Hi all. My name is Valerie Attaway and I am the author of a blog about genealogy. I have been studying this science for over 3 years, and have recently decided to share my research and observations on this blog.

I think everyone at least once in their life has thought about where they came from, who their ancestors are, whether they are related to some royal family, etc. In order to find that out, you have to delve into your family roots, and genealogy helps us do that.

Genealogy research is a unique chance to get invaluable information about your ancestors. Even Blaise Pascal, one of the greatest thinkers of XVII century, wrote that the future is our goal, but the means to achieve this goal are the past and the present. This statement encapsulates a wealth of age-old wisdom. We cannot think of the future while forgetting the past: the past plays an important role in our lives and often has a greater influence on the course of events than we can imagine.

Genealogy is the science that studies and systematizes data on dynasties and trees in chronological order. It is also possible to consider this discipline in a narrower context, using the example of a particular family, a well-known family name.

The easiest way to find out if your ancestors were prominent people is to ask your grandparents. The old folks will probably want to share the history of the family. Don’t forget to take a notebook and carefully record all the data. Contact your brothers and sisters, including distant ones, and ask them for information about the family. Who knows, maybe in a few years you’ll get an inheritance from an unknown Norwegian grandfather, who sees you as the successor of an age-old tradition.