Several visitors have asked why we call our site Cosmic Dust. Perhaps it’s not immediately obvious but we are all children of the stars, we all come from Cosmic Dust and, eventually, we all return there and become Cosmic Dust again.
It seemed appropriate, therefore, that our site, devoted to the study of our family history and heritage, the search for family members long gone, should reflect that.
So there you are 
Genealogy
Genealogy - also called Geneology - is, as you probably know, the study of families and involves tracing their history and lineage.
Humans are naturally curious and there can be few people who would not want to know who their ancestors were. There’s often the hope that they might find themselves related to royalty or nobility, while some people hope to find a little notoriety in their past.
The process of researching and discovering your family history is fascinating. Most people do the research themselves although there are professional genealogists who will research your family history for you.
It’s more fun doing it yourself and it’s often fairly easy to go back so far (we’ll get to that in a minute) but it can be frustrating if you get stuck. However, there are many associations who will point you in the right direction if you get stuck.
In particular, the advent of the Internet has brought together millions of people, all looking to trace their history, and it enables you to contact possible relatives who may have moved abroad.
Nobel ideas
Many years ago, geneology was mainly used among nobility and royalty to argue decency and to prove legitimacy to titles, power and wealth.
Many such claims have since been refuted by modern historians and researchers. The Anglo Saxon Chronicles, for example, traced the ancestry of English Royalty back to the god Woden, clearly a preposterous assumption, although not considered so at the time.
Genealogy in the USA
Perhaps because America is a relatively new country, many Americans have an interest in their history. Genealogy in the USA was spearheaded by John Farmer in the early 1800s. In particular, many people at the time wanted to trace their history back to the Founding Fathers.
Although the Declaration of Independence in 1776 was not so much earlier, records of family lines were not kept as a, um, matter of record. The Family Bible was often the main way of recording births and deaths.
Genealogical Society
The Genealogical Society of Utah was founded in 1894 and later became the Family History Department of the Mormon Church. This contains one of the most thorough records of family histories in America.
In Europe, particularly in England and German, the authorities began to keep a record of their citizens by way of parish records in the 16th century. In Ireland there are records dating back to the mid-17th century while in Asia, some records go back to the 12th century.
Old West
In the West, it’s often possible to go back as far as the 17th century with the aid of such records but, depending on your lineage, delving further can be more difficult although much more interesting as you discover how your forefathers lived and what they did.
Genealogy was given a boost in the 1970s with Alex Haley’s book, Roots: The Saga of an American Family. It was later serialised for TV which provided an added impetus.
Research
There are many types of record you can use to trace your family history. These include oral histories, parish records, Family Bibles, and records of births, marriages and deaths.
Other sources include Church records, census reports, directories such as the telephone directory, coroner’s reports, criminal records, diaries, immigration records, medical records, passports, old photographs - the list goes on and that is only the tip of the iceberg. It can be quite a challenge, but an exciting one.
The first place to start is with your living relatives. Find out who their relatives are. You may unearth a few surprises, details of relatives you never knew existed or who died and had almost been forgotten by the subsequent generation.
It’s important that you verify as much information as you can otherwise you could end up researching someone else’s family entirely! The elderly often seem to have good recall for people and events from many years ago but that’s not always the case and they should be verified.
Documentation
Written documentation is generally the most reliable and is accepted as the most valid form of proof. However, there are cases when circumstantial evidence is all there is but if there is enough of it, it can prove a case quite strongly.
The internet is an invaluable source of information, not only on who might be your ancestors but also how best to pursue your research.
There are also many genealogy software programs available which help draw your family tree and collate and store information.
Who are you? Finding out is a fascinating hobby and there’s never been a better time to start.