was often proud to be "pure English", but that's a term that would give many of us a good giggle.  A good study of the island's ancient history would show wave after wave of immigrants.  We've taken in refugees, people persecuted for their religion and freed slaves.  We've been occupied. invaded and home to many from our colonies.  So don't be surprised to find an ancestor of a different color, faith or nationality in your tree. It's a waste of effort to try to "cast" your tree in a certain direction, away from a person who embarrasses you.  The truth will out. Almost everyone on this list has a female ancestor who had the "miracle baby" a few months after the wedding (or a few months before it).  And many of us know of a male ancestor who didn't care much for marriage (or another who liked having two wives).  It happens. We've had lively discussions on this list about "wife sales", abandonment, bigamy, bastardy and all the tawdry stuff of genealogy.  That's as it should be.  Pretending it didn't happen isn't good for the truth. If you're not sure about someone's religion or nationality, ask on the list.  This is an open and honest bunch.     Lou (list admin.)

Hi Lou, you may well be right about the different influences from around the globe, but for me personally, I just look at the name, if you understand what I am saying.  Bazza ________________________________ From: Louis Mills <louis_mills@att.net> To: "eng-lincsgen@rootsweb.com" <eng-lincsgen@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, 13 February 2012, 18:46 Subject: [LIN] Newbie secrets OK, I shouldn't tell you this, but as a "newbie" you ought to know. As your work through your family tree, leave your bias and any prejudice behind.  My mother was often proud to be "pure English", but that's a term that would give many of us a good giggle.  A good study of the island's ancient history would show wave after wave of immigrants.  We've taken in refugees, people persecuted for their religion and freed slaves.  We've been occupied. invaded and home to many from our colonies.  So don't be surprised to find an ancestor of a different color, faith or nationality in your tree. It's a waste of effort to try to "cast" your tree in a certain direction, away from a person who embarrasses you.  The truth will out. Almost everyone on this list has a female ancestor who had the "miracle baby" a few months after the wedding (or a few months before it).  And many of us know of a male ancestor who didn't care much for marriage (or another who liked having two wives).  It happens. We've had lively discussions on this list about "wife sales", abandonment, bigamy, bastardy and all the tawdry stuff of genealogy.  That's as it should be.  Pretending it didn't happen isn't good for the truth. If you're not sure about someone's religion or nationality, ask on the list.  This is an open and honest bunch.     Lou (list admin.) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-LINCSGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message