How did Inkie get interested in Genealogy"?

Some years ago my daughter, Beth, was required to do a school project on our family tree. My Mum knew a little history, but it was her cousin, Herman from the Netherlands, who gave us the most information, particularly about my maternal grandmother's side of the family. After completing the project, Beth's interest in genealogy waned...but mine had been sparked!

Legacy

I found a free family tree program on the web called Legacy and began entering the data into it. Legacy 6.0 is a full-featured professional genealogy program that helps you track, organise, print and share your family history. It includes sourcing, reports, merging, to-do lists, slide shows, multimedia, web pages, spell checking, and import and export capabilities. Using Legacy I was able to compile a web version of my family tree so that interested family members could access the data easily.

A death in the family

In 2005 my father-in-law passed away, and among his things we found family tree details that he had been compiling. Of course, I added these to my growing database.

My interests in genealogy and scrapbooking finally came together when I was able to give Mum a scrapbook about Dad's life for Christmas.

The Dutch connection

Then, in 2006, Herman's brother, Cor, contacted me saying that Mum had told him of my interest in genealogy. Cor explained that it was actually his father who had originally begun compiling our family tree, and after he passed away, Cor had continued his work. He was able to send me even more information about Mum's side of the family and some about my Dad's as well. Thanks to Cor and his father we have records on the van Kapel family (my grandmother's maiden name) that go back 15 generations and I am indebted to them for the time and patience they have taken in research.

Genes Reunited

Not long after this I discovered Genes Reunited and decided to join. Because Genes Reunited actively match individuals in my family with those in the families of other members, I was able to find other families that linked to both my family and that of my husband Graeme. However, Graeme wasn't too impressed when I was able to confirm that some of his ancestors had been deported from England as convicts!

It seems that the flow of family information available is never-ending, and just when I think I've got all the data entered from my most recent source, I find some more (sigh!). However it is always a thrill to find some information about a previously unknown ancestor.

So where's the link to Inkie's Family Tree?

You may be wondering by now why my family tree is not linked to this page. This is because some of the people listed in my database are still alive, and I have a duty to protect their privacy.

However, if you believe you have a genuine family connection and would like to know more about the Glenns, Copes, Stolks, Vissers, van Kralingens or van Kapels, then please contact me at and I will be happy to direct you to the location of my family tree.

Alternatively, log onto Genes Reunited, upload your GEDCOM file, and let them do the work for you!