About Me
My name is Jan Kingshott. Jan is a local Devon dialect form of John. I say this as the vast majority of people I am in contact with assume that I am a girl. The last time I looked, I was still a bloke.
I live in Exeter which is in the county of Devon, on the pointy bit at the bottom of England. I am married to Angela and have two children, James & Amy. My wife describes herself as a "family history widow".
This is a photograph of me, taken at the top of the World Trade Center in New York, the year before it was attacked. I am displaying the characteristic hairstyle for my particular branch of the Kingshott family. I apologise, as I am not a pretty sight, but at least the view was nice.
I have been researching my family history since 1991 and try to fit a bit in every day. It drives Mrs Kingshott mad as she says that I spend more time with "dead people" than I do with her! I therefore take this opportunity to apologise for this. I also want to apologise to my daughter, Amy, for doing even more work on what she calls my "boring old family tree!"
I still like to research the old way, by going to local records offices and digging out the original documents, but as online sites are putting more and more original documents online, the need to travel halfway across the country to find a baptism has diminished somewhat.
I base my research on primary sources and hope that I have made the right deductions based on those sources. I am always open to challenge on anything I have come up with, so if you don't agree with something I've written, please let me know! It is always good to re-examine work that I may have done many years ago.
My favourite genealogical activity is visiting old graveyards and searching for my extended family there. Strangely, the family don't seem particularly enthusiastic when we travel to yet another graveyard to transcribe the gravestones! The clue is the children shouting, in unison, "Awww, Daaaaad, not another graveyard!" I don't know what is the matter with them.....!!