Dear Readers,
Sometimes, when I sit down to write the FWL blog, I have a clear vision of the message I want to pass on to you all. Recent visions have included the rubbish service of BT, competition offers/winners, news on the office move, etc. To be honest, this week’s messages are so varied that the beginning, middle and end may be a little blurred. So, please excuse me if there are many different ‘updates’, concerns, issues and such like raised here….
Let’s work backwards. This evening (Wednesday) saw a very successful visit (for me, MD@FWL) to the Seend WI and delivery of the wonderful Searching for Surnames: Challenges, Pitfalls and the Downright Ridiculous talk which has probably been regaled on over 50 occasions on various global stages (and in the future, at RootsTech2017). Although the welcome was initially less than overwhelming, the audience were very receptive with many a business card handed out and my second (travelling) copy of Potty Fartwell and Knob well-thumbed.
Following the advertisements over the weekend for family history researchers to join our swiftly expanding business, several interesting meetings/telephone conversations have occurred and we have some really exciting/excited prospective new members of the team.
On three of our recent Heir Hunting cases (with no competitors even on the scene), we have pieced families back together who have lost contact over the years and heard some amazing family stories. Sadly, it’s not all positive though. Some while back, we wrote about the lack of ethics in our industry and yesterday/today, this issue has struck again. An 86-year-old beneficiary, local to our offices, was visited yesterday (at her home, unannounced and uninvited). She was told by one of our competitors that for all of her 86 years on this planet, she had a half-brother she never knew. Wow…. bombshell…. and now he’s dead and you’ll be a beneficiary to a portion of his estate. Everything is wrong with this scenario (in our opinion) when she had seven children and the situation could have been managed infinitely better by making sure she had support from one of her children when the news was broken (which is what we had planned)…. How can this behaviour be considered ethical or empathetic or appropriate by anyone!??
Now to the future…. BT are going to grace us with their presence tomorrow. Who knows what the result of this visit may be?? We don’t like to count our breath, or hold our chickens anymore…. Watch this space!
A demain, MD@FWL.
[N.B. Choice made not to mention anything political but, for the record, heaven help America.]
