Research your roots this winter break

For something different this winter break, consider beginning to learn about your family roots. Genealogy can be fascinating, learning about one's own family, where they came from, what they did... Often a person's family story can bring history to life. Many will have family members who fought in wars, survived dramatic episodes like the Great Depression, experienced the challenge and opportunity of emigrating to a new country and so forth. If you're lucky, you may have someone in your family who has already done some of this sort of work, and who can share their knowledge with you.

Getting started can be as simple as asking a parent or grandparent about where they grew up, when they were born and so on. Ask now; a sad fact of life is that people do pass away, and the knowledge they had of the family is then often lost. For more information on starting to learn about your roots, visit our recently updated guide to genealogy.