My interest in family history was started by my wife's brother, Fred Barton, in New Zealand. During his visits back to England he picked up from the research done by his uncle Robert Barton and has now traced the Barton family back to the 16th Century. I "learnt my craft" by finding the local Barton family in the Colchester branch of the Essex Records Office and the local history library retracing Fred's steps. On the way I discovered a number of other local Bartons but these are as yet unrelated.

My forays onto the genealogy sites on the web soon led me to the Rootsweb sites and membership of some of the mailing lists. As well as furthering my own research I hope that I have added to others understanding through knowledge of various areas of England and the oddities of English History and customs.

I have now traced my paternal ancestors back to the early 19th century, about as far as is possible on National records, without visiting the Records Offices in their home towns. The Garland family at that time were in Worcester and I now need to visit the Worcester Records Office and search the parish records for the births, deaths and marriages of my forefathers.