I recently had a remarkable experience in the field of genealogy. It culminated in my receiving a fascinating document that used to belong to my family. It was a windfall that required almost no effort on my part and almost certainly wouldn't have happened but for the magic of the internet.
I became interested in genealogy and in my ancestry a few years ago. I've got masses of cousins, the product of successive inter-related families who had lots of children, but it was hard to work out how they fitted together. However, thanks to the fact that my great great great grandfather, Thomas Fowell Buxton, was made a baronet in 1840, their names are to be found in the snobs' reference book, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage.
