APPENDIX

Reader, if you have arrived here in search of a Summary of the Birth, Marriage or Death of a Protagonist mentioned in this Volume, I regret to tell you I have yet to compile the Content of this Appendix. In fact, I am having Second Thoughts as to the Inclusion of an Appendix of any Description.

It occurs to me that the Provision of a Summation of the Baptisms, Marriages, Burials, &c. &c., of the diverse Individuals mentioned in my Narrative reduces those Persons’ lives to nothing more than Dates and Numbers.

I also fear it will do the casual Visitor a great Disservice, since such an Appendix will offer little to assist such a Reader to discern whether or not the Persons listed therein are, in fact, their true Antecedents.

Based on both my academical Knowledge, my Experience as a Genealogist and recent Correspondences with Individuals seeking answers to Questions about their “Family Tree”, may I make the following provisional Recommendations to Readers of all Stripes:

First, do not mistake any published Material whatsoever as True and Immutable Fact, not least what is published in the present Volume. Though my Expertise is considerable, Errors are not beyond the Realm of Possibility.

Second, should the name of an Ancestor of my Client be the same as one of your own, do not hasten to claim that Person as your Relative. Even if the Year and Place of their Birth appears consistent, this is not a sufficient Proof of a direct Connexion.

Third, I recommend to all Subscribers, the Genealogist’s “Rule of Three”, viz. three sets of proof for each Fact. Lest it should appear I condescend to my Readers, this Rule allows for Secondary and Tertiary Spheres of intersecting Evidences.