Genealogy Chat

Hello Suzanne, If I hadn't progressed sideways and downwards on other branches then I would never have discovered photos of my direct ancestors that were passed down those branches. I now have photos of great great ancestors that I would not have had if I had stopped (given up?) too early. Regards, Andy

I'm sure I read somewhere that the two most common uses of the web are for genealogy and sex. Errrrmmmm....personally, I'd rather stick with genealogy (although that doesn't mean there haven't been a few saucy stories!!) Seriously, I agree with all the above. I can't ever see my research being at an end, even though I doubt I'll add many more names to my tree. I think of my research like a long walk. I know where the main path is and I can get back to it if I want. Every so often I find something really interesting, so I stop and look around. Sometimes I take a complete rest and other times, it seems like I'm running because so much information comes thick and fast. The list of topics I've become interested in is endless! Individual villages, non-conformism, lacemaking, fishing, women's education, agriculture in the 18th century, etc. etc............ And, as somebody above wrote, most of it can be found without leaving the house!

Yes, Wills are wonderful! I have one dated 1559, which waffles on about who shall have what - a lot to give away - but finishes with 'But to my son Christopher, the sum of one penny, as I have already paid 200 guineas to bring him into the Country' Oooh, whatever had Christopher been up to, and where? Another speaks volumes between the lines - ten children, but the Will leaves everything to one (illegitimate) grandson, except 'my bed and my bedhangings and my pillows and a gray cover and a horsehair mattress and a woolen overmattress, to my daughter (mother of the illegitimate child) WHO HATH NEED OF IT. (LOL!) Olde Crone

Wills are brilliant if your family left them. The best one Ive found of my lot she was well, a bit of a goer, shacked up with a man three times her age, had two kids by him, he died, left her lots of dosh and then she did the same again. Thanks to her business acumen (!?) a number of my ancestors had graves and headstones paid for by her and her daughter and she obviously left a lot of property to her two children. But interestingly, especially back then 1840 - she left her daughter in charge of all the dosh to be dolled out to the son. Must have been a bit untrustworthy. The lovely thing was too that she listed all her brothers and sisters, their spouses and some of the children plus their jobs and where they lived. Bless you Bridget.

My most interesting recent information has come from wills. These can be obtainable on line. One from 1623 includes a bequest to Mary Shepherd of 'one milke kiver, one woollen twine, one frying panne, one payre of wool cardes and one payle. One peticote, one pillowe, one white apron, and one smock. Kathlene Hope her goddaughter gets 'my youngest cowe, one pewter platter, one pottinger, and one boarde clothe, This sort of thing really brings your ancestors to life.

If you're really, really wanting a web-based hobby then how about volunteering to transcribe for one of the many sites that tirelessly work on our behalf?

Hi Michelle, To answer your question in how to take your research from just births deaths and marriages and the census I did the following. If someone died a long way from home, I was curious! I used to send for the death certificates and sometimes I would discover they had died in a lunatic asylum!! I could then send for their records from the local record office and read all about them. One lot of medical records even had a photo. I am always suspicious when people are missing from a census. I lost one of my rellies but noticed his children were in a workhouse. I went to Norfolk Record Office and looked up the workhouse admissions only to find the children were in the workhouse because their father had been transported for 7 years to Australia for larceny! I came across my great-great-grand uncle being a witness at a murder trial in a magazine and then went to the Norfolk Millennium Library in Norwich to look up newspaper accounts of the trial. You don't find out the really intersting stuff until you visit record offices or send for military records or look up newspaper stories or send for medical records etc. Always send for death certificates if someone died young - they could have died in an accident or mysterious circumstances and then you will have coroners reports to look at or if they aren't available, newspaper reports. If you notice that any of your relatives are policeman, you can usually access their records. I did this and then found out my relative had previously been in the Coldstream Guards in the Crimean War. The Census and BMD certs will only take you so far, it's the records you can access after getting clues from Death certificates and the census that really puts the flesh on the bones of your family history skeleton. Cheers and good luck! Horatia

Well, after over 18 years researching, I am nowhere near having finished my tree! Each new nugget of information that I find throws up further questions and puzzles to be solved. To try and get further back and prove that people moved into an area, I've had years of fun charting all the people of a particular surname in East Yorkshire -they are all descended from my direct ancestor. I know an awful lot about the previous inhabitants of the village where I live, having gone through all the censi, parish registers, archives at the local record office and anything else I can lay my hands on. But perhaps this is why my tree is 'still unfinished' !! Jay

hi all i'm very new to this and am very interested in all your stories of what you have found out about your families. my research so far is just on the available websites where i am finding birth marriage death etc info. how do you take the research further and find out all the interesting stuff!!! thanks michelle

It's the sideways bits that are interesting and which lead to new contacts. If I stuck to my direct line then I would have included Mary Ann Laidler, wife of John Gorrod, and my gggrandmother. But what make it interesting is that she died in 1849 and John married her sister Emma in 1851, which at that time would have been illegal. Mary Ann died in the cholera epidemic, which until I got her death certificate I knew nothing of (but Google put that right). John married again in 1855, I still have to find what happened to Emma. John's daughter Jane married my ggrandfather Alfred Worboys in 1869. But Jane's sister Ann Alice married a James Worboys in the same year. Were the brothers or cousins? I don't know yet. It'll probably take me the rest of my life to find out. But I'm hooked!

Thanks for that Merry! We are probably of a similar vintage. I have had it on my mobile too but ignored it at the time. Cheers and Happy New Year, Diane

Diane, Sorry!! LOL = Lots of laughs - well, that's what I always think of when I type it (have a feeling the first L is actually something else, but it's totally polite!!). There are a lot of more unsavory ones, that I don't use!! The most frequent one that crops up is ''pmsl'' which is ''p****d myself laughing'' There are hundreds altogether - you will see a lot more on the General Board....there's a list on here somewhere, but can't remember the thread title. They mostly originate from text messaging on mobile 'phones, but I'm too old for all that (as you can tell by my apostrophy before the word ''phone'' LOL - Oops sorry!!) UPDATE - It's Laugh Out Loud!!! I always get these things wrong!!!! Merry x

This is nothing to do with the subject matter although I have picked up a lot of tips from your answers but I am unfamiiar with the 'lol' that keeps appearing in script all over the place. It is 23 years since I left England and this is a new one on me! What does LOL mean? Thanks all!!!

LOL Olde Crone.........you should right a book of Family History Snippets Merry

If I had decided to stick to my direct ancestors, then I would still be sat here with a handful of people going back to 1859 and no further. Fortunately, I cannot resist a sideways step, and because of that I have found three main lines going back into the mists of unrecorded time in the same small village and I know all their secrets! (Well, possibly not all....I'm still snooping) Another line took me back to 1187. They were a wordy lot and left a wonderful paper trail for me to follow. I know about the family feud which resulted in a Court Case which lasted over 70 years, to sort out the rightful ownership of ONE field! I know all about my grand, landed Ancestor, who was virtually Lord of the Manor, was a Vicar and the local Poor Relief Officer. He had at least seven illegitimate children and had to take out Bastardy Orders against himself! I even found what must be surely only the SECOND divorce ever to be granted in England, in 1601 - much slinging of mud and washing of dirty linen in public! The divorce cost £400 and there was a further fine on each party of £250 each - an absolute fortune in 1601. So, how can you SAY you've finished????? Olde Crone

I remember saying I had nearly completed my tree several years ago. Since then I have discovered living rellies, photos, family bible, and visited places where family lived. Been doing it now for 30 years and just getting the hang of it. Thought for years my gg grandad was a gasman from Worcester, found out some weeks ago that he took part in the charge of the light brigade, was injured and received several medals. They always surprise you. You could try online chess. Ellen X

Sometimes you just have to go sideways. I have just been sent some 17th and 18th century wills from distant ancestors. These contains nuggets such as my kettle not my best nor my worst to Mary Sheppard and my five silver teaspoons from my uncle the earl of .. to the five daughters of ....

Maybe you could do something linked to your family history, rather than your actual tree? Maybe several people came from one village? You could investigate the village and learn about how all the inhabitants lived at a specific date......Source an old map, plot people from a census on it.....look at their occupations and how the village operated......... how has it changed today etc etc Loads of things like this can be done without getting off your bum.....though it would be sensible to choose somewhere nearby if possible, just in case you get the urge to visit! Merry

Hi Suzanne, I couldn't agree more, with Horatia comments, go sideways, backwards anyway you want. there is so much that you have missed/lost by going 'straight'...I have been doing my tree for 6 years now, and have over 2000 people on it, I don't think I have even touched the edge. I have found family in Australia, Canada, America, and a lovely second cousin, who I never knew about, and she is a best friend to me now..........Put your tree on the Web, as suggested, and you will get loads of requests/replies/can you help me? etc. Have you written a book about your family, filled it with photographs, stories etc. you could go on with this tree lark forever, really lol....anyway,.good luck in what ever you decided to do.........Lilly

Hi Suzanne, You don't know what you are missing. Most of the exciting events in my family history happened to my great-great grandfather's brothers. One was a witness at a murder trial and the other got transported to Western Australia! If I had stayed on my direct line it would have been VERY boring. My great-great-grandfather died in his bed aged 60 of bronchitis yawn zzzzzzz! Not a patch on the excitement of his brothers lives and I now have new relatives that I didn't know about in Western Australia! One of them even sent me a nice calendar for the New Year! Go sideways, you might even discover some of your direct line living in their cousins or aunts homes! Cheers, Horatia