Welcome to Roy's Roots

For the past eleven years I have been exploring my family's history and roots. What started out as a simple exercise to discover who my Great Grandparents were and where they came from has evolved into a true passion in my life.

I found that every time I peeled back a new layer in my family onion, I became more and more addicted to the process of discovery. Over the years I have reverse engineered and documented my ancestors' migration from my home town of Scarborough, Ontario through settlements on the East Coast of Canada back to our ancestral homes in Ireland and Scotland. I have explored the branches and leaves of my extended family tree, even finding a few nuts along the way.

However, too many times during the early stages of my expedition, I found myself venturing down a path based solely on anecdotal evidence, only to discover I was pursuing a lineage that had nothing to do with my family. This is a pitfall many a family historian has falling into. It only took me falling into this trap a few dozen times (did I mention I was a slow learner) that I realized the need to properly document people and events. By ensuring I had the proper, cross referenced, documented evidence, before I included a new set of family members to the tree, I have saved many hours of wasted (though enjoyable to me) time. To date I have documented almost 15,000 people in my ever growing, extended family tree.

This blog will be a venue for me to share my triumphs and disasters that will hopefully serve as a guidepost in your own research. I intend to do a regular contribution to this blog with a combination of updates on discoveries and events related directly to my family, general research tips and insights, what's happening in the world of genealogy and anything I find of value in our field of interest. I welcome your feedback on the various topics that I'll publish.

I look forward to having your company on this journey we have undertaken.