Genealogy Chat

Hi Alastair

Good idea - nudging for

"over to you now (OTYN)" or "Thanks I Will Take it from Here (TIWTFH)"

me too!!

I spend most of my time on here helping other people! It is weeks since I really did very much on my lines.

It's too much fun doing the research ........ I love the hunt!



sylvia

Forgot to say, his gggrandfather was a Bow Street Runner. It didn't impress him but it did mpress me!

I got roped into finding someones birth mother and when I came to a lull I found myself taking his tree back to the early 19th century.

Benjamin, has anyone ever told you you'd be a good private investigator :-)

Yes I do genealogy for my friends and neighbours. I was doing one recently for a neighbour across the road and found that her ex husband is the second cousin of my son in law which was a shock to us all, for they lived next door to each other for a few years. Both their grandmothers were sisters. Its not as if they were local people they originated from the London area. You never know who you live next door to!!!

i can see what you mean. i tend to go off on a tangent on my own tree. a distant relative's sister in law sounds interesting and before you know it, the days gone.

it's strange though. today i was looking at my fam in 1901 census and relised the house next door was full of ticehursts. strange because i lived next door to a family of ticehursts for years. one is even my godmother! now am wondering if any connection and i may have to investigate. :)

Yes, I have even researched my workmates ancestors if they told me their grandfathers names and rough birthplaces. I probably know more about their ancestors than they do.

I ahve to admit that I have actually looked up the birth in the BMD indexes of people I know. If they have told me, I have looked up their name in the relevant year and quarter. I will never admit that I have done as they might be so mortified. I know their mothers maiden names, and I have also sometimes found out when they married, where and some of their children. It is just like looking someone up in the telephone book. Have any of you ever done that as the BMD indexes are available for anyones birth up to 2005 so you can look up your best workmates birth ref.

Ben

I do like to ask "where have you alredy looked" to save duplicating any of their searches, very often the answer is nowhere,. Meaning they want a ready made tree on a plate, that takes all the fun out of it,
so I quite often just say ,you will find the answer on a census or Bmd. Sometimes just one piece of information,.

Quite often having found one relative,days later the same poster asks for the next generation with the same, desperate to find, or been looking for 30years! message
until you've built their whole tree for them!

All good fun!

Alastair, Ive only been researching for 5 years, so compared to many on here Im a novice, but Ive helped a few people over the last 4 years. I tend to do what they initially ask, and no more - purely as if they're researching their tree, there's no point me doing the lot for them, or us both looking at the same census report etc etc. I say I'll help in any way I can but I just do what they specifically want (ie, census look up/bmd look up/Pigot's/graveyard search etc) and leave it for them to contact me, or not contact me again.

That sounds a good idea Alistair!

It is tempting to keep looking up things for someone else but I've had to remind myself sometimes that it isn't my family!!!

Frustrating sometimes though to sit back and watch someone struggling! LOL

Sue
x

Yes, after only 18 months I have developed this addiction also and agree with the previous comments! I think I have managed to help 5 or 6 searchers but want to know when one should withdraw or stop.

In some cases after several weeks and dozens of successful interchanges I detect a "cooling-off" by the other party. Perhaps they now want to pursue their research on their own or they feel that I am encroaching on their space. Has anyone else found this situation?

On the other hand I did have one person who expected me to do everything & anything and just wanted free research. Unusual, but possible I assure you.

Maybe there should be a "genetiquette" that allows one or other party to bow out of the relationship without any rancour - "over to you now (OTYN)" or "Thanks I Will Take it from Here (TIWTFH)" or similar.

What do you all think?

I was really chuffed a few weeks ago because I did some research for a friend and while searching parish records I discovered one of my own "brickwall" ancestors lurking there!

That's given me a new branch to sort out when I get time to look in the local Records Office.

Sue
x

I can see how you might get carried away by it. I spent the best part of a weekend trying to sort out an error by someone who'd supposedly got a match with my tree. It turned out they'd got the wrong Ann Smith (name changed to protect privacy) but it took me ages to find the Ann Smith who should be in their tree. I didn't get round to sorting out which children her husband had by which wife but it all looked highly unconventional! But I felt rather pleased that it wasn't me who'd got the wrong one.
And the moral of this? Always double-check your sources and get confirmation from two independent ones wherever possible.

Chris, it may have well been, I'll go through my threads. My tree has spiralled out of control, Im doing every line plus my husbands and mum in laws. Oh heck......

Cant find the thread Chris. I think I posted re: Matilda Elliott, I'll PM you thanks.

Romany...Off topic

Was it you that was looking for a baptism in Copthorne Sussex?

I meant to bookmark the thread, but I didn't... I was in town today and checked at the library for their fiche holding, nothing for Copthorne.

Have just checked the Registration Districts and it looks as if Copthorne probably came under East Grinstead.

The library has Parish Register fiche for...
East Grinstead 1662-1872 West Hoathly 1645-1878 and Worth 1558-1880 (covering Crawley Down and Turners Hill areas)

If it was you and would like me to have a hunt then please feel free to contact me.

Chris

Yes Romany ! I did my family tree over 35 years ago in the old fashioned way !
long before computors and the internet.
In those days you could handle the original registers etc, of Orphanages, Cottage Homes, Workhouses, and other Institutions. Over those years I have researched hundreds of peoples trees, from here and abroad, mainly people tracing their roots in Liverpool and local areas. I have come across many fascinating stories, but also many sad ones which would bring tears to your eyes. One such family came from Ireland about 1838 and settled in a slum area of north Liverpool, father died, mother and children placed in Workhouse Fever ward, there the mother died, but thankfully the children survived, I am still in touch today with a descendant of one of those children.
I always tell people starting out on Genealogy "It is like a drug " once you start you are hooked !

My DIL has just started hers, and I can't leave it alone, every spare minuite, I'v got to stop or i will end up doing it for her.
Gill

Modesty doesn't prevent me from following up on Lindsey's mention of my brilliant idea -- the Posting Tips surname. ;)

Go to Trying to Find, filter the board by surname Posting Tips. And please add yours!

Now, getting newbies to look there ... I'm going to have a "sig line" that explains how to filter the board by surname Posting Tips ...

LOL! That must make for a fantastic tree though.