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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Emjaybee on Thursday 30 March 06 11:56 BST (UK)
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I recently had a contact from Australia looking for info on his Gt Grandad. Our family were good friends with the said Grandad and in fact I had a number of photos of him with my family members.
I sent copies to Australia that were passed around the family, and I am told they have many happy memories of my Gran and Grandad.
My wife and I have now been invited to meet the family who gather at an international annual family party in the UK, which foretunately is being held near us.
It just shows, genealogy is not all dead/buried/missing/ BMD 1800's etc. Genealogy lives!
How nice.
No names nemtioned out of respect for privacy.
Mike
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That's great Meldrew, I hope you have a great time, may your jaw never stop aching from chatting and catching up on news.
Mary
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How super Meldrew, let's hope the next party is in Australia 8) Have a great time...with lots of happy memories.
Su
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Great News .Enjoy yourself ;D
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Hi Meldrew
Enjoy every minute you are with them and remember everything (or at least as much as you can)
I have just met my Dad's 2nd cousin for the first time today and we had a fantastic time. My dad is still chatting away about the similarities between them.
Unfortunately they had a dinner to attend so with 10 minutes before the dinner started we had to drag them to the car and drive and high speed to their hotel and drop them off and then they didn't rush in even though they had to get changed!
I hope you enjoy the experience as much as we all did today and may there be many more for you
Carol
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Thats really good news Meldrew. Have a great time.
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Thank you all for your good wishes.
I am now checking the tape recorder, well more digital recorder I suppose, so that I can collect all the stories about my Grandad and Gran. I may just manage to work the camera too, and get some pics for the album.
Trouble is I am so full of enthusiasm I shall have to be carefull not to make a nuisance of my self, this is a private family do after all.
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Trouble is I am so full of enthusiasm I shall have to be carefull not to make a nuisance of my self, this is a private family do after all.
If you get over enthusiastic just pretend you are a newspaper reporter doing a story for the local rag - that will help them all talk and pose for pics lol
Carol
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They are probably as excited as you are
Carol
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A few weeks back I got an invite to a family reunion of people who knew my Grandparents. This arrived via my web site. I promised an update.
What a glorious hour I spent with an octgenarian lady who said as a child she loved my Grandad as much as any man she had known. She also played with my elder sister (who died young) and could tell me a lot about her.
She recounted many lovely stories about the the old couple and how she helped them around the Church. I shall be able to add a great deal of colour to my family tree.
Genealogy lives - its not all BMD.
Mike
Moderator Comment: topics merged
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Great storey Mike ,
how nice to get some first hand info on your sister and grandad.
all the best
audrey
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Thats great Mike! ;D
It must have been wonderful to hear all those stories!
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Mike
How wonderful for you, that must bring the whole family history thing alive for you!
Thanks for sharing your good news!
Kerry :)
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That's great Mike, I hope you had a tape recorder with you to catch absolutely everything she told you.
Barbara 8)
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Oh dear, two tape recorders and I didnt take one.
Actually as a guest in a room full of strangers I didnt want to impose, so didnt feel I should take one.
Thank you all for your nice comments.
Mike
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Mike, what a fantastic day you must have had. It must be lovely to bring your ancestors to life and get another view from someone else who knew them.
Will you be keeping in touch?
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Yes, that's absolutely priceless!! I totally agree, genealogy is much more than family trees. Wonderful to have those stories, and I do hope you will keep in touch!
MarieC
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I wish I could find some people out there with more photos of my family than I have!! :-\ Occasions like this should be treasured.
Kerry :)
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I forgot to mention - the dear old lady asked for my phone number! Hey I pulled.
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Congratulations Meldrew. LOL ;D ;D ;D ;D
Kerry
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You are a lucky chap, hope you got the chance to jot everything down. What a fantastic Lady I guess she was as pleased as you to recount the stories she has.
Sarah :)
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Sounds like you had a great time Mike, and I'm sure she enjoyed your company as much as you did hers. Bet it was lovely listening to somebody who had known your relatives.
Mary :)
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Hi Meldrew,
I did enjoy reading your post...how i wish something similar could happen to me.
Thanks to help from on here...I have managed to establish contact with 2 cousins who never knew that I & my sisters existed. The week after next we are visiting Swansea together, - where our father's grew up, - I've never been before. I'm hoping that I have an experience on a par with yours!!
All Best Wishes, Romilly.
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That is really great Mike, did you go armed with questions or just let things happen?
I'm meeting my mother's brother at the weekend he's 88 on Saturday and I've just found him after over 40 years! also a cousin (removed) I've never met! (sadly my mum is no longer here) but oh I hope he wants to talk!
Newbie
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I find that the best approach is to have something to show them. I took an album of photos of all my family, ancient and modern. as an ice breaker and just sat back and listened. The most amazing facts to emerge were that the dear lady used to "call for your sister Dorothy at the little cottage down the road". This comment was prompted by pictures of my sister who died when I was very young. I only put the picture of Dorothy in to complete the family tree and was most pleased by the memories they prompted. I never knew Dorothy.
An early picture of the village school children caused some laughter as she found herself in the line, she could also name most of the others with a few anecdotes about them.
If you can, take as many pictures as you can find and include the odd one you would not expect to be of interest, you can almost guarantee that will be the one that stirs the most memories.
As the lady was the daughter of the local Rector and educated at a private school I did not expect that her family would socialise with our poor lot. But as I said before the Rev's family held my Grandad and Granny in high regard due to their 50yrs work in the Church. Well, they liked them too of course!
Good luck with your visit, I'm sure you will enjoy it.
Mike
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Oh thanks very much for the tips, I was going to take a couple of photos, but now I'll take an album of photos I think they may like!!
Newbie
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Be sure to let us know how you get on.
It nice that a "throw away" message posted just for interest has prompted so many replies, also to be able add a few pointers for future researchers from my fumbling attemps.
Oh by the way (boast boast) my Madresfield History Web site got a mention in the Malvern Gazette this week. The downer is I had to ask them if they would publish a short piece, they didn't contact me first!
So if you have hit a brick wall try the local paper, there is a lot of interest in genealogy after the BBC progs, and they might just want to jump on the bandwaggon.
Mike
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its lovely to meet up with people even if the relationship is distant.........Iinvited some distant cousins to my 60th and it was great fun mind you most were from hubbies side but it was lovely to try to find resemblances in photos............am hoping for a get together this summer with some more cousins.......makes it all seem much more real :)
sandie
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If you can, take as many pictures as you can find and include the odd one you would not expect to be of interest, you can almost guarantee that will be the one that stirs the most memories.
Mike
Because it is our "busy" time of the year here, we had to have the new rellies visit us. I had just found a 2nd cousin of hubby's and it just so happened that his wife and son were coming here for the weekend for the kids football tournaments a couple of weeks later. I printed out copies of all the photos I thought would interest them - mainly common relatives such as Great Grandparents and one rare one of Great Great Grandmother and her 5 eldest sons (they had 11 kids altogether). The wife took them back home with her and 2nd cousin took them to show his Auntie and Uncle (1st cousins of hubby's Dad). The best part for me was finding out that they had never met their Grandparents as their parents moved away when they were very young and contact was scarce. 2nd cousin said the look on their faces was fantastic to see - I just wish I had been there. The strange part is that they live only about 30 miles from where their Grandparents lived and had nothing yet we were right across the country and had everything. So now I never say " Oh I only had these and wish I had more" as I know there are rellies out there who have got nothing to remind them
So I agree that photos are the best ice breakers and can be a bit of a surprise for many. It doesn't matter whether you have only one or two - that one or two could make someones day! ;D
Carol