Genealogy Chat

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.

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.

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

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

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

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