Hi Perry, I cannot agree more.... I have actually done a similar thing, tracking my ancestors (Dulley family) through from Oxon to Berks to London and Surrey. I was very surprised to see, that down through the centuries from 1600's to early 1900's that they followed the Thames down through the counties to present day. Mapping our ancestors not only helps get a handle on them, but is really interesting to boot. I also was able to note that two different Dulley lines always stayed with a few miles of each other through the centuries, which was very very interesting. This is even more interesting because I met a genie cousin and we grew up on the same "Dulley stories" but did not know each other. We both came from different lines. The stories were the same though, which of course mean't that not only did they stay within cooee of each other, but really really knew each other and remained in contact. Well they had to in order to have the same stories to tell. I hope that makes sense?? Grin So map your ancestors.....that and time lines are a valuable way of collecting and placing data. Cheers Pam from Adelaide Australia >I have always found maps to be an invaluable resource for researching > ancestors. Plotting out who did what where and when can help you > understand > the known, probable and possible patterns of your ancestors' lives. A > visual map also helps make family history more tangible to other members > of > your family who may not share your same obsession :) In any case, I > decided > to create a custom map for the following: