Welcome to the Jessep, Jessop, Jessup Family Pages
In 1995 I undertook a project to collate all of the research that my parents had gathered on our family tree with the view to publishing a family booklet that we all could enjoy, add to and pass on to our descendants. Although my parents had provided a fantastic start there were still a few unanswered questions so I also continued the research activity. Yes I had been bitten by the Genealogy bug. This required a lot of travel to gain access to resources on Microfiche or Microfilm and for the most part the information had to be transcribed as photocopy facilities were not always available. I am sad to say that I fell into the trap for Beginners of not citing the source or completely identifying where the information was found. The hard lesson learnt I made sure to fully document the source on return trips and to maximise the travel effort I began collecting any record that was connected to any spelling of our line, Jessep, Jessop, Jessup etc.
Given the effort to obtain this information I did not want to discard the detail that was not relevant to my direct family line and since many other researchers would have the same travel challenges, I decided to create a way to share this information on line. In August 1997 www.jessep.com was created with a basic set of pages to hold the information collected about Jessep, Jessop, Jessup and related names. I decided to create a page per individual and not the traditional Pedigree or Descendant maps because much of the data simply had insufficient information to make qualified relationships.
The page count quickly passed 100 (now over 1000 ) so I created my own database to generate the web pages directly allowing it to manage the inter page links to ensure a reasonable level of integrity. (as long as I have the Database correct) Initially I provided basic reference detail or Citations for the key record information like Births Deaths and Marriages and this was often only the Index ref ID that would be used to order a certificate. Originally I purchased BDM indexes on CDROM but now with more and more information available online through sites like Find My Past, Vital Records and Ancestry to name a few, more detailed information is available. This required an upgrade to the way I was presenting the Citations and I now follow the style based on Elizabeth Shown Mills Book Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace.
Like all researchers we will eventually run into a brick wall where we cannot find the information we need to prove or disprove an event. Being a technocrat I thought a Blog might be another useful way to use technology to help me and my fellow researchers’ breakdown that wall. In December 2010 www.jessep.com/blog was finally live after a number of updates.
Unlike the main database pages where I really do try to only maintain Facts with appropriate citations this blog will have all manner of ramblings “Fact and Fiction” in an effort to find that way around a roadblock. So please add comments as these tangents may well help others back up and find the better road to the answers we are all looking for. If you would like to add a topic please send me an email with the details.
I would like to acknowledge so many people who have supported this journey and provided inspiration and motivation. Without that support the database not have evolved through a number of rebuilds adding more and more functionality, the data keeps growing as I get more and more information from you the visitors who take the time to send me an email with your piece of the Jess*p puzzle. Thank you all and especially my Wife Kerri who puts up with my ramblings, and who has ably crafted the core of this web site.
Bill Jessep
Email: bill@jessep.com
Postal Address:
GPO Box 1508
Brisbane QLD 4001
Australia