Website Testimonials
Many of the hundreds of 'visits' made to our website every month emanate from family historians searching for their ancestors' burial places and memorial inscriptions. Here are some of the testimonials that our webmaster, Ted Connell, has received recently:
"I came across your site and gained some useful information from it about some of my ancestors. One of them, John Skinner, was Charles Darwin's coachman at Downe. Your site has given me information about the burial and date of death of his parents and his spouse."
I.P.
"I have found your records to be a gold mine. It can be very difficult researching family history from Australia but your site has been extremely helpful. The Wills helped me zero-in on where one particular family lived."
R.B., Perth Australia.
"Your Wills are invaluable in my family history research. They are professionally presented and an excellent source of information. The one on Ightham Churchyard helped me resolve several perplexing questions."
D.S., Washington State, USA.
"Thank you for providing the Will listings online for Goudhurst. I have been researching my family tree and have found a number of my father's people (Dousts and Stanbridges) in the churchyard. The inscriptions giving details of other family members, surviving and deceased, are very helpful."
M.L. (née Freeland), Mount Colah, New South Wales.
"I appreciate the time and effort that has gone into putting this site together. I am a descendant of Joseph Doust and Mary Stanbridge of Goudhurst and this information has filled in quite a few gaps in the family tree. We need all the help we can get and more sites like this one would be a great help. You have done a marvellous job so give yourselves a pat on the back".
G.S., Brisbane Australia.
"I would like to say how useful your site has been for me. I found a couple of Marchant relatives at Seal. The people who record all the headstones do a fantastic job and it is appreciated, so well done to all and thank you".
V.M.
"I deeply appreciate your efforts to document these monuments. They shed so much light on my family and its ties here in the United States. Until recently I had blamed the mis-spellings of many of the surnames on semi-illiterate census takers, ministers, court officials, etc. It is so good to be able to see the original spellings on your website. Your pictures of the churches and the history of them is a labour of love and it makes me want to journey to England and see them for myself. Thank you so much for your time and effort".
C.D.K., Tennessee, USA.
"It's wonderful to be able to search for memorial inscriptions to my Shubolt and Mitchell ancestors. The site not only searches for a name but gives a grave number and a map, so I was able to go to Otford and Chevening and 'cherry pick' my graves. Thank you so much. You are all brilliant. Keep up the good work."
C.A.
"I think your research pages, photos and MIs are the best I have found; people I would never have known even existed. You have done an excellent job".
J.M., Western Australia.
"I am writing to say how much I appreciated being able to read the inscriptions in the churchyard at Goudhurst. I found three generations of my Russell ancestors and their families. It helped me confirm previous information and gave me new leads to follow. Inscriptions give unique information that are not found in ordinary written records, linking families together, and it is rare to be able to discover such information online".
Z.S.