The Shiels Family Branches Begin to Grow
With the ten-generation direct line in place, attention turned to the other branches of the Shiels family. These families were an important part of the story and helped show how widely the descendants of our Scottish ancestors eventually spread.
New pages were added for several major branches, including George Shiels (1810) and three brothers of John Shiels — Thomas Shiels (1819), George Shiels (1828) and William Shiels (1833). Their descendants carried the Shiels story into different parts of Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, while other members of the family remained in Scotland.
Each branch was developed around people whose stories helped preserve our connection to that part of the family. Ruby Shiels, Bill Ford and David French became important links in telling those stories and in preserving information that might otherwise have been lost.
Adding these branches transformed Shiels.ca from the story of one direct line into a much broader picture of the Shiels family and its descendants.