There are two primary reasons why anyone wants to know about a life which has vanished from this world save as mostly forgotten bones or dust in some possibly obscure ground. These are romantic mystery -- the basic nectar of history lovers -- and fashion. Contrary to the politically influenced media and authors of popular books on this subject today, those people who lived in the past were not the same as their descendants -- not remotely. Even in one generation this used to be very apparent. Now, with everyone everywhere being diligently indoctrinated to think and act the same by global politicians using global communications this natural process is enthusiastically suppressed. How often does one hear a historical documentary now that does not feel the need to deliberately use inaccurate modern cliches, euphemisms and to appease a lowly audience? Therefore, to understand one's ancestors one has to forget the television and even the local library and to try to clearly think for oneself in another age. In this way the person who spends a lot of their own life trying to discover someone elses life will quietly get much closer to the truth and so be properly rewarded. To make this point clearer, if it were possible to resurrect all those people which were alive a mere centuary ago and introduce them to the present world the political idea would generally be that they would consider everything had wonderfully improved and become blessed by good fortune, but the truthful reaction would undoubtably be great shock and disgust. And indeed most very old people would be nearly as strange as the young! So ignore most of the commercial writers and documentaries which are affected by our own age because they are distorting the truth. The basic and obvious method advised is to begin in the present and work on into the past, but this can be like taking directions from a person when one is lost. Consulting living relatives about those dead is often merely tittle tattle. People in the past were much more respectful of the truth than nowadays. A false statement about a person will then give one a great deal of trouble in just the same way as a false direction when one is on a journey. The important rule to maintain is the quality of the source. For example, an autobiography is much more likely to describe a life accurately than almost any biography: the only person who can really know one's life is oneself. Professional biographers are generally motivated by money and have to accept third person gossip. The same is perfectly true about genealogy, therefore letters, diaries, official records etc. are actually better than living accounts by relatives or acquaintances who may well be dishonest, biased or confused. So start in the present from facts. Obviously, if you really know a person is indeed honest and in a position to have knowledge then take account of this, but be sure before accepting it. Although it is not true that the happiest moment is birth, it is true that death is the saddest. When I first became interested in learning about the lives of people whose names were already well-known to me as deceased relatives genealogy was a term seldom used. I pursued this on my own by most eager interrogations of all dependable living sources. It was generally regarded as a rather odd interest. My primary reason was a desire to make these lives remembered. Although that is not so long ago the fast changes in almost everything have reduced it to a popular pastime and commercial exploitation. This is a somewhat negative aspect. The really wonderful improvement is of course the ease of access. Even so, don't be beguiled by online resource websites that one can find out about the lives of anyone just by perseverence. In fact, though they sometimes profess to possessing even billions of records which are always supposed to be increasing, anyone who has done even slight research knows they are incredibly limited. Try finding yourself! It's really almost chance whether one does discover a particular piece of information online. This is because the commercial aspect greatly inflates their capability. Think of all the people alive now and that people are dying at every moment and then the huge data base suddenly appears more similar to a drop in the pond for a centuary or more. Moreover, it is well-known that a vast store of documents are still unaccessible by the Internet and need to be discovered on foot. With these introductory thoughts in mind which are ntended to give perspective to the current fashion of genealogy I wish to direct those who are genuinely interested on a much more worthwhile and respectful course. In this way I offer many resource links and a free service to assist in finding some obscure data.
Your Journey Commences Useful For The Parish Records From 1538 Onwards Largest UK Genealogy Website http://landing.ancestry.co.uk/offers/uk/learn/trial.aspx Maximilian'sTop UK Genealogy Websites http://fw.members.freewebs.com/ Cyndi's List Of Worldwide Genealogical Resources http://fw.members.freewebs.com/ Whenever you possess a problem please contact me and I will try to assist you. Also, periodically this page will receive additional information so you are advised tp return.
My family name is Purnell and I have included this unique memory for those who have an interest in this surname. Contrary to the misleading origin expressed in other sources -- a usual example being to state the name is derived from the popular medieval feminine given name of Parnell -- diminutive of the Latin Petronilla and feminine of Petronius ( Peter ) -- the true origin is quite different.
When I was a senior pupil at my high school during the 1960s I was a prefect and personal assistant to the deputy headmaster and had complete access to areas other pupils were not permitted to enter. One day an enormous book about half the size of a man appeared in a private classroom which was on a short loan -- possibly from the National Archives at Kew, London. It was leather bound and very heavy. Naturally I was extremely curious so I opened the locked book and discovered it was a vast list of English names and their origin that had been hand written in ink during the middle ages! I quickly sought names which interested me and of course included my own. According to this highly accurate source the origin of the family name of Purnell actually comes from a Roman General whose surname was Purnelius and in the second century AD had settled with his family near to the modern day city of Bristol in the southwest of England. Thus, all people with this surname are his direct descendants and originated from the Bristol area.