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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: MarkyP on Thursday 21 December 06 22:39 GMT (UK)
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I've been into Genealogy for about 2 years now, I blame a cousin in America. She tried to get me interested about 25 years ago, of course being a spotty youth I displayed no interest at all. Visiting her about a year and a half a go my mother and I decided to put a UK family album together as a keepsake. For whatever reason I got hooked and started delving, but I really only had the stuff that my cousin had done previously, limited because it was pre PC days and she lives in the US. However after a simple google search for one particular ancestor I couldn't find anywhere on any genealogical site, I stumbled across a website that had my whole family on it done by a distant relative I knew nothing about. This was a discovery made in heaven that I'm sure every genealogist dreams of.
Due to the connections from this website it came to light that a collection of my families artifacts had been donated to Portsmouth Museum, and today all my work has come to fruition as I was able to view what they had with my Father, Mother, Daughter and Aunt. It's quite something and brings genealogy to life when you can view your 5x Great Grandmother's wedding dress from 1787 plus portraits (I'm lucky in that I have an Artist as an ancestor) and various other nicknack's. Two years ago I never even knew that any of this existed, my Aunt has lived less than a mile away for the last 20 years!
I think what I'm trying to say is keep digging and searching, you really never know what's just around the corner, today I was lucky that my family history became a tangible reality, not some facts and figures on some webpage or a microfiche tucked away in an obscure records office.
Sorry for rambling, just thought I'd share my excitement with you! :)
PS If you're a spotty youth, don't just sit there, get started!
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Hi MarkyP :D
How amazing!! You lucky duck you...I wish for pictures of my ancestors, but beyond my great-grandparents I have hardly any photos of anyone else, let alone paintings. :'(
However, earlier this year, I, like you, did a google search for one of my ancestors (I do this occasionally to see whether anything new has been added to the web) and found out that a museum in Sydney had a small flintlock double-barrelled pistol that had been made by my 4xgreat-grandfather, who was a convict in the 1820s and 30s. I was able to go and see it, with my mum, and got some paperwork that was with it. From that, I have tracked down two books about colonial gunsmiths in Australia, one of which had some information in about old Joseph that I didn't have (i.e. he was arrested and fined for "riding a horse furiously through the streets of Sydney"!)
So I agree wholeheartedly with you - never give up trying!! You just never know who has what, where, do you! :D :D :D
Prue
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Hi MarkyP - ;D ;D
Congratulations. Thanks for sharing your excitement with us.
What a fascinating find. Keep digging and searching and who knows what you will eventually come across.
yn9man
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Hi MarkyP,
What a brilliant "find". I think every one who does research into their own tree hopes to either be pointed in the right direction to something like this or to stumble over something theirselves. With me it was my sister who gave me a surprise by locating a photograph of our father taken secretly in a Japanese prisoner of War camp in Thailand whilst he was held prisoner. this photograph, which no one in the family ever knew about came to light only four years ago and shows him with a group of others in a line up at mess call where they were getting their daily ration of rice. It is now framed, along with a railway spike from the railway that he worked on (along with thousands of others), and hangs on my living room wall to remind myself, his grandchildren and great grandchildren of the things that he suffered during this period and also to make sure that we never forget.
So as you say...........one never knows just what is out there.......
old rowley
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MarkyP, what a wonderful story. The advent of the Internet has really done wonders. I worked for several years and couldn't find anything and with the frustration of brickwalls, starting a family and a business, I put everything on the back burner. When I picked it up again, the Internet was going strong. I Googled a name on my tree and lo and behold... That particular google didn't take me back as far as yours, but it allowed me to make some major inroads and meet some wonderful new cousins. And the addiction came back full force. There should be some kind of GA group (genealogists anon) ???
Kath
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I took my elderly parents to visit the South Australian Maritime Museum one day. Admission also gets you into an old lighthouse that has been dismantled and rebuilt on the nearby wharf. Imagine our surprise to find on display an old bottle that had been found in the lighhouse - it contained a screed written by my great grandfather (an engineer) about the construction and signed by all workers involved in the construction of the lighthouse around 1900.
There was also a poem written and signed by my great grandfather.
It was all totally unexpected- and the family had no idea of the connection with the lighthouse construction. The Museum people very kindly photocopied the documents and gave me a copy, which is much cherished.
So I agree - you never know where something is going to turn up! ......dee :D
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That particular google didn't take me back as far as yours, but it allowed me to make some major inroads and meet some wonderful new cousins. And the addiction came back full force. There should be some kind of GA group (genealogists anon) ???
Kath
Isn't rootschat sort of a GA group?
I hope to take my father (and possibly other family members) to a museum in Massachusetts next summer where some family artifacts are located. I have also found a cemetery where some of his family were buried.
yn9man
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What wonderful stories you all have !! :) :)
makes my heart go into my throat !! ................ I'm thrilled for all of you !
See GA IS RootsChat like yn9man says ..... where else would complete strangers get a "high" from others great fortune and small baby steps !! :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
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I have really enjoyed reading all about these wonderful discoveries. I've had many great finds over the years . . . the only trouble is that it always leaves one wanting more!!!
Wow! :D A wedding dress from 1787 . . . what does a wedding dress from this period look like?
Jayson :)
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OR - we had a family friend who also worked on the railroad. I used to play with his son down in Poole where they lived when I was little. He also wrote a book about his time in captivity, "No Time For Geishas", and I have a signed copy. When I was in Bankock back in 1988 we took a tour to the cemetary and museum by the Bridge Over The Kwai, and in the museum was a section dedicated to him. I have pictures somewhere that I took in the museum.
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:) :)
Fantastic and Soooooooooo exciting. Yeah what does the wedding dress look like ? How wonderful to have photos.
My little bit of excitement that i discovered was my Great Aunt Pat(well half sister to my nan) the virtually the first Bollywood actressin Calcutta at the age of 16 !
She made 41 film - so if anyone knows how i could get a film of hers i would thrilled :)
Patience Cooper is on quite a few sites on the web and she looks very like my Granmother , Frances Henrietta Lewendon
Thanks
DJ
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Pictures you want, picture's you'll get! :) None of them are brilliant images, just taken randomly without the use of a flash, but they do give a general impression.
Firstly the wedding dress from 1787, my 5xG,Grandmothers.
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Some more, these are portraits of my 4xG,Grandparents
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This is wedding dress from the early 1840's, and is also in the portrait. She is my 1st cousin 5x removed! :)
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WOW :o :o :o :D :D :D
What beautiful things, MarkyP, and rare survivors too. I expect those dresses are silk, which can age very badly, so obviously they were very well loved and taken care of before they went to the museum. They're absolutely beautiful. And to have a portrait of the lady who wore it....super-dooper fantastic! :D
Prue
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What wonderful stories and beautiful pictures! As I turn a delicate shade of green with envy you all give me the determination to carry on digging!
Jill
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Truly amazing MarkyP - I am speechless and green with envy. You are SO lucky but I'm sure you realise that. I too have virtually nothing of my ancestors - a couple of pictures and the odd trinket, but not very old.
I should have had more pictures but a great aunt said she got rid of them all. I'm quite sad and angry about that actually.
I did recently connect up with a (distant - 7th cousin once removed) relative who has an extensive tree.
Very exciting, nothing like your finds MarkyP.
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No delicate shade of green for me a real day glow green here.
:)
But I did have Aunt Win's sewing machine drawer.
Who would have thought when she left me her sewing machine, that one of the drawers would be stuffed full of so many interesting snippets from her family. Odd things, a picture of her father, (Mad Grandfather Joe) who was locked up with a brain disorder brought on by the wood he was working with, an died, forgotten save for my dear Aunt. Also there were snapshots of Great Grandmother Emily, and Gran Sarah's travel tickets and hotel receipts, even her passport.
These little treasure troves come to us from unexpected places. You never know what's just around the corner...do you.
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Oh My God. :o :o Mark, those things are incredible. Please look over my list of surnames and find one that fits. Those things are beautiful. What treasures to have and pass on and share.
yn9man, RC feeds my addiction, so are they really GA :o ??? ??? ;D ;D
Kath
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All I can say is - WOW!!!! Wonderful, wonderful pictures and stories!! Well done, Mark and the others!!! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
I agree, RC feeds our addiction, it can't be GA. We'd need another site for that!!! 8) 8) 8)
MarieC
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MarkyP -
WOW. :D :D :D :D :D
What incredible pictures. What great family treasures. You are so fortunate.
Thanks again for sharing.
MarieC -
8) 8) 8) Who has time for another site?
yn9man
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MarieC -
8) 8) 8) Who has time for another site?
yn9man
True, yn9man - very true!! ::) ::) ::) ::) 8) 8) 8) 8)
MarieC
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MarieC -
Yes it is addictive. ::) ::) ::)
yn9man
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Marky! what a fabulous story :D
Great that the museum kept them so well for such a day
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us
Wendi :)
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Hi Mark
Wow :D :D :D what a beautiful wedding dress & thanks for posting it. It gives me some idea of what my ancestor might have worn on her wedding day in 1780. I see that it wasn't white as is the case with many weddings today.
I wonder when white originally became fashionable for a wedding?
Jayson
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Hiya Jason, I'm sure someone much more knowledgeable than me will be able to tell you, but the second dress, also not white, was from the early 1840s. So I guess they started to appear some when after that, possibly in order to to fit in with the Victorians puritanical view of the world? :)
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:) :) :) :) :)
Aren't you the lucky one Markpy. After 3 frustrating years I can't get past my Fathers Folks on my Paternal side, have had a bit more luck on the Maternal side, but as they say one must "keep on keeping on"
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Jonesy,
Welcome to Rootschat. And keep on going on that side. I couldn't get past my mom's paternal grandparents for about 13 years. I know that sounds like a long time, but once I did, the floodgates opened, back many generations, interesting lives, and great new relatives. Make a post in the appropriate spot and I bet there will be several Rootschatters who will jump right in. This is a great site.
Kath
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:) :) :) :)
Thanks for the encouragement Kath. I shall take your advice. I think my biggest problem has been that I got impatient and maybe I tried too hard by looking at too many sites.
Jonesy
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Jonesy,
Very easy to do. I also get impatient and am pursuing too many branches at once. I have to keep reminding myself, they aren't going anywhere now. ;D ;D :D :D
Kath
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Hiya Jonesy,
And as Kath has already said welcome to rootschat. I too am impatient and have to sit on my hands alot once I have sent a contact e-mail or letter out to someone. I, like you, have had some very frustrating moments in trying to trace my family back and although it seems that I have been doing this now since Adam was a lad (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell............ since 1975 anyway) I have only recently found descendants of my gggrandfather in Canada (2002) and as yet have not got any further than having contact with one person who sadly died in 2004 so it appears that I have to start basically from scratch again with that side of the family. But as the title of this thread says one never knows just what, or who, is around the corner. I went on the freebee being offered by Ancestry last night and have (I hope) managed to start breaking down a brick wall that has stood in my way for the last twenty years with a possible contact to someone who has only just started to put their details on one of the trees on that site...............having sent them a contact e-mail via that site I now have to go back to sitting on my hands til I get answer................. so keep plugging away Jonesy as you never know...........
old rowley
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Hi Jonesy -
Another welcome to rootschat.
All of us are impatient or at least to a certain extent.
I had and still have (and will probably continue to have) some frustrating moments while trying to research my family. For instance, I had been stuck on my maternal g grandparents (since the late 1970s) until two weeks or so ago when another rootschatter sent me in the right direction. Just like that added another generation. This site is amazing so enjoy the benefits .
So Jonesy you never know unless you keep on digging away .... best of luck
yn9man
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Hi Marky,
You and I share the same gt, gt grandparents! I was told that her wedding dress was in a museum in Portsmouth so I googled and came up with your posting!
I think this photo is her, maybe on her wedding day in 1845. I'm trying to work out if it is the same dress. She was 17.
What other info do you have? I've got a lot of old photos etc. Can we exchange?
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Zos,
Welcome to Rootschat. I am so excited. I love when threads take this kind of a turn. I keep hoping some distant relative of mine will pop on and see one of my posts.
Kath
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Hello Zos, yep, that looks like a photo of the painting! I'll send you a pm.
Haven't been on the board for ages, a lot has happened in the last 6 months which has kept me away. :(
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What a turn up for the book .......... well done you two.
And welcome to RootsChat Zos............. Fantastic result.
Barbara
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What a great welcome to the boards. ;D
Wish stuff like this happened more often
Karenlee
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Thank you all for the welcome!
I'm going to the museum today to see if I can get a look at the dresses, probably wont be able to as it's Saturday and I get the feeling you need the curator to show them. Hopefully I'll get to see the paintings tho'. I am meeting my cousin who lives just round the corner and didn't know anything about them.
Apparently there is a whole collection of documents and artifacts at the museum that my Mum's cousin Guy collected over the years and left to the museum before he died in 1999. The dresses had been handed down to him from his mother. He was a great geneaologist and there are rumours in the family that he traced the Jeromes back to when they were Hugeunots in France who fled to the Isle of Wight to escape persecution from the Catholics. Some stayed there and some went to America. A few generations later Jennie Jerome was born, the mother of Winston Churchill.
I'm hoping that I can tie it all in with my family tree! I know I am very lucky as my mother, grandmother and great grandmother all treasured the photos and documents so they survived in the family, some of them for a hundred and fifty years!