I've been researching my roots (as well as my wife's) for the past four decades. It's either a passion or an obsession. 'Can't quite decide which.

The best reward of all is reaching out to and making new friends with folks from all across the globe who are researching the same names.

The hobby has also connected to music for me. Inspired by family history and the emotion it sometimes generates, I wrote two musical works to honour two of my ancestors born a century apart.

An Emigrant's Daughter

Gilbert Lightfoot (Bagpipe Slow Air)

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