About

Hi, I’m Ross Gerring.

I was born in the UK in 1968, departed in 1993, and since 1997 I’ve been calling Australia home.

My interest in family history, and Gerring family history in particular, didn’t begin until the late 1990’s when I was about 30 years old. I was already well into the Internet by then, and I was fascinated by the ability to conduct meaningful genealogical research from the comfort of my own armchair.

It’s my main (only?!) hobby because:

  • I like history, and helping to discover and preserve it for future generations.
  • The challenge. My paternal grandmother referred to my grandfather, Alfred George Gerring, as “the best of a bad bunch”. So he had siblings! Who were they? How bad where they?!
  • I have my own offspring. Who are we all descended from? What’s their story?
  • Mild OCD: a need to fill in the blanks.

I’m not a very regular researcher because I have a wife, kids, and my own small business to keep me on my toes. It’s about snatching a few hours here, and a few hours there. Sometimes I’ll go hard for a one weekend, and then I’ll do nothing for 3 months or more. Often the trigger for re-starting is some sort of information breakthrough that opens up a whole new line of research possibilities.

I love receiving messages from other people offering up potentially useful information, or asking Gerring-related questions.