Apologies readers. Today should be a ‘non-blog’ day and yesterday should have been a ‘blog’ day. The problem was that yesterday was quite frankly ridiculous …. in a good way. We received confirmation that three major contracts had been approved, plus we signed numerous contracts which we have been working on for some time. Along with that, our MD travelled a rather enormous number of miles and, having returned to Calne after 11pm, keeping the eyes open and writing anything which vaguely resembled sense was clearly (and rightly) beyond her.
None of the new contracts were planned. All were approved on the back of some outstanding results on case work to date. If you can see proven results, why would you go anywhere else? At FWL, we have a great track record. Our MD has featured on TV and she is heavily involved in the wider field of family and local history holding many voluntary roles in the arena and a founder member of several societies. Her travels yesterday included dropping off promotional material for an event in Buckinghamshire in two weeks to the Society‘s Webmaster in Didcot, and then driving to Hounslow to chair a local Family History Society committee meeting. Although she is our MD, she took the time to contact “a friend in need” en route (twice), order certificates and make diary appointments for next week…. Does she ever stop!?
Running a professional genealogy business is a fascinating job/world, especially when you are deeply involved in ‘Heir Hunting‘. That is only one of our ‘arms’ and whilst we do love our HH work, there are so many other projects which are referred to us…. we have an ‘FWL Record Book‘, don’t you know! It’s a bit like the Guinness Book of Records but on a smaller scale! For example, the greatest number of illegitimate births of one lady in one project is SIX! Surely, after the first ‘mishap’, you might learn?? Today, we have another case though where the number was closing in on that record – FOUR illegitimate births and one legitimate. Holy hell fire!
Illegitimacy is a challenging issue in intestacy in particular – how can you ever know for certain that a deceased spinster never had any children? Or that a married lady didn’t have children before wedlock? Quite frankly, you can’t. It helps when families are close but even then, there are secrets. Our MD’s 3 x great grandmother wasn’t exactly truthful on the 1911 census return and, if fate hadn’t caused her to stumble across someone on a CPD course years ago and talk ‘family history’, she would never have uncovered the truth.
Will anyone ever know the real truth of their family history? Hmmm….
