Which ancestor(s) are at the top of your research list, and why?

I saw this question recently in several places and thought that it would be a good post to finish up with this year. Things have been neglected here of late – the last post was back in October – apologies to my followers and to my ancestors.

My next focus will be to discover further branches of my family trees in the 19th century and beyond – now that gives a reasonably wide range of choice – given that I have the data for the sixteen family groups apiece in the following:

• Maternal Great, Great, Great Grandparents in the Cutting Line, and the Newland Branch from Surrey and Essex.
• Maternal Great, Great, Great Grandparents in the Robinson Clan and the Evans Tribe from Surrey and Pembrokeshire.
• Paternal Great, Great, Great Grandparents in the Allery Tribe and the Blackburn Clan from Devon and Surrey.
• Paternal Great, Great, Great Grandparents in the Wright Clan and the Goats Branch from Essex.

Specifically, I am seeking more history of the lives of these ancestors to create another collection of stories in my blog posts and ebooks. This will become my research plan for 2022!

• John Cutting, born in 1799 – I need to locate his marriage to Ann Craddock and discover more about their lives in Hampshire.
• Charles Newland was born in Hampshire in 1811 – I seek information about his Army desertion from the Coldstream Guards in 1834.
• William Wright was born in 1766 – I wish to know more about the family living at Snowden Fenn, Halstead, Essex in 1841.
• Lydia Rule was born in 1802 – I want to know more about this family living at Tydings Hill, Halstead, Essex in 1851; and the occupations of her husband and two sons, brick makers and a wheelwright.
• Thomas Julius Pampe Blackburn was born in Southwark, 1824 – I want to know more about the family name of Pampe.
• Jemima Clayton was born in 1824 – I wish to locate her birth place and the last name of her mother. (a history of the name Jemima)
• Eliza Goats was born in 1828 – I need to know more about her birthplace at Bishops Stortford, Hertsfordhsire and the occupations of the Goats family members.
• Sarah Lagdon was born in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire in 1814 – I am seeking her marriage to Joshua Goats, father of Eliza Goats. Need to verify her mother’s name of Louisa Fear.
• William Goats was born in 1775 and he married Kezia Patmore in 1799 – I want to know more about the Patmore family and where the name Kezia (Kezziah) came from.
• Mary Ann Hall (first wife of Samuel John Allery) was born in 1845 – I would like to build the story for her – she died at the age of 36, in the same year as her daughter Jennie Selena (aged 1) in 1881.

My Ancestral Research Plan 2022 looks like this. I use Trello.com for my project, business, and ancestral planning boards.

Thank you to all my followers who have read my posts in 2021! Have a wonderful family festive season and I hope you can have some quality time with some or all of your descendants.

You are invited to join us for the final Genealogy Story Conversations Zoom session on Saturday 11 December 2021 at 6:00 pm AEDT (UTC +11). We are focussing on the strategies and techniques we use to tell the stories of our Ancestors.