Signposts

Short explanatory notes on the terminology, conventions and background knowledge that come up repeatedly across this family history — separate from the people and events themselves, but useful context for understanding them.

• Understanding Family Generations — how quickly ancestor numbers grow, and what a generation means in years
• Understanding Cousins — first, second, and "removed" cousins explained, with a family example
• A Note on the Spelling of Renals — what the family's own documents show about how the surname was spelled, and when