We have been very lucky over our more than 50 years of research into the families of both myself and my husband, and we have so many family members who send us a message, phone us or write to us, as soon as there is a new birth, marriage or death in the family, with all the details needed to add to our family history files, and in return for their trust, we never publish the names or any details of any family member on any website, for fear of the horrid identity theft taking place

But of course, just as other family history researchers have found, there are those family members who believe in the old adage that "Knowledge is Power" and think that by keeping information to themselves, it makes them powerful. For anybody who thinks that, in relation to family history, you do need to think again, because if you have the info and wont give it to other family researchers, they will find the info in some other way in any case, but you may find that you will not benefit from all the other info they also find, as by being secretive about family history issues, you will just find that the serious researchers will not bother to keep contact with you. We have a few in our family who fit this description exactly, and they really do lose by their attitude, so to all family history researchers out there, family history should be for all family members, share what you have, and believe instead that the other adage of "What goes around comes around" is just as true, and share your knowledge of your family generously with other members of your family, write a book about them, add the history to a disk or USB stick and send a copy to other family members, arrange Family Reunions, visit family members who you have never personally met before, it is so much fun and so rewarding.