Genealogy Chat

KimKat could look after drinks?

Take a like minded friend along to bounce ideas off of saves you talking to yourself all the time

Oooh, just had a thought (talk of the H & W 'team' reminded me) You will find H & W team will of course be trying to look in the same fiche drawers as you. To ensure either free access to said drawers, or a quick removal of said 'team' from'your ' drawers, eat lots of raw garlic before you go, so you can speak to them up close as and when necessary. Alternatively, if you have no desire to speak to anyone, you could try wearing no deodorant thereby allowing you to raise your arms at the appropriate moment - anything to ensure you get to the drawers!! maggie

The worst 'family from hell' I encountered consisted of a woman in her very early twenties and her poor grandmother, whom she was berating loudly and at length for having given her slightly incorrect information. Eventually young woman phoned her mother, evidently to come and collect granny, but instead mum decided to stay and 'help' so that they got into a three-way slanging match over the microfiches! Then there was the guy who had brought two older female rellies along and was trying to tell them to start their search for a marriage twenty years before the first known child was born, and work forwards! He didn't appear to be doing any of the actual looking himself, just directing things. I was so tempted to go over and butt in to tell them not to waste their time! I am sure they would have got done much quicker if he hadn't been there! Kate.

I dont mind volunteering as the 'distractor' - you know when you want to nick at least half a dozen boxes from the drawer instead of your allocated two. Well this dozey middle aged woman could sit just in front of the drawers and when you give her the nod, her roll of film will accidently unwind right across the floor. This will give the old crones a chance to tut tut and the 75 year old randy old anoraks a chance to impress the middle aged beauty by running after said film and retrieving it - meanwhile you can have the local FHS transcribed marriages tucked up the front of your anorak and the particular parish you always wanted to look at but theres only 5 mins left now, down the front of your lycra trousers. Id be good at it - had the practice.

Keith and Meercat HAVE to go together!!!

Re husband and wife teams - dont you just expect Roy and Hayley Cropper to turn up one day?

I refuse to be 'volunteered' again,and am taking a huge step backwards as you read this. Anyhow i can't be very incognito in my outfit. glen

Please see Keith's list..... who is going to volunteer?? (and for which post?) Salary to be negotiated (bloater paste sandwiches to be deducted) Merry

Hmmm ! I think that the next time I go to the Chelmsford RO I'll take Meercat with me. For she is more warming than any Arctic Survival Kit. Well it seems to me that you have now got the dress code well and truly sorted Merry. But what about making sure that you get the most from your visit ? You need to assemble an expert team to make full use of your precious time..................... For starters ; Two Research Assistants who will help you to ensure that you view every record that you have on your list. A Secretary to keep all your findings in some semblance of order and save you ploughing through copious piles of notes when you get home. A Translator to help you unravel the mysteries of the foreign language that administrators used so obsessively all those years ago. An Archivist to enlighten you about long forgotten terms such as Strap Slingers and ( dare I mention it ) ......Beaver Blowers. A Personal Trainer to ease the headache that you will surely get from viewing all those illegible microfilms and keep you at peak fitness for the even more arduous microfiche ordeals. A Therapist to help you maintain your enthusiasm for the richly rewarding pastime that you have signed up to. And your own Personal Chef............. so that you can have your meals 'in house', and not suffer the indignity of popping out for a sandwich and coming back to find that some trumped up amateur family historian has nicked your seat !!!!!! Happy hunting My Friend

What I would advise is not to go dressed like the staff. She - waist length greasy dark hair, streaked with grey. Long thin make-up-free face, long skirt, opaque tights, close fitting dull cardigan, shapeless plain blouse - a sort of dull hippy look. He - woollen waistcoat & dickie-bow. Non-descript other than that. Both of them using their posh voices, talking enthusiastically about council policies on something or other - scowling continuously and keen to kick you out 10 minutes before closing. Wear a smile and put everything back where you found it tidily. Winds 'em up every time when you've flourescent pink hair and an inch of goth make-up. Lol.

This thread has had me laughing out loud. It's the funniest one I've read for such a long time :) Thanks to you all :) :) joanne *sneakily hiding her pack-a-mac behind the sofa*

.......... or Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson ?

Oh, I really AM laughing out loud......!!!!! So many of you have fantastic descriptive powers! Does that come from studying family history, or something else, or is it just chance?? Heather's Americans are spot on (sorry anyone reading this from over the pond.....I know you are not all like that, but it's only the American's like Heather describes that we notice! LOL) The tips covering the husband and wife team are great (esp the Indian Rope Trick!) I had the pleasure of a H & W team at my local library the other week.......He sat at a table looking at Trade Directories and she popped back and forth to the shelf (25 yards away) collecting the next volume........ ''I think 1927 first'' ''Pardon, dear?'' ''PLEASE BRING 1927'' ''That one is missing'' ''PARDON??'' ''THAT ONE IS MISSING'' ''is that 1927 that's missing??'' ''PARDON??'' ''1927???'' ''NO, THAT ONE'S MISSING'' Aaaaggggghhhh!! Merry

Oh, and NO PENS!!! Not allowed. Pencils only. Daisy

Well in Cambridge bicycle clips, courdroy and patches on your elbows are essential, but if you sit on the left hand side you may want to wear less as it gets very hot through the large windows! I just wear whatever I need to be wearing that day. If I'm in London I'm usually meeting someone for lunch so will look quite smart and business-like but it's not very practical for hefting heavy books around and you do tend to stick out like a sore thumb. Don't forget your anorak. That, by the way, was an instruction from my kids to me the first time I went! Daisy

MERRY, I THINK YOU SHOULD WEAR A LONG GREEN PARKER AND COURDOROYS, ISN'T THAT WHAT ALL TREE HUGGERS WEAR? BEV

Of course if you're going to the FRC you simply MUST take a toddler and a baby in buggy to keep everyone amused with their incredibly short boredom threshold. However, when visiting Hertfordshire archives I can only suggest a swimming cossie as they don't have air conditioning and the building is always 20C above that of most maternity wards.

Michael, I think maybe Batman

Hi Merry I would recommend a long coil of stout rope. (You can smuggle it in wound round your middle underneath the long baggy cardie, a few more inches won't matter surely). You will need this rope to attach to the chair at your fiche reader, because the husband-and-wife researchers at the next machine will kidnap your chair every time you stand up to fetch another fiche/go to the loo/have something to eat/sneak back to the lockers for a swig of the gin which you will of course have packed in your kitbag. H-and-W will be so engrossed they won't notice the trailing rope. When you get back to your fiche reader (now chairless), you just give the rope a sharp tug et voila. Works every time. Oh, and I would borrow a large hearing aid so that, should they be so discourteous as to object, you can pretend you can't hear them. Tina