About two years ago I started rewriting the short Ewing history I'd had up for a while on my genealogy website - it had been in dire need of updating. Somehow the piece ran away with me and it's ended up being a little booklet rather than an article.

One new aspect is a deeper study of the context for my earliest-known Ewing ancestor, James Ewan, probably born sometime around 1765. I look into more branches of the family, including my discovery of an early branch that emigrated to the United States. I examine the Ewing trades a bit more closely - including linen weaving, the grocery business, and those who went to sea. Thanks to better resources for newspaper research I've been able to bring a lot more of the Ewing story to life with some of the more colourful characters who had aspects of their life reported. I also take a general look at what the Ewing DNA is able to reveal.

Writing the history helped to clarify a lot of aspects - the general movement and spread of the family groups, the importance of the trades my forebears worked in, and the backdrop of industrialisation, city life, and social mobility. It's given me a far greater understanding and appreciation of the lines and threads that weave back behind me.

While I'm aware it will have very limited appeal to most people (even my own family members!), you can have a look at it here, if you wish.

My great-grandfather, James Ewing (1882-1960)