I have been interested in researching my family tree for many years but because of work and other commitments found it difficult to devote much time to it and that time was mostly spent on researching my maternal line as that was based around Oxford which is where I live.

Like many people, I didn’t ask the right questions at the right time of my parents so had very little information on my Emptage family history, only that they originated from Kent, where I was born, and that my Grandfather worked as a groom before working on the railways.

I am a collector of military medals and in early 2013 I received an email from David Emptage in Australia who had spotted something I had posted on a website in 2009 asking about a medal awarded to a Lifeboat man called George Emptage. We exchanged emails and found where I fitted into the Emptage family tree. It turned out David was my third cousin and he told me so much about the Emptages of Kent that I had never known before.

He also alerted me to an event in Margate, the dedication of a new memorial commemorating the loss of lifeboat men including two Emptages. I attended that event and it was wonderful to meet several other cousins I didn’t know existed.

Until the contact from David I was not in contact with or even aware of any members of the Emptage family except for my siblings but in the space of a few weeks a whole new world had opened up. I looked at the unbelievably extensive research completed by David and Susan and was amazed by the diverse and interesting range of characters who make up the Emptage family tree.

I was born in Ashford in Kent in 1953 and moved to Kidlington near Oxford in 1955. I worked for many years in the Automotive industry ending up as a project manager before leaving in 2010 to concentrate on my new role as an councillor. I left this role in late 2014.

Interests are family history research, military history, medal collecting and travel.

Lineage:

Henry Emptage 1737 and Anne Peal 1736-1812
John Emptage 1765 and Sarah Impet 1765-1819
William Emptage 1811-1887 and Elizabeth Watson 1815-1897
John Emptage 1844-1915 and Emily Haskell 1847-1933
Harry Emptage 1884-1963 and Clara Tucker 1874-1946