If you have family in Suffolk, the VGS library will be a happy place to visit. I did cast my eye briefly over the registers from St. Margaret's Church in Lowestoft, where one branch of my family lived for a time during the Napoleonic Wars, but I didn't see them mentioned. The small group who showed me the library included Jessica Veinot, the president and a computer whiz, and Sharon Bodard, the librarian, who devotes twenty hours a week of her own time to keeping the VGS library in tip-top condition. Sharon and her husband, Bedford Bates, are retirees who spend a lot of time travelling. They have been to every place of origin they know of for both their families.
Every place has a story, too.
Sharon's Newfoundland roots are Irish. A newspaper index pointed her to the very farm in Ireland where her Holden family originated. She and Bedford went to the hotel in the village and asked after the farm. The hotelier pointed out the window and across a field. There followed a week of joyful meetings with Holden relations and soaking up the atmosphere of an Irish village.