Having done a lot of family history research more than 30 years ago, when researching involved travelling to various Smethwick, Dudley and other Midland libraries and record offices, using paper or possibly microfilm records and not even an inkling of the coming of the internet, it has been very interesting recently to revisit my original research with all the records, digital resources and information available online now. Not to mention finding this forum. My retirement suddenly looks busy!
Most of my family hail from Rowley Regis and Blackheath where I was born and grew up, attending Rowley Hall Primary and Rowley Grammar schools so local knowledge about places and geography is helpful. Family names include Hopkins (though this line goes back to Gloucestershire in 1850), Rose, Hingley/Ingley, Cole, Hewitt, Parsons, Bridgwater, Goode, Bissell and Johnson alias Hunt, and Horton/Haughton (mainly from Cakemore/Halesowen) I have been delighted to be able to buy a digital copy of the St Giles Registers and am spending many happy hours, browsing through all the family names. I now live in Southern Gloucestershire.
I look forward to looking through some of your threads and perhaps being able to link in to some other records.
Greetings from the West Country!