Genealogy Chat

Well I know this and old thread but since its been nudged here's my take.
My generation c 1930.s onwards didnt dare ask personal questions. Children then, the maxim was , were to be seen and not heard. My paternal gran would pay a state visit every 3/4years and we were told to say hello grandma and the nothing else. her response was a very grudging hello and then we were blanked .
How i wish i could have asked about her first husband ,my dads father, who was German and died in 1911 being washed overboard from a sailing vessel on route from Melbourne to Bremen.
Would love to know his family background and where he was born.
My Mum was a bit more forthcoming in stories in the late 1940.s when she was expecting our youngest sister and we used to sit an knit bootees in the evening for the expexted baby. Unfortunately she told some porkies too to protect names and birth/marriage dates that have cost me money and time sorting out.

Sad thing is this current generation isnt at all intererested in my family research. i see the glazed eyes when I enthuse on my latest find

Dont forget to photo copy your filled in 2011 census form and any more you can in future years.and laminate it.

I think that people approach research into their family history from a variety of angles. Don't despair if the younger generation don't seem to show much interest. After all, chances are the research was carried out for your own reasons or out of a personal love for family history. This should be reward in itself.

I guess it is human nature to take our living relatives for granted somewhat and while the younger members of our families may not show much interest now, they might do so later. Even though I was very close to my dad, there are so many questions now that I wish I could ask him. Moreover, there is so much I wish I could tell him about his ancestors that I have only found out in the 10 years since he died.

I'm sure that once the boxes of bits of information have been recorded in a legible manner,it will be there for many future generations and,who knows? perhaps the one who carries the banner forward has yet to be born!

Pam (ever the optimist!)

Pam ( ever the optimist ) ,
I think you are quite right . I never knew my Grandfather , he had scribbled down a " family tree" on a scrap of paper , in pencil with no dates or places . It "came" to me when I was 20 , I had a vague interest and kept it . Since the advent of all these records on the www I have " proved " his tree and expanded it beyond my wildest dreams .

I've written down in a folder all the little bits of information that my Mother once told me about various family members , things she was told by her parents and Grandparents , anything really to put a little flesh on their long gone bones .

I talk to all my children / Grandchildren about their ancestors ( I'm sure they roll their eyes and groan when I do ....lol ) but ....when I'm dead and gone , one of them will become the " keeper of the scrolls " .....and so it goes on .

n

Just been reading through this thread again. It really makes me wish we had spoken more to my Dad about his family before he died (over 20yrs ago) but you never think about it all when you're young.
My mum never knew her father in law and no-one ever spoke about it during 1940's.
Dad was one of 5 and his mum was widowed early in the 1930's. Her husband was one of 9 but all I know of my grandfather was that he was a chef and restaurantuer and later trained as a master carver - all in London.
I would dearly love to find out more but keep drawing a blank. Ho Hum.

hi there
It is a great idea. Have been researching for about 10 years and have just finished writing my grans story. Have about 170 A4 pages> Have looked into publishing, but alas so far have not got very far. I will keep going though. Good writing everyone. x

Nudge

Nudge

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and nudge again!

and nudge again!

Nudge

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Nudge :-)

:-)

This is a fascinating thread.

I too wished I'd started this journey earlier, fortunately I didn't leave it too late and my nan has been a great help. Understandably at 102 she now can't remember much more.

As a child, I was a ware that my paternal grandfather had been killed in the Creswell mining disaster. What I wasn't aware of was that his body wasn't recovered for 11 months, his was second to last to be recovered. How sad was that.

Chris