About this website
I have a put a video introduction to my website on YouTube here.
My interest is primarily in the lives that my ancestors led – what conditions were like where they lived and what they got up to. To this end, I have started to write stories that have arisen from my research. These are tales that my ancestors have told me by the records that they have left behind. The information on this website has been compiled from family history research conducted by the author for over 15 years. These web pages form the background and context to the stories that I have written. You may use the information that you find here, but please use it as a finding aid and verify it for yourself before you come to rely on it.
The Techie Stuff
Standards: HTML5, CSS3, jQuery
Development environment: Microsoft Expression Web 4
Typography: Google fonts: Crete Round and others
Family History program: The Master Genealogist v9
Family History maps: GenMap UK v2.2, Archer Software
Family History trees and diagrams: Microsoft Visio
Tables and HTML generation: Microsoft Excel 2010
Image processing: Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 and Nikon Capture NX 2
About the author
My name is Mike Gould. I was born and bred in Bristol, in the south west of England, but have for many years lived in the East Midlands. Before I retired, I was in Systems Engineering, which may account for my desire to put some science and structure behind the family history that I write.
Acknowledgements
Many of the good practices that I have used in conducting family history research come from classes run by Caroline Wetton – Thank you, Caroline. The bad practices are all my own !
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
- There are some dates missing in the family trees. Does this mean they cannot be found?
No, it may simply be that I have only conducted limited research on those people.
- There are some hyperlinks that don't work. Why is this?
This website is relatively new and I am still in the process of construction. The method of building pages means that sometimes a link will be created ahead of its target page.
- Where names have changed or can be spelled in different ways, how have you decided which one to use?
I generally use the name given at birth. This may be unfortunate if the person was subsequently known by a different name for the rest of their life, but at least it provides some consistency.
- How sure are you of your facts?
It varies considerably. I cite my sources and generally try to use more than one source to verify a fact, but this is not always possible. In some critical cases, I have documented my assessment of the surety of a fact (usually a relationship) using Attempted Proof Charts (see under the “Research” menu).
- Why are there few people from more recent times shown in your trees?
For privacy reasons, I do not provide details about people who are, or could be, living. Even when I know that a person is no longer alive, I do not provide details about them if they were born within the last 105 years. Where details are shown as "Redacted", this is the reason.
- What does "Redacted" mean?
It means I have excluded details for privacy reasons (see answer above).
- Why are some of your sources marked "Private communication"?
Over the years, I have been helped by very many kind people providing me with information. This has often involved them spending their own valuable research time on my behalf. I am incredibly grateful to all these people, but for privacy reasons, I have decided not to include their details here, but simply mark the source as "Private communication". If you are one of these people, I hope you will understand. You have my heartfelt thanks.
- Are your tales completely factual, or do you make up some of the details to add more interest?
In general, they are completely factual, to the best of my knowledge. If I have described something that it likely to have happened, because it was the custom of the times, I try to make clear my reasons for stating it.
Contact information
You can contact me @talesmyancestorstoldme.org using the following email address:
