#About Me

Hello there. My name’s Dom, and I live in Wiltshire, England – not too far from Avebury stone circle. I’ve lived in rural Wiltshire for most of my life – with a few years spent in France and south London. Could be worse, right?

Back in 2010 I married a wonderful man who I had known for over 10 years before that. He came along with a wonderful dog (known variously as Moog or the Empress ) who was a major part of our life together but who succumbed to her various illnesses in the autumn of 2013, just shy of her 17th birthday.

I’ve always been surrounded by pets – dogs especially – and you’ll find reference to them dotted around the place. My love of animals doesn’t only cover the domestic types, but extends backward in time. I will forever be a frustrated palaeontologist, but am happy enough (honest)  being an armchair discoverer of ancient worlds.

The Empress Naps
The Empress Naps

This imagining ancient worlds goes hand in hand with one of my other passions – writing. Specifically, fiction writing. I love world-building – quite literally in some instances as I enjoy writing fantasy works which have to include maps – and I’ve always loved figuring out what makes people tick: their motivations and backgrounds. I started a Creative Writing & French Bachelors degree with the Open University, graduating with Upper Second-Class Honours in 2020 – before going on to get my Masters [with Merit] in Creative Writing in 2022. I am also currently part way through gaining a Counselling qualification, which should complete in the summer of 2026.

This is nowhere more evident than in the area in which I spend most of my leisure time – genealogy. Having been researching my own for over 25 years (you never really stop) I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way, and am always happy to share experiences with others! I have gained a Postgraduate Diploma in Paleography and Genealogy Studies [with Distinction] from the University of Strathclyde in 2024. I still plan to complete the final year of that course and gain my Masters, but that is currently on pause.

We also gained a new dog several years ago. Meet Juno:

When I first started this blog, it was a bit of a catch-all, split between dinosaurs, my life, genealogy and other odds and sods. Some of that variety may still exist way back in the Archives. However, since about 2018 it’s been all genealogy, all the way, and that’s how it’s going to stay for the foreseeable future, so if you find some random posts that don’t seem to fit, that’ll be why!

10 comments

  1. Pingback: Zero to Hero: DAY 8: MAKE YOUR “ABOUT” PAGE IRRESISTIBLE | The Flibberatic Skreebles

  4. Dom, first of all, congratulations on your marriage! As of January this year, our Episcopal Church here in Dallas, TX, USA can perform same sex weddings. We immediately had a huge celebration of all those who were already married, and they came from all over the diocese. What a blessing the occasion was! The first wedding had to be postponed due to the Corona Virus.

    I discovered your article, “The Fascinations of Halliday, or The Perils Of Ignoring Old Research” by Googling “Walter Haliday, Royal Minstrel.” My paternal grandmother was a Holliday, and I’m trying to connect her line with the famous Walter. I don’t know where your line breaks off from mine, but mine does go back to William Halliday, “Cloth Maker,” whom I believe to have been the father of Sir Leonard Holliday, Lord Mayor of London. I have some names and dates between them and Walter, but I can’t tell if they’re real or not. You seem to have done quite a bit of research, so I wonder if we could collaborate? I’d be happy to send you what I have, and would appreciate ever so much your making any corrections of which you’re aware. What say you?

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    1. Hi Margaret! Thank you so much for your wonderful message – and glad that you found me! I would be more than happy to help in any way that I can! Please do send me what you have (starting from your grandmother) up as far as you have and I’ll have a dig around the archive (as it were!) and see what I have that might be able to link the lines together.

      The best email for me is thefamilymess[at]outlook.com

      Best wishes from a rather wet England!

      Dominic

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  5. Hi Dom,

    I believe we are cousins, or something. I came upon your article, “The Family Mess” while researching my paternal grandmother’s family. Thank you so much for the story about my 3x great grandfather, Sanford. I did know he was adopted, but didn’t know why. I’m still trying to find that story, but I’ve hit the brick wall, as you call it, with his wife, Mary McMillan. I will continue scouring your posts for any information on her, I’m going to venture a guess that she was born in Ireland, as many of family were. Any help you can share, or a great archivist from southern Ireland, would be so much appreciated! Again, thanks so much for the information you share!

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    1. Hi Kim!
      Thanks for getting in touch! If you are a Duncan, does that mean that you’re descended from Muriel Payne and her husband Charles Edward Duncan? I think Sanford and his sister Jennie were adopted as their mother died soon after Jennie was born, and so did their father, John. The children were then adoptd by one of Hannah’s sisters who had married into the Payne family.

      No Mary McMillan is still a bit of a mystery. Once I have anything I’ll be shouting about it!!

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      1. HI! Thanks for getting back so quickly! Yes, I’m Muriel (Granny) and Charles’s granddaughter via Charles. Yes, I have the adoption and have the actual parents listed in my tree. I read in a letter that Sanford called her Polly, and I’m still coming up blank. I’m currently following some McMillans out of Scotland, as some of the family emigrated through there, to Ireland. I think I will search through Hannah’s siblings. Likewise, if I find anything, I’ll share. Thanks so much for all your work!

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