Hundred

One of my passions is genealogy - I've delved into my family tree on and off for most of my adult life.

The search has centred mainly on Derbyshire and Lancashire and I've discovered inventors, soldiers, rogues and a barmaster, who is the King's or Queen's representative administering a lead mining district.

It has been helped by having a rare surname, although that can occasionally lead you to draw false conclusions about people with the same name who 'must' be related.

This hobby had sparked an interest in social history and that, in turn, has led me to study the way society has been structured over the centuries and the maps that go with it.

This map shows 'hundreds', or the smaller administrative divisions of a larger region. There are various theories about how the name came to be used - an area that had to provide 100 armed men, for example, or a hundredth of a territory or an area with 100 homes.

Anyway, they were replaced by a different subdivision in the 19th century.

As I arrive at my own hundred, I'd like to think my humble blip offerings might be of some tiny use to any future researchers, although I wouldn't want to make them sound like some precious record.

It's been a fun, if frequently challenging, 100 days. I was introduced by my friend net and I told her I'd never be able to blip every day. Well, somehow I've managed it. I've also seen some fabulous photography by fellow blippers and read some marvllous writing. It has been one of the most enriching sites I've found on the internet.

So here's to the next 100... and beyond. Thanks to anyone reading this for your interest in my work.