
When I started
thinking about how I would explain this project to family and people
outside of my immediate daily contact, I came to the conclusion
that I have always been interested in "why."
Why do we react
in certain ways?
Why is it that
certain traits are passed on from one generation to another, why
if we really understand the past do we have to keep reinventing
the wheel?
"Do something
about it!" was the first conclusion I reached when considering
this puzzlement.
I then started
with the idea of building the Pope family tree and through this
became riveted by a story that spans from the 16th century to today.
My ancestors
who up until now were figures I presumed just existed, started to
take on real personalities and my curiosity burgeoned even more.
Realising some
of these ancestors were in fact still alive and had direct knowledge
of the early 20th century inspired me to undertake travel to meet
them. These meetings in New Zealand and around the world have produced
a wealth of contacts and launch points for my research.
My early belief
that families pass on unique connections was confirmed.
I witnessed
first hand similar mannerisms noted as peculiar to one cousin in
New Zealand appearing in another cousin in Britain or Australia.
These people
had never met or known of each other's existence.
I had always
believed the Pope's were and are a thoroughly enterprising lot,
probably more by intuition than fact. But then I discovered Richard
and John Pope and their inextricable links to the British Coal Mining
Industry in the mid 1800s.
These two men
were leaders of the British Coal Mining Industry and because of
this position were responsible for the development of mining techniques
and transportation networks.
My quest to
find out more about my family has led me to the Internet and the
launch of this project. The net is the first opportunity afforded
the human race to collect, retrieve and exchange information on
such a global scale.
If we can harness
this power to better understand ourselves universally, as families
and individuals then doubts in our ability to resolve conflict,
starvation and disease will I believe disappear.
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