Welcome all to my first blog post.  I hazard to guess you may have found this page through my modest presence on several social media platforms.  I do hope you’ve enjoyed my observations and musings as unsubstantial as they may be. 

My purpose here is to expand on my genealogical journey as well as to offer a venue to share some of your own triumphs and frustrations.  I really do welcome your comments and messages and I sincerely promise to respond to all.

Before we begin, however, I need to come clean.  I’m not a professional genealogist, nor am I an expert in DNA research.  In reality, I’m an entirely regular husband and father fully content teaching high school literature and composition in my hometown of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, a small Canadian city about forty kilometres east of Vancouver.

At times, though, I am curious and for the last number of years, I’ve been very curious about family history.  Yes, I suppose it’s mainly my family history that I’ve been curious about, but I’ve also noticed that I tend to lean in with elevated enthusiasm when a friend or acquaintance begins sharing their unique family histories whether it be twisted tales of infamous ancestors, rare, coincidental family relations or intriguing DNA matches or mysteries that hit with the magnitude of an effective left hook from a prizefighter. 

Yes, I’ve been bitten by the genealogy bug and I’m rapt with excitement to share my musings as well as anticipation to hear your tales.

It seems the fashion to share the names and locations one is researching when first making acquaintance with fellow creatures who share an interest in family research.  Far be it for me to break tradition.  So, here is a brief list of my own personal ancestral surnames and research targets:

Williams from Worcestershire, England

Zelbel from areas of Russia, the Ukraine, and Germany

MacGillivary from northern Scotland

Fryer from Staffordshire My goal here being anything rather than to bore, I believe I’ll end my introduction now.  However, I leave you by offering my sincere gratitude at that time you’ve taken to read this message as well as my honest hope that you’ll check back for more.