The time for change

The last few months have been a very busy time. I had the great opportunity to make a very enjoyable visit to Australia for the Second Conference on Jewish Genealogy. The people I met were great, the country was beautiful and the memories will never be forgotten. I was even able to meet new relatives, a totally unexpected benefit.
In addition to travel, I have been kept very busy with the addition of new records into the Knowles Collection. In January the collection was increased to 75,000 records and now a few short months later the next update will take the total to well over 100,000 individuals. What once began as a way to document some family who were buried at Willesden (photo above) has now streched over the borders of many countries. It is this growth that is forcing changes to be made.
As people have found their families they have also been sending additional records to me for inclusion in the collection. For example, a few hundred individuals, list their birth place as being Frankfort on Main, Germany. Now those records are being transcribed and added. Also some of the early settlers of Charleston, South Carolina were Jewish merchants from London. The burial records of these people have now also been added.
While this has been great for the growth of the collection, it has forced some changes in the collection. The Jews of the British Isles have been and always will be the foundation of the collection, yet as the collection goes worldwide the time has come for The Knowles Collection to reflect that growth. From this day forward the Knowles Collection will now be made up of 5 different databases; The Jews of the British Isles; The Jews of the Americas; The Jews of Europe, The Jews of the Caribbean and The Jews of Africa and the Orient.