I took up the study when my uncle Cyril became ill and still had not found any male descendants or relatives with his surname. He had spent decades, and even tried a private detective to track down the origins of his father.
It turned out that the father was a bigamist, had three different middle names, two dates of birth, but his father had two sons with sons.
Just in time I tracked down two male descendants of the father's brother, living in the USA - by asking the women I found with the father in their family tree.
I gave the information to my sister, who passed it on to my brother who went and told Uncle Cyril - and two weeks later he died.
There were lots of things to sort out. The records were written in 'secretary hand' and names were often misread when they were typed - the surname Tuvey was rendered variously - Sewery was perhaps the most divergent.
It was an interesting exercise.
Anne the Pleater
I presume to dictate to no man what he shall eat or drink or wherewithal he shall be clothed."
-- The Hon. Stuart Ruaidri Erskine, The Kilt & How to Wear It, 1901.
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