I had never considered doing my family tree nor had I shown any interest in genealogy. About six years ago I was given some Mercantile Marine documents (31 in total) relating to a man called John Cobain. It was revealed to me that this man was my great-great grandfather. Suddenly I wanted to know more, so many questions were going around my head. Who was this man? Where did he live? What did he do aboard those ships? Which part of the family did he fit into? It was this last question which revealed a lot more than I was expecting. When I first starting asking where did John Cobain fit into my family I wasn't given a straight answer. Naturally I found this strange. Later in the day I was told that John Cobain was my grandmother's grandfather but it came as a shock to learn that my grandmother had in fact been dead for 45 years. The person I had come to think of as my grandmother was in fact my step-grandmother. At first I was frustrated that everyone knew about my grandmother except me but I soon realised that it was better to have been told when I was of an age to understand. Sometimes I wondered if I hadn't started asking questions at the time, would I have learnt about my grandmother a few years later than was expected. Possibly. It has made me realise that it is ok to ask questions because if you don't then you may never find anything out.
As a result of asking questions it has taken me on a journey through the shipyards and factories of Belfast, the Londonderry/Derry countryside, the shores of Scotland, even as far a field as Australia, New Zealand and the United States. I have been lead to the fields of France and Belgium, the shore of Gallipoli and the plains of Libya where some of my relatives fought during the First and Second World Wars. I hope that you will enjoy reading these posts and that you will gain some benefit along the way.
