GAIL'S FAMILY HISTORY

Welcome to my website!!!  I have created this site to document my research and hopefully make contact with those of you out there who may have a connection to one of my lines.  You will find, as is the case with all family histories, there are scores of names to be found.  While I will be dedicating pages to most of these over time, my main reason for commencing my genealogical research all those years ago was due to the unusual nature of my surname, Erwood.  Of course, that only whetted the appetite and I have, over the last twenty years, branched it out to include my entire family and, for the heritage of my children, their father's entire family as well.

Some of the other names you will find on my site will include:

• Erwood, Clarke, Brady, Gillick, Cole, Gardiner 
• Davidson, McIntosh, Vanderbilt, Telford, Binning and more
• Birrell, Paterson, Hodge, Cochrane and more
• Sisson, Morris, Poulteney, Short and more   
• Chambers, Smith, Fletcher  
• Barclay, Christian, Steers, Storey, Bannam, Hannah 

In addition to this, I will be adding other information to the site, such as useful genealogical links.  I am also an avid reader of history, particularly British and French, both biographical and historical fiction.  I have a particular passion for Tudor England and can't get enough of it!!  I have read some excellent books over the years, some of which you will probably know of if you share my passion, and over time I will be listing these, with a small review of each, on the Historical Reading page.

Having been raised literally as an only child, I had a substantial amount of time on my hands in which I needed to amuse myself.  An avid reader from an early age, a legacy from both of my parents, I developed a consuming love of history and all things associated with history when I was a young girl.  I found I could not get enough of it and was a constant visitor to my library throughout my informative years. 

This love of history led me to become actively involved with my local historical society about twenty years ago and I guess it was just a natural progression that I would take that further step and start the research of my family.  I had always planned to do so anyway because of stories I had been told when I was young about the origins of my surname.  Occasionally people would wonder why I was involved with the historical society, but I saw the locality I lived in at that stage as an integral part of my family's history.  After all, my children had been born there and attended school there.

A few years later, a family history group was started in Melton and, not long afterwards, the local library, working in conjunction with the family history group, started work in earnest on building an excellent local and family history research collection which is still growing to this day.  As a part of this, we would conduct genealogical workshops at the library, covering topics such as Census Records, Genealogy on the Internet, Shipping Records, Using Indexes and many more.  Whilst Melton Library had a basic genealogical collection prior to this, the growing facility has become a hub for research not only in Melton, but throughout the district as well.  The Library is to be commended for its vision in this area.  The growth of genealogical research in recent years has never ceased to amaze me and I must admit, it is truly pleasing to see the excitement of a researcher when they discover some long lost relative!!  Over the years I have made some truly exciting discoveries and uncovered some interesting, to say the least, and incredibly moving stories.  I plan to share some of these here with you all as some of them will offer hope, when we think we have lost it.

Obviously genealogical research isn't everyone's kettle of fish, in fact it bores some people to tears.  I learnt very quickly to sense when a story I was telling was of no interest to the listener!! 

Please enter my world and enjoy!!  If you have the time, I would appreciate your feedback.

30/4/2007 - Just added a bit more information about Erwood Village, along with some lovely pics.  What a beautiful place - I could easily live there!! ~ G.

30/4/2007 - I have just completed the introductory Davidson page for those of you who have been waiting for this section to commence and I'm about to move on to a potted history of our background in Mt Egerton.  Given the magnitude of the number of descendants of Robert Telford Davidson, I have decided to approach this family by family.  Will let you know via this Updates section as I add to this area.  ~ G.

26/4/2007 - The Useful Links page has just been completed.  Some are fairly well known, but hopefully you will find them useful.  If you know of any others you feel would be helpful, please let me know.  Thanks ~ G.

21/4/2007 - You will note that this site is currently under construction, with only a few pages completed.  I thought I would put it up anyway as I know there are some of you waiting to have a look - God knows you've waited long enough!  I know you are aware of the amount that has to go on here, so please bear with me as I continue work on the site and upgrade as new things come to light.  I particularly wanted to get The Adoption Story up, so obviously that was a priority. Any input would be most welcome!  And of course, as always, any info or photos are always more than welcome!  Thank you ~ G.