Genealogy Chat

Ive found it very good for humility. As your tree gets bigger and you see what other people put up with or achieved it puts your own life in perspective. we are born we live we die and the process rolls on same things just done in different ways I think of a Mary ann carey who has had 15 children and died aged 45,buried unmarked down the road from me. I think of Joseph Davies who fought in the Boer War,fathered 21 children,lived through WW1 and WW2 ,and his youngest son that he fathered at the age of 62 still lives,just down the road. I think of my Great Uncle jack who at the age of 17 went to sea in 1937 and went to live in Australia,a brave move,all on his own. I think of the Tudsbury brothers working away at an oak carved cabinet in the 1800's that is now in my back room,and the other brother Walter painting away in Sherwood Forest and the work from over 100 years ago hanging in the hall. I go back to the Common wealth war graves Site now and again just to see my great grandfathers death record in 1917,buried in Gaza,aged 38,to make sure he is still there,after reading his letters in the same year to his wife beatrice whilst in the military Hospital.I think of the bridge where he last turned back to wave to her as he set off to a war that he wasnt equipped for- he was a late draft aged 37 and a draper. I look at the death record on the same site of a great uncle who died as a seargeant in WW1 aged 27- he had got married a year earlier,and his wife lillian died 6 months after he died in Gallipoli,aged 25. A very humbling project.

bought a lump to my throat alter!

SNAP Gerri, I too was born in Watford, Herts! In the Maternity Hosp in King Street. We lived in Bushey. I have to agree with you all, in that this hobby certainly makes you appreciate the life we have and the hardships our rellies had. I, too, when reading a book or watching a period drama on TV, try to work out which of my rellies was alive then, and would they have dressed like that, spoken in that way etc. I wonder if g.grandad or g.g.great auntie was around when this or that was invented. I wonder what war was on at the time. It certainly gives me food for thought and makes me constantly 'google' to find historical facts, something which I wouldn't have done otherwise. I have looked up, read about, and visited various towns, villages and counties of England which I may never have bothered visiting before. I love looking at old maps of the areas my rellies came from, trying to envisage what it was like in their day. It is a fascinating hobby. I find it so hard to understand why the rest of my (immediate) family have no interest whatsoever and audibly groan when I tell them of a new discovery. I live in hope that one day one of them will take an interest and actually WANT to know something!!!!

One really big thing I have got out of this hobby. My dad and me are very close, but he is not a 'feelings' man. We rarely have a canversation, when I call he passes me to my mum, its like he has no clue what to say to me, or I to him. But since starting this he has called me several times, we have talked on the phone for an age talking about relatives and graves. He is really into it and loves every new fact I can tell him, so that is my biggest gain from starting this

Hehe would be great if they taught this in schools instead of history, maybe kids would have more interest getting their family tree to say 1850 and then the teachers saying ok this is what happened in 1850

I now drive around my home town thinking ' What would they have thought 125 years later if they knew that I would be here doing what I'm doing - Today took Dad to hospital - 125 years ago the same buildings were the workhouse where my great great grandfather was, and now here I'am driving my brand new car, where he once saw so much poverty - I thought I wonder if he's looking down and thinking - Good on you girl, you enjoy what you've got in life, as we had very little or maybe thinking ' there goes one of mine - turned out alright they did! Joanne

i was also intrested in history , i started my family history back in the 80s i used to go down to holborn to lookthrough the books i found my grandfathers and my g/grandfathers marriage certs but at the end of the day my feet were killing me because there was no where to sit ,but then i didn't do anymore ,manly because i didn't have the money for fares and certs but the end of last year my hubby bought me my comp.now he asks me if i've got time for a cup of coffee or am i too busy poor soul i do neglect him . hazel

The first certificate I found for my great grandfather brought tears to my eyes as he had signed his X Mark. It was in the 1880's and he was a miner living in a Glasgow tenement. Subsequent generations including his children all had an excellent basic education and post WW2 have had the opportunity to go to college and university. How he would have enjoyed the books and newspapers we all take for granted. He would have been just as clever as the rest of us given a decent education. Makes you think....

A learning curve in more than 1 way