THE TEAM of professional writers who will work for you, is led by journalist and author Terry Manners, who was formerly Editor-in-Chief of Express Newspapers in Scotland and latterly Editor of the Western Daily Press.

Terry, who won the Variety Club’s World Media Award for helping sick and needy children, has written seven books for major publishers, including the hugely successful Secrets of a Professional Punter (the life story of millionaire gambler Alex Bird); Rhys, The Fight For Life (the family story of a little boy’s battle against Batten’s Disease) and Deadlier Than The Male  (life stories of female serial killers).

Terry, Group Publishing Editor of the Press Association of Great Britain, says:

“Often, when I flick back through pictures in my family albums, I am filled with deep regret that I will never know much about my ancestors, their hopes and aspirations, their joys and disasters. I wish I had a time-capsule of their time on Earth. The other writers in the team feel the same way and that is why we have got together to help families record their history for generations to come.”

Below is just the beginning of the original manuscript that launched the website we have developed for YOU. The authentic words, written in longhand and reproduced here in type,  is the story of a good man, driven by memories. It gave me, and the team, all the inspiration to publish YOUR story, YOUR biography … for YOUR family and YOUR friends.

This is the captivating story of a grandfather, who passed away with his memories as grandfathers do. It has become a true record of his life for his great, great grandchildren and we are privliged to publish an extract on this popular website. It is a fascinating insight into the history of the time.

By William Spearman Woodruffe Saunders.
Born 26.03.1901.

<Click here to open a sample of this story as it might look published. Requires Adobe Reader.>

The first 40 years of my life I spent reflecting on what I might do,
The second 40 years, I have spent reflecting on what I did not do.

As I grew older, I often thought that I would have liked to have known much more about my parents than I did when I was young. Today, as I write this, I wonder if my children will feel the same way. Perhaps they won’t … but anyway, here is my story.

In my mind, there is nothing exciting in what I write about my life; nothing achieved in a famous sense; nothing explored; nothing invented … and as my children and grandchildren know, I never obtained high office. I was just a cog in a very large wheel, as many millions of every generation are. But I think I did manage to obtain and keep the love of my family. So maybe that is something worthwhile. They will be the judge of that.

Here then, in 1980, when I start this story, is what I remember.

(Notes: Queen Victoria died January 1901. King Edward, 1902-10. Boer War South Africa  (1899-1902, war over land and gold)). Soldiers’ pay one shilling (5p) a day.

A POEM STARTS:

‘I remember, I remember the little house where I was born,
The little window where the sun came peeping in at morn …’

I CANNOT remember the little house or even the street, I only gather it was somewhere in Fulham, on the outskirts of London, therefore, a good wind blowing in the right direction, meant that the sound of Bow Bells could be heard, making me a Cockney … probably not, but that is what I thought.

The date was the 26th of March, 1901, a Tuesday it was. But there couldn’t have been much rejoicing over my arrival as my little sister Eulalia had died three days before. She was lying dead in the house awaiting her funeral when I plopped into the world.

(Notes: she is buried in same grave as my parents in Old Fulham Cemetery, Fulham Palace Road. My mother, 29 years of age in 1909 and my father, 66 in 1943).