Doodson people.

Genealogists (or people called Doodson) start here

Several years ago I had the idea that this web site should be mostly a genealogical one - with lots of family trees and details about how various branches of the Doodson family moved about and separated over the centuries. But that all proved too difficult and time-consuming. Until November 2007 all there was relating to the Doodson family name was a page about one relatively famous member of our family, the late Arthur Doodson, and some links to other people called Doodson, not related to us (at least not in an obvious family tree way), from around the world and the world-wide web. These pages are still here, and the links page will be maintained as more people called Doodson get in touch.

But partly inspired by the BBC TV programme "Who do you think you are?" and partly because of the continuing contacts from Doodsons from around the world I've beefed up this section of the site, so if you're here to find out more about the Doodson family name you've come to a decent treasure trove of information.

What's here?
Genealogy tips: I've learned a lot from my genealogical research so I've done a page to share some tips on how to do it. It's terribly easy to waste a lot of time doing family history research and while my tips might make your time more efficient and less frustrating I definitely cannot guarantee they will lessen the time you spend doing it - genealogy is incredibly addictive!

A brief history of the Doodson family name: The Doodson name appears to have originated in the north west part of England, specifically in the area just south of Bolton. Although there are pockets of Doodsons in other parts of Britain, many of these can trace their family history to forebears who lived in places like Kearsley, Farnworth. Radcliffe, Leigh, Boothstown, Pendlebury, as well as Liverpool, Glossop and North Cheshire.

Family trees: I've had a number of family trees given to me over the years - all the fruits of individual research into someone's particular branch of the Doodson world. I've attempted to track some of these further back, using on-line resources, and I've made these available, along with a short narrative about the branch. This section is potentially a life's work and will be work-in-progress, with updates as and when I find the time and more provable links. I've not been able to achieve the holy grail of genealogists (no, not the one about tracing yourself back to royalty!) so these trees remain separate and there's no identifiable/provable common ancestor. One day, perhaps...