My exploration of Genealogy

This branch of my tree is about the Tilley family of the New Forest which commences with John Tilley and Martha Spearen, my 8th Great-Grandparents

In part at least, this came about due to a message from somebody on Ancestry, our trees shared a name. It turns out that that person is a 6th cousin, living in Australia. Far from the only relative found to be living abroad. The story starts with families that would be fairly static. Where perhaps twenty miles was a large distance and travels through time and space to go halfway around the world.

As part of this research I am also creating a database of One Place Study of Marriages in Sopley. This will give some insight of the families living in Sopley with my 8th Great-Grandparents

It has already provided some excitement. A possible brother to John who married at a similar time, just a few years apart. This has potentially created a new, previously undiscovered, link, and a jump into another person's tree in Ancestry. Which, in turn has resulted in a whole new line of research.

Collaboration with other people has provided further insight, especially with the number of different spellings of surnames, with vast swathes of the population unable to read, write, or spell, and some records being in Latin. It all adds to the general confusion, challenge, and enjoyment.

Read more at The Tilley Family Migration or go to a list of people in the database The people in The Tilley Family Migration