BJNL's GENEALOGY

Some thoughts on my approach to tree building, deciding what to work on next, making a plan of action, keeping track of my investigations, and 'seeing the wood for the branches' ... Tree Building I generally work on the principle that the wider and deeper I can make my family tree then the better equipped I will be to build my tree back in time. This is because a broad base to a tree provides a better foundation for building back with confidence. For this reason, I spend more time building across and forwards in time than I spend in building backwards. DNA-related information used in conjunction with oral histories and traditional sources of documentary evidence is really important to this. Connecting DNA matches to my tree supports the development of the collateral lines in my tree, thereby strengthening the base. Drawing on oral family histories and traditional sources of documentary evidence helps to build out people’s lives and life stories in the context of their

My interest in the Edge family and their association with Horton Hall and St Michael's Church and Churchyard in Horton, Staffordshire was sparked by a family connection to the Edge family. As well as pointing me towards an interesting avenue for research, the family connection prompted our visit to Horton[1] during a trip to England in late 2019. Photo taken by the author - November 2019 The Family Connection My husband's connection to the Edge family starts with his 3rd Great Grandmother, Sarah Edge. Sarah married William Chapman in Ireland in 1826[2]. They lived in County Wicklow, Ireland. It was their son William George Chapman who immigrated to New Zealand in abt. 1880 via Australia[3]. He had immigrated to Australia from Ireland sometime before 22 December 1855 when he married Tamar Waldron at St Peter's Church, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Their marriage entry shows William’s mother as being Sarah Edge[4]: Marriage Registers. St. Peter’s Eastern Hill, Melbourne, Vi

Revised 20 August 2022 I have previously written about the importance of turning oral family history and personal memories into written remembered stories . That is, documenting our own personal memories and stories as well as the ones told to us from earlier generations so that they are preserved for future generations. For obvious reasons, my personal memories are drawn from my adoptive family because it is the family in which I grew up. It was my mother who told me most of the family stories.  Mum was born Elsie Lydia Needham in Riddings in Derbyshire, England on 22 September 1921 [1]. She died on 12 April 2011 in Taupo, New Zealand [2]. I regret not listening more intently to her stories, and asking more questions, when I was younger. Daughter Disinherited William Needham and Lydia Morris are my adoptive great grandparents. William was born in 1849 [3] in Southorpe, Northamptonshire and baptised on 20 November 1849 in the Parish of Barnack in Northamptonshire) [4] . Lydia Morris