Welcome to my family history website!  In October 2005 I took the work compiled throughout his life by my father, Alexander Sandison (1914-1990), and set up this database.  He had concentrated mainly on the Sandisons of Shetland his paternal grandfather having moved away from Unst to become a Congregational minister in London in 1880.

    I have been adding branches to the tree to include the families of my other three grandparents: Gold, Roscoe, and Struthers; my husbands' families: Mainland, MacIver, Horner, and Mitchell; and those of my first cousins: Mackay, Orton, and Rickson; as well as many "cousins of cousins".  This has taken me up and down many times and out to the tips of some very distant twigs.  I've also worked on some trees for a few friends although, intriguingly, one of them now has a direct link to my own.

    So far, there are almost 50,000 individuals listed on the database and the number is increasing all the time.  They range from kings and queens through notable people such as H G Wells, Beatrix Potter, and the Pankhursts.

    Although I obviously cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, I have tried to stick to facts which can be substantiated elsewhere and am concentrating on building up the connections and extending the tree.

    I use various online resources for my research and, to aid this, I have partial trees on Genes Reunited as well as on Ancestry where the annual subscription allows unlimited exploration.  I also had unlimited access to the 1911 census through a dedicated subscription with Find My Past until it became available on Ancestry.

    Anyone who is seeking Shetland families in general should visit the comprehensive Shetland Family History website run by Tony Gott.

    Another aspect of family tree research is the growing availability of DNA tests but I am compelled to put that on a back burner as it is quite expensive.  Those who are interested might want to go here: 23andMe's Personal Genome Service.

Anne Horner - Scotland, Feb 2013