Something that I have always wanted to do was to trace my family (on my fathers side) back as far as I could. I originally had a go at this in the early 1990s, but found it very difficult in those days without having access to the internet. Today, it is much easier with many genealogy programs available to join for a small fee.

So last year I joined Ancestry.com paying an annual subscription of around £100 and haven't looked back.

So my blog is to share with you how great the hobby of tracing back your family roots can be and to share with you some of the fantastic stories that I have unraveled.

I hope you enjoy viewing my blog and that it may give you the encouragement to investigate your own family and have some fun along the way.

John R. Farrar

The Farrars of Billericay

(from left - John, Francesca, Lorraine and Lauren)

It is amazing how far you can actually go back to with today's genealogy software available. Naturally, you have to put in many hours of research in order to be successful and it also helps a great deal if you can find that long lost relation who has been working for over 20 years on tracking his family tree. And that is what I came across, a 2nd cousin living in Tasmania (John Drake Farrar) whose Grandad (Jonah Drake Farrar - b: 1875  d: 1941) was the younger brother to my Grandad (John Richard Farrar - b: 1869  d: 1947).

John Drake Farrar

John Richard Farrar

John Drake (pictured top photo above) emigrated to Australia with his family in 1959 from Batley in Yorkshire. He was 16 years old at the time.

John Drake and I have been working together for the last 12 months and I have started to write a book to record the information for future generations of Farrars to share.