My interest in family history started in 1980 when, after the death of my father, I thought my brother and I (both unmarried) were the last of the line. I now know that this isn't so - there are young male Perkinses in Oxford and East Anglia, so the name survives!

Whilst tracing my Perkins ancestry I have accumulated over 22,000 references to my surname which is, after all, quite a common one. I have now assembled these in a database (what a chore that was!) which I have named - rather grandly - the Perkins Index.

Perhaps even more interesting is my mother's family history. Her maiden name was Shakespeare! But that's another story, largely written by a maternal cousin, Roy William Shakespeare, who has been a family historian much longer than I. I am but his humble assistant!

Although I say elsewhere that my interests in travel and photography go together the latter also has a very important part to play in family history. There are so many old photographs around that their preservation is a very important sub-interest in tracing my ancestors. I am particularly fortunate that my maternal grandfather (yes, his name was William Shakespeare!) was a keen photographer and his eldest daughter an assiduous album compiler. As a consequence I have access to an archive covering the period 1904-1947. A great aunt was given in 1902 one of those lovely Victorian/Edwardian albums in which to insert her family photographs. Just one generation back from her we have common ancestors, so this is another very valuable source of pictorial genealogical information.

Here, for example, is a photograph of my maternal grandparents' wedding in December, 1904: (I actually knew four of the people in this!)

Standing L to R: Kate Heath (formerly Spargo, née Andrew), William George Shakespeare (groom), Joseph Shakespeare, Ellen Frances Shakespeare, Edward Nicholas Spargo.

Seated L to R: Eliza Jane Shakespeare (née Spargo), Lilian Bassett Shakespeare, Kate Shakespeare (bride, née Spargo), Betty Heath.

Currently I am engaged in a project to preserve these photographs (over 100 in total) by scanning, which gives the scope to improve the condition of them in ways impossible using conventional photographic techniques.

And then there's the family Bible.

If you find other people's family trees, like their washing lines, more interesting than your own click here.