My interest in my family’s history and Hebridean heritage probably began when I was a little girl, with my dad telling me bedtime stories drawn from the legends of the Isle of Skye. My mother used to say that she could almost feel the arrows flying overhead when he was repeating his dramatic tales of warring clans and local witches.  Dad’s brother was able to recite the names of his forefathers going back many generations, and to this day I treasure the piece of paper to which he committed his unique knowledge for me.  I feel it a privilege to be a caretaker of our family tree and traditions.

My presentation at RootsTech London will be on breaking down brick walls in Scottish research – those frustrating roadblocks that all genealogists come up against at some time.  Over the 40+ years I’ve been doing family history, I’ve picked up tips and skills that I want to share with others that will (I hope) inspire them to take a fresh look at the more challenging branches of their family trees.  These are ideas that they can use to find records of at least one ancestor who has stubbornly refused to be found for far too long!

https://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/profiles/spring-alison