Sue was intially captivated by her great-grandmother’s name, Elvina Sarah Le Boutillier, French, exotic and fascinating? She had to know more.
My quest to learn about Elvina began in the Eighties. Pre-internet, this meant squinting at microfilm in the library photographing gravestones, capturing details, dates and family relationships. Slowly my family history took shape, like a giant jigsaw.
Forty years on, the family tree spans centuries. Elvina’s forebears lived on Sark at the behest of Elizabeth I, defending the island against the French; they were given land as a reward. My 10-times great grandfather Robert Sloley was the first Judge of Sark, where his house can still be found.
Not French, Elvina was ‘Jersiaise’. Not exotic, she was from a farming and sea-faring family. Fascinating she remains. How, and why, did she travel to grimy, Victorian Manchester. How did she meet and marry Joe?
You can now do armchair research 24/7, and it won’t take 40 years! There are free-to-use websites, and organisations like Ancestry and Findmypast which charge subscriptions. Quiz your oldest family members. Don’t put it off. Record family stories; identify photographs; collect BMD certificates; study censuses and parish records. Take a DNA test: mine found two second cousins, and dozens more relatives.
Be prepared – you will find skeletons in the cupboard; there will also be heroes.
Find out who you really are. Go on, you know you want to.