Listers who have bought the Christmas issue of Family Tree magazine (ABM Publishing) will find starting on page 26 a five-page feature written by someone whose name you may well recognise on matrilineal lines. It's blurbed on the cover as "ON MUM'S SIDE Tracing women on your family tree". For the benefit of beginners, a direct matrilineal line is one that goes from female to female to female for as far back as you can achieve. Of course, this is not as easy as doing a male line because the surname usually changes in each generation. However, it can be done and the magazine has published my own matrilineal tree which goes back through nine women/generations to a birth at Hampsthwaite, near Harrogate, in 1670. In fact, I have managed to get my matrilineal line farther back, in both time and generations, than my direct male line - moreover, I have a proud boast that I can beat HM The Queen, whose matrilineal tree only goes back six generations to 1737! The mag has published HM's tree as well. This article appears in the Christmas issue of Family Tree, NOT the December issue, BTW. Most of the mags throw in an extra issue these days and this is FT's. I did, though, have a big piece in the December issue also on the popularity of forenames through the ages. For what it's worth, below is my matrilineal tree starting at Hampsthwaite and moving to Bradford. If anyone thinks they might be related to me, sing out (unless you don't want to be!). Katherine FALKINER = John STEAD, m 1701 Hampsthwaite Ann STEAD = Samuel MYERS, m 1723 Hampsthweaite Sarah MYERS = John AKERS, m 1754 Hampsthwaite Sarah AKERS = William GRANGE, m 1779 Hampsthwaite Margaret GRANGE = William MOODY, m 1819 Otley Sarah MOODY = Thomas BRADLEY, m 1843 Shipley, Bradford Ada BRADLEY = John James GIBSON, m 1882 Rawdon Nellie GIBSON = Fred MIDGLEY, m 1913 Dublin, Ireland Molly MIDGLEY = Leonard STOCKDILL, m 1942 Huddersfield ¬ YOURS TRULY (b Bradford 1940 - yup, BEFORE my parents married!) As I report in the magazine, there is a possibility that I may be able to add a further generation with the marriage at Ripley (an adjoining parish to Hampsthwaite) in 1668 of Jane WILSON and John FAULKINER. However, I have not yet proved positively that these were the parents of Katherine FALKINER, b 1670 Hampsthwaite. The magazine has invited readers to tell it how far back they can trace their own matrilineal tree. -- Roy Stockdill Genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE