Genealogy Chat

I had to put in the word 'genealogical' so this isnt whipped off immediately. Isnt it sad! I am so grateful to all the regulars who helped me SO much when I first joined. Now there is hardly anyone on here to help people. The site is going down the pan and its really up to the GR management to sort it.

hi Totally thats exactly what I was thinking where has everybody gone the atmosphere seems to have changed doesnt it ??? how is the neighbour business

I replied to GR's answer to me about why my humorous thread was deleted and am awaiting a reply. I am not bothered that it was removed because it wasn't an genealogical tip, but I am bothered that a) they didn't tell me they were going to remove it and b) that it was removed because 'a member' complained. So what they are saying is that you can post anything you like, it will only be removed if 'a member' bothers to e-mail them. So it is just down to 'a member' rather than the GR team as to what is or is not allowed. I said this was extremely arbitrary and that my post about this 'Hacked off' had 42 replies - I think it is now over 60, which shows that there's a point to it. After all if I put a thread up which was completely irrelevant, no one would reply and it would just drop off the board. The boards are here for everybody. I am concerned that people are too scared to post anything now, and that lots of threads which have info in the responses are disappearing and the information is being lost. nell

Hi All couldn't have said it better myself, totally agree with all the above comments, i know where most of the old members have gone who used to do loads of look ups, but lately its getting much worse. shame really. but i have the best of both worlds, LOL. :-)

There was a number of people who were the life blood of this site and they seem to be disappearing. It is a great shame. Dont forget that GR team are also members, so one of them could be the person who objects to anything. I used to so look forward to coming on here as soon as I got up in the morning to see the funny threads or replies to my queries but now...................

totally confused, i didnt know that, i thought the g/r teams were not members, oh, you learn something new everyday :-)

I agree, and it is such a shame when this used to be such a lively, informative and entertaining board. But of course, it just proves the old adage, all work and no play makes Jack pack his bags and find employment elsewhere!

Hi TC I'm still here - just. I'm just being more selective about where I post now. I agree with everything above. It's such a shame cos there was a great little core of people on here ready, willing and able to help with all sorts of queries - genealogical or otherwise! This board is moving much slower of late. Nichola - Estelle is a member and i think Michelle who used to work on the GR team is a member also. Oh, and of course Steve Pankhurst is member number one. Jeanette x

Hi Jeanette thanks for that, i knew Estelle was as Ive had an email from her, but didnt know she was a member as well, never seen Estelle, Michelle or Steve post though, well not that i can remember, not that i have a problem with it either, its something i just didnt know, LOL. :-) so basically they are moderators then, LOL, get it :-) any jobs going ? i'll be one :-) did notcie you havent posted a lot lately, such a shame as you always help people Allan, soooooooo true :-)

I must disagree with the statement- 'Now there is hardly anyone on here to help people.' There are very few queries that fail to attract a response - usually those that do fail are those which have very obscure answers (if any answer indeed exists). It seems to me that a new generation of lookers-up appears every few months as the baton is passed on by the old stagers. There are so many more people able (and willing) to to look ups than there were a year or two ago. Dare I suggest that the old stagers are more than willing to let enthusiastic relative newcomers do 1881 lookups, without feeling the need to dive in headlong themselves? Thinking back less than two years, all you could hope for in the way of lookups was 1901 census (using the decoder), 1881 census and IGI, perhaps an 1891 lookup if you could find a member of Ancestry, a much more limited FreeBMD and very little else.

Agree, Geoff. I think it`s a brilliant site and people have found 'BRICKWALLS ' for me for which I`m very grateful and I always thank them. Rosalyn

I do think it is a shame that some of the funny threads which were genealogically based are not appearing. they provided a bit of lighthearted relief. - I have now hit so many brick walls I only do a bit at a time. I never look at the general board so it was nice to see the odd slightly off board message. Alice

I used to put the odd reply on the 'funny' threads, but then they seemed to be hijacked by a few people and it all seemed to become quite nasty, so I stopped posting. I still do as many look ups as I can, but fewer people seem to be asking. I often look and there is simply nothing to reply to. Linda

I don't understand why people only look at one board and ignore the others. (OK chat is not everyones' 'cup of tea', I don't go there often,) but the other three boards all have a lot to offer. I flit around all three and have found fun, friendships and a lot of help and information by doing so. I try not to get too involved with problem threads and find I can still enjoy my membership. Ann Glos

I tend only to look/contribute to the Tips Board these days and very rarely on the Records or other boards. I can understand GR wanting to restrict the Tips Board to Tips/Help but a few threads 'off topic' didn't seem to me to be the end of the world. Yes the board does seem a bit slow and somewhat uninteresting these days and I don't tend to stay on as long as I used to. Perhaps its the weather or just a transition between old and new members.

This is a tips board and I enjoy and rely on the tips that I pick up here. If I can, I too offer tips but I regard genes as a working site. I have only so much time to give to genealogy and my time is spent finding out, giving information and enjoying those (few) finds with my family and online family. The BBC programme influence on genealogy is dying with time and hopefully genes will settle into a place where we can pursue family history search. Jill

i agree with geoff up until last year i had a thread on records board offering ancestry look ups. but as geoff says ,like many other 'oldies',i have moved over to let the newcomers offer their services. i tend to concentrate on the bucks and herts look ups i think this site is brilliant! and wouldnt dream of going else where. i also think the GR team are fantastic and i dont envy them their job at all. please keep up the good work genes,you run a fantastic site:) susie

im new to this site but i must say everytime i have asked for help lots of people have come up with very good info and helped me out alot. if i could find out how they got their info i would gladly help out others regards john

I try to still do some, but do get disheartended at times. I continue to do it because i enjoy doing it, not got a lot to gain by 'not doing it' because of the current aggravation. Jess

Please dont feel that your help is not appreciated, it might not all be about lookups and geneolegy, but when us neewbies come on to ask sometimes very basic (might be daft) questions sometimes it is great how many of you come to our aid. (MANY THANKS FROM NEEWBIES)