About
If you’d prefer to visit my company website, please click here.
I’m in the process of revamping my website. While I go through this process, you may still access older family history details by clicking this link. The former main page of my site is accessible via this link.
This site is my personal presence on the Web. I created it to provide access to my family history and genealogy research to the widest possible audience, and to publish the occasional idea, photograph or opinion.
About me…
IT guy, movie nut, hiker/walker, enjoys foreign and extinct languages, travel, anthropology, family history, cosmology, generally curious about everything.
Motivations…
Who were my ancestors, and what were their lives like? Do I share any traits with them? Would I recognize these people if I were to meet them?.
Trying to thaw trails that went cold decades or centuries ago is part of the appeal of genealogy. Poring over data, looking for patterns and seeking answers all appeal to my analytical nature. I truly do need to know where I came from.
In the last year or so, I’ve become increasingly curious about my “deep” origins to a time well before anyone kept records. This curiosity can be satisfied, at least on a crude scale, via DNA studies such as the National Geographic’s Genographic project. Current theories, based on analyses of the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA indicate that everyone alive on the planet today can trace their origins to a single male who lived in Africa some 60,000 years ago. Molecular geneticists also believe that we can trace our maternal line to a single female. She too lived in Africa, but much earlier, around 125,000 years ago.
A preliminary 12-marker analysis of my DNA indicates that I belong to the “I” genetic haplogroup. Over time, I’ve paid to have more markers on my Y chromosome analysed. 67 key markers on my Y chromosome identify me more precisely as a member of the I2a2 British Isles clade. The deeper history of this haplogroup may push my paternal ancestry back to what is now the Balkans, approximately 20,000 years ago.
It’s also very handy to be able to access my information from anywhere there is a connection to the Internet. The site also forces me organize my thoughts and, very occasionally, a distant relative finds my site via a Google or other search.