Genealogy Chat

At the moment it's my dad's father's side. He died when my dad was 5 so dad and his sister don't know much about him. My aunty said her father had a brother and sister but since I found the family on 1881 census it turns out there were about 9 siblings. Haven't found out how many were full brothers and sisters yet. I found out some of the younger ones belonged to the housekeeper! In 1881 my grandfather was down as married but there was no wife. Same in 1891. In 1901 both he and the housekeeper were down as widowed. She was still using her maiden name Abbott. When I sent for a birth certificate of a child in 1883 the mother was listed as Mary Jones formerly Abbott and the informant was my grandfather Joseph Jones, father of the child. Someone is telling porkies somewhere and I still haven't found the wife he was supposed to have in 1881! Mel

Being adopted, both sides are highly interesting to me, but I have a special affection for my paternal grandmother's forebears, simply because they were the ones I started with, having the highly traceable name of BOBY. I found they came from the Clerkenwell/Holborn areas of London which I used to know well as a youngster before I left London!! I've now traced them back to Lavenham in Suffolk, which I am totally delighted about. It's an almost perfect example of a medieval village and I can't wait to visit it next year. I know some of them lived in Church Street, and although it'll look a darn sight smarter now than it did in the 18th and 19th centuries, it'll still give me a feel of where they lived. I'm now tracing my father's side (name of ORME) and they seem to have hailed from the Derby area. I lived in Nottingham for eleven years, so I wasn't that far away! Whether it's because the Bobys were the first ones I investigated and therefore I was learning so much about this fascinating hobby, but I can't seem to get quite so excited about the Ormes for some reason. Maybe it's the time of year!! Mary, Devon

For me it's my fathers side ,as there was a huge family rift I've only recently (through Friends Reunited) made contact with cousins whom I hadn't seen for 43 years.It was my 50th bithday last Thursday and to get cards from them was amazing.Unfortunately all my older relatives have passed away and years ago children didn't question !!!.So for me it's a wonderful discovery very hard work though as most of the generations are Irish or army(born abroad),but every new fact is just brilliant.Believe it or not my husband who isn't addicted to family history asked me to research his line and they all come from the same area and the generations are just unfolding easily.But it's too easy really and not so much fun!!!!. Regards Elaine

I think it has to be my fathers side they are the ones that are the most elusive at the moment Sue

I have to say that my mothers side of the family is proving the most interesting, and the easiest to research. This is probably because my mother and her sisters can remember quite a lot of useful information. My father, and therefore my family name, is another matter. I had virtually no starting point after my grandparents as my father never knew his grandparents. I'm having difficulty tracing my gg grandfather on this line, he was born in north wales and its a welsh name argh.......... My mothers name is Onslow, and there are only 108 names on this site so if anyone out there knows any Onslow's, get them to start this hobby!

I am tracing my paternal grandmothers grandparents. The Allen/Burns and McKay/Durrington families are the ones that interest me most because they are the lines where I can actually place 'real people' and not just names. My grandmother had a few little stories about some people on both her parents sides but knew n further back than her grandparents. It is really exciting, but I have also started researching my surname and am in contact with people who know more about those people too! Take Care, -Kat

I am interested in all branches of my tree. I started off with one grandfather, mother,father and sister, a great aunt and some distant cousins. Now i have loads of distant rellies all over the world. Its great I'm not from such a small family anymore! Also, as a plus, I follow forward as well as backwards down many lines, and there is always ongoing research - a graet break if I get stuck on one line.

Once you start the thirst for knowledge takes over. Both sides of my family are interesting at the moment. On my mother's side I have only one surviving aunt in her 70's and she knows very little about anyone past her parents, plus a couple of cousins who are equally uninformative. The aunt thought that her dad might have come from Berkshire, but I am now as certain as I can be that his family comes from around Hythe in Kent. Thanks to a very helpful GC member I'm back to the 1790-1825 period there, but need to prove a birth 1821-1825 to find out whether the "father" on a marriage certificate was a natural father or step-father, as the "father" may have married a widow after the probable birth date of the "son" but the son's middle name is that of the surname of the widow he married. On my father's side I'm stuck at proving a birth around 1845-1848 in Hertford but hope to send for a certificate today for a probable. Once you start, you're hooked.

My mother's side. I had great difficulty with my great grandmother who spelt her maiden name Raikes (on her marriage certificate & in her sons's middle name) & on 1881 & 1901 was born in Evercreech. Thanks to a brilliant lead on here when Marion found the family with a different spelling for me on 1851 Census, I obtained her father's death certificate & found his name on there as Raikes alias Reakes. Great granny was born in Pilton & lived in Evercreech as a child, hence the confusion. I was able to view the parish records at the local LDS which filled a lot of the gaps. What makes this all the more interesting is that no one in my family knew about this, so my mother is delighted to know it. I was born & raised in Plymouth & moved to the Bath area with my husband's work. I now live in Frome which is only a few miles from Evercreech, so I really feel I have "come home". Pat

I am most interested in my fathers side, mainly because I want to know where my surname has come from and also my grandfather died when I was only one, so I never really knew him. My interest in my family tree has sparked an interest in the whole family, firstly my grandfather was placed in a home when he was 2 and so he never really talked much about his past. So far I have discovered he had a twin, I don't know if he even knew he had one, and may of possible found the parents of his mother, so my whole family are very keen for me to continue searching. My mother side I haven't really started on, mainly because they are Irish and the resources available for tracing Irish ancester are not very good, but I am going to Ireland in January and hope to research that side of the family then. It is funny really how one little piece of exciting information you find, then makes your interests steer towards another branch of your tree.

Has to be my Mother's maiden side, as that is where my interest in Genealogy started. Only yesterday discovered a new contact on here regarding that family - am anxiously waiting a reply ! On this side I have discovered that I have lots of American cousins descended from a Mormon who had 2 concurrent wives. Only have managed to contact a couple so far. But as you hit brickwalls , your interest turns to other families. Currently looking at my husband's genealogy as well. Should also get round to documenting my cypriot side.

I started just to try and trace information about great grandparents. Now back to mid 1700s with my dad's father and also his mother's line. Many more relatives than I ever realised and some of them I have contact with today (the live ones that is!!). On my mum's side.. well here we have that brick wall that anyone with Irish relatives must be hitting. So as for interest, I suppose that as I am seeing results, my paternal lines are favourite at present. But who knows, it only takes a little seed to start something so anything from the Irish side could set me off in that direction.

My Paternal Grandmother's my favourite because(& I may get confusing here) her father (G Grandfather- born 1855) & his father (GG Grandfather- born 1813) both were quite old (60's & 40') when they fathered their last children . This means my Great Uncle (who is in his 80's) has Great Aunt's & Uncles born in the 1790's. NOw that is something to get your head round. Also is a very unusual name - only 24 on this site & 22 are mine, so has been pretty easy to trace Caroline

My father's paternal side had already been slightly researched when I embarked on this quest and perhaps rather strangely they don't seem so 'mine' as the ones I've struggled with over the last few months with no prior knowledge at all. What is so interesting to see is how they all gradually moved to Wandsworth from different parts of southern England...to produce me!

The branch that most interests me is my mother's side., the Vickerys. I am very curious where her family originate from as they look quite French looking and photos going back 4 generations show how similiar all the generations are! Most Vickerys seem to stem from the Devon/Somerset area. To date I have come across 2 Vickery families who share this trait. Unfortuntely my mother died quite young but she always wondered about the origins of her family, whether they were originally from overseas. I know the Welsh can be very dark so maybe there is some welsh blood there. Who knows! Maybe one day I'll get some answers!

I've been concentrating on my mother's maiden name, mostly because I knew so little of and so few of , her family and also because, the name being Jones, it seemed to offer more of a challenge. Not quite such a challenge as I thought, it turns out. I had 6 little pieces of information, which were 2 surnames, 3 christian names, Mum's place of birth, Battersea and the destination, Wisconsin, of one branch of the family in the 1850's. And it all fell beautifully into place, and I'm now back in the 1700s. I even found the family in Wisconsin, some of whom moved on to Nesbraska and some to Salt Lake City where they obviously became mormons. So far I've only traced the ancestors, not met any new distant cousins yet. I still have loose ends to tie up and will attempt to find out where they all were in the 1600s, but I'm now ready to start to trace Dad's branch and see where that leads me.

Phew, for a moment there I thought you sounded bitter, Kathryn. ;-) My loyalties are somewhat divided on this. My mum's side of the family contain a lot more interesting characters - people who worked in all sorts of professions, and there's Scottish ancestry on both my grandfather and grandmother's side. Some ancestors moved to Australia and then hot-footed to Nyasaland (now Malawi) in Africa. So, there seem to be more diverse patterns. My dad's side of the family were either iron miners from Yorkshire (his father's side) or coal miners from Durham (mother's side), so not a lot of variety there! However, I've never really known very much about my dad's family, so it has been this side that I've spent more time working on, and it has reaped rewards along the way, e.g. finding distant cousins, as well as being able to trace back to the first half of the 1700s.

I like my mother's side. It's easier but I like it because they are nicer people (can I admit that?) than my dad's relatives. I absolutely hate doing any Irish research. There're barely any surviving records. Census records are searchable by address only - who's bright idea was that? I tried to order a Northern Irish birth cert online and couldn't. They wanted to know the 'Mother's usual residence' - it was a compulsory field! How am I supposed to know what her address was? Whe I try to order marriage certs, they want to know the bride's maiden name - also compulsory. The marriage was in the 1880s! I know the date, the husband's full name and the church - but somehow that just isn't enough information. It is ridiculous. Sorry to vent but when I find Irish relatives, I stop there.

Like you, Siobhan, I'm having the most difficulty with my Dad's side and am therefore struggling to find out where my family name originated from. I never knew any of my grandparents as they were all long dead by the time I was born. My own father died when I was 11 and I'm an only child - so I grew up with the impression that I had quite a small family. When I started tracing my family tree I didn't even know the names of my grandparents, or what they did for a living, or where they were from... Now, just a few months later, I've traced four grandparents, eight great grandparents, fourteen great great grandparents, six great great great grandparents and two great great great great grandparents!!! My family now seems quite large because, of course, along with all those great greats there are a whole host of aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws! I'm back to c.1772 and it's been fascinating to find all my papermakers, shoemakers, cigar makers, policemen, carpenters, shepherds and pawnbrokers. Favourites? Not sure... but the Berretts from Wiltshire (my Mum's side) are the ones I've gained most information about. Famous? No... but who cares? Not me!

I discovered that my father lived in the street next to where I was brought up and his father lived in the next street again. As he died when I was four this was a very recent discovery. On my mother's side there is a lot of sadness and a lot of speculation. For instant - g.grandmother was born in Beer, Devon and was widowed after a short marriage. She married my g.grandfather in Scarborough in 1871 - what were the circumstances that made her move from Devon to Yorkshire? She died in 1883 leaving 4 very young children so where did they go? Her youngest - my grandfather was in France in 1915 when my grandmother diedleaving five children of which my mother was 13 and the eldest. He was given one week's leave to bury his wife and find homes for the children. The family was split up between the Aunts and never lived as a family again. I would dearly love to make contact with some of the descendants - see my message on this board. So much for "the good old days" Ruth