Genealogy Chat

I agree Cynthia, the Google facilities, especially street view, are a really useful way of looking at those places we can't get to.

have also followed some of OH's family in the area where his father grew up .......

................. the family had been there for a couple of hundred years

It is good to be able to use online maps and images to see how it is now and imagine how it used to be once upon a time. :)

Oops! I must first apologise as I said that I would write about the importance to me of Fingrinhoe in Essex and did not do so.

Fingrinhoe is a small place in Essex England. My maternal Grandparents lived there for many years, during the second WWband left when they needed to be near to my mum and family.

Fingrinhoe is a very old place and has a very church which is worth visiting. The Vicar is always so helpful as are the locals. There is a school next to the Church and my older sister went to school there during WW2 and her and our mum lived with our grandparents. My mothers' only son died 4 hours after birth due to him being so premature. Because he was not Babtised he could, at the time, not be entered in holy ground, but the vicar allowed him to be buried next to the side wall on the left hand side as one walks to the church from the road.

Last year a person who lives in the same place as me in Spain went to Fingrinhoe to visit his daughter, told her about what I have just written and he spoke to the vicar who gave him a copy of the death and burial. People are so kind.

Re maps. I spent hours yesterday googling for maps for my family tree as it was dreadful weather here. Wow what a fantastic thing to add.

Bridget :-)

One's personal journey of genealogy / family history / call it what you will, can contain such a mixture of facts and varying emotions; of sheer joy and excitement, and of tears and grief, for one's self and for others.

I have experienced all of that; at times from reading books and magazines and from exploring sites in the internet, at others from discoveries that put absolute joy into my mind and heart, and from personally treading in their footsteps.

I've really enjoyed reading people's journeys on this thread, well done Joy.

My paternal grandfather Billy died the year before I was born and dad's side of the family didn't talk much about the family. All I knew was Billy came from a place called Ballyhooly in Ireland and his parents had a pub.

By the time I got round to starting family research all that side of the family was long gone and there was no one to ask. I'd pieced together info from certificates, and found the family on the Irish census (in the pub!) and got some baptisms, etc but it didn't mean a lot, it was just paper.

A couple of years ago I decided on a whim that I'd go to Ballyhooly (which is in County Cork) just to see what it was like. Well, my first surprise was that the great grandparents pub is still there (it features on pubs of Ireland posters). Dropped my bags at the B&B and went straight to the pub. Explained to the (extremely old) landlord why I was there and I got the second surprise - he had known my great grandmother (who died 1934) and he knew my grandfather's brothers (all long gone) but he hadn't known Billy as he'd "had to leave Ireland". He told me many tales about the family.

Word got round that I was in the village and someone came to the B&B with a book for me in which the family were mentioned. They were well known for their political affiliations, apart from having the pub.

I got to go to the church where my great grandparents married in 1875 and where the children were baptised. I found my great-grandmother's grave, along with those of Billy's siblings. I sat on great gran's grave and had a good chat with her, telling her about myself, my brother, my father, etc.

The few days I was there has given me a whole different perspective on that part of the family, they are now real people to me.

Ballyhooly is a beautiful place and it was overwhelming walking along the Blackwater river bank knowing billy and his family had walked there too.

Not only did I walk in their footsteps, I drank in their pub!

I don't have to go far to see where my Gr grandfather arrived in NZ.. he turned 4 on the way over from Glasgow... his family settled there, where they were given plots of land by the government of the day.

Passengers from another ship the Resolute arrived a few months later and on that was a little girl of five; twentyfour years later they married.

This is a plaque of the landing of the Viola and a bit about the voyage.

http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM90YP_Passengers_on_the_Viola_Clevedon_New_Zealand

Persie

Just re-reading.

Thank you for all of your "journeys".

only in the parish church graveyard whilst looking for them.

I must admit when I go to Greece and see the old site's and relic's (I do not mean other holiday maker's) I find it amazing how they built such wonderful building's. being in places that you have learned about in history for example Olympia home of the game's .

Unbeknown to me I used to walk in the street where my Mum lived as a child. I had friends in the area and my loveliest times were around there. I didn't find out where she had lived until after she'd died.
I have traced my tree back to Lady Jane Grey and beyond and with living in Leicester, I have been able to visit Bradgate Park many times and walked in the ruins.

Just had a wonderful week in Devon visiting all the villages my paternal family came from and seeing some of the places they lived and where they were buried. In the early days the family had money and lived in some beautiful houses, the main one now being a slightly run down hotel. We were also able to glean some information from gravestones that we hadn't found elsewhere.

Spent one day at the record office where we were able to photograph dozens of old documents relating to the family. The earliest one was 1580 and I got a real shiver down the spine handling it and realising that Elizabeth 1 was on the throne when it was written. I did have a silent prayer "This document has been around for more than 430 years; please don't let me be the one to damage it".

A great week all round.

Hi Joy. I have been away from GR for a while and just rediscovered your wonderful thread, so thought I would add another tale.

I went over to Ireland in 2012 to see the village where my Nan's family were from. Not only did I see the village and the immaculately kept family graves in the churchyard, but I also met a family who were neighbours of my lot! They invited me back to their house, plied me with tea and scones, and told me a lot about my family.

They then took me to see the actual house my family lived in from about 1900 to 1980 - it is a ruin now but I was able to walk inside and see the sewing machine, the stove, a bed and some other household bits they would have used. It was a wonderful experience.

Walking back to the car, my guides suddenly stopped and pointed to a spot on the side of the road and said:

"Sure, that'll be where your great great granddad collapsed and died, now."

You don't get that sort of information from a death certificate! :D

Matthew

Thank you :)

Once again I have enjoyed reading the latest additions to this thread...more wonderful stories :-)
.....just love it !!!

P.S. And a useful reminder to get back on to googlemaps until I am able to personally visit all the places I want to.

I walk in the footsteps of my paternal line almost daily - my Dad's family go back centuries in this village and I walk on the pavements my Dad would have used to go to infant's school - it's a lovely feeling

I can walk past the site of the house where he was born, walk alongside the canal where he learned to swim and walk through the woods where he and his siblings used to play as children

I have walked in the footsteps of one ancestor without even knowing it....because I only discovered his bit of history 2 days ago and have since been researching.

Whilst we lived in Cairo (for almost 4 years) hubby and I frequently visited one hotel in particular (bar and restaurants) because a) it was just across the road from our apartment, b) it's a particularly nice hotel and c) I always felt drawn to it. It's an old hotel and has, thankfully, been allowed to retain its splendour of years ago. Anyway, back to the ancestral tale.
I found that my g.g.grandfather's brother, one of a well known family of Thames boatbuilders, expanded his business in the 1880's and had a branch in Cairo. His offices were in that very hotel. And the port from which his boats were exported was on the opposite side of the river to the hotel, in an area that I know quite well (although the port is long gone from there now).

Isn't it a small world!!! :-)

I have just got back from Newcastle. My dad was born in Gateshead. I started this family researching about 4 years ago but since I have now found out so much more I went back again.. Took a selfie in from of the house dad and granddad was born in.. took photos of some other homes the family rented.. sadly one is now a derelict factory and another one a park.. but it was great.... I also went to Prudhoe Castle where one of the relatives lived... Great weather,, very interesting.. now just need the time to look at all the photos and match it all up....
Kim :-)

I researched OH's family a few years ago and found thay he came from a fairly wealthy family.
When the parents died in 1846, their entire estate was left to their youngest son.
He was already a successful business man who then bought a very large business, complete with 2 substantial houses and all of the surrounding land.
The business was destroyed by fire in 1882, but about 5years ago, I discovered that the main house where he lived, still stood.
It has since been converted into 4 new dwellings

OH and I found it on a map and although it wasn't exactly easy to locate, we did eventually find it and took photos.

In April of this year, my daughter and her OH bought their first home in that town.
I was certain that her house was near to the big house that we photographed, but OH insisted that it was on the other side of the town.

Today, I was at my daughter's house, helping her to hang curtains.
I just happened to glance out of her bedroom window... and there it was.
The big house sits two streets behind hers!

My daughter has bought a house, on original land that her ancestral uncle owned, almost 150 years before!

Could be of interest for new readers.

Joy

Thanks for the bump and it was lovely reading the names of the old posters...Those were the days :-D

My Dad's tree is quite impressive but poor Mums :-(

Thanks to my OH I had the opportunity to spend a few days at a record office, of my choice, so I decided to try for Mum's Essex lot. This was way before Seax online!

Having spent 2 days at the RO scrolling through parish register microfilms OH and I, bossed eyed, then spent a day grave hunting.

The RO research was an absolute success, the grave hunting less so, but visiting my ancestral villages was priceless :-D

Chris