RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: drodgers34 on Thursday 23 December 10 02:55 GMT (UK)
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Just intererted generally about RC-ers experiences finding out that ancestors were genealogists themselves.
Particularly if you didnt know prior to taking it up yourself - although interested in the subject generally
Dale
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OH's great grandad did some research into his fathers line back in the 1940s and so far I'm no further back than he was but I really wish he'd done his mothers line as that's quite tricky :)
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Hi
My Dad's grandfather clearly had an interest as he copied entries from two bibles (his own and his wife's families) in the early 1900's. Dad's father then did further research from 1920's onwards. It was photocopies of their efforts which started me off.
Jan ;)
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Not in my direct line
Ihad a women who wrote a book entitled
Records of a Quaker family : the Richardsons of Cleveland
This is not my family unfortunately
Bob
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my uncle did a bit of research into the Lynhams and Everards of Co Meath in the 1940s - this was quite a help - his sisters had kept the few pages he wrote then.
eadaoin
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When my grandmother's grandparents celebrated their golden (50th) anniversary in 1905 a relative gave them notes on all the various ancestral lines going back to 1500s in some cases- so far I haven't found many mistakes :)
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My 3 x great grandmother Elizabeth Howard had a great nephew John Richards Howard who became a Mormon and is reputed to have played a prominent part in setting up their family history records.
It was some while before I discovered this. John had a dramatic rescue when his Dad went down with the HMS Birkenhead off South Africa. He clearly benefited from the institution of the 'Birkenhead drill' where the troops were ordered to wait and let the women and children off first - as Rudyard Kipling wrote:' But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew,'
His interest helped me before I realised it because I was able to trace Elizabeth's line back a bit through the LDS site.
Phil
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Not as such - but on National Archives I did find a handwritten family tree, dated 1911, for one of my branches. It was put together when a will was being contested.
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My Grandmother born 1889 was a bit of a genealogist although I didn`t know it when she was living. When her house was being sold in 1980 nobody wanted the box of photos and papers, so I took them. Oh! what a lot of information was in that box when I started taking an interest in the family history some ten years later. Not only had she drawn up a family tree, but in the 1920s and onwards had taken photos of family graves when on her travels.
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Not an ancestor, by one of my great great uncles (John McLaren) did research his paternal line. He was obviously serious, taking trips to Scotland (he lived in Leeds) to pursue this hobby.
It was his fault that I got interested. While entering his results into a FH prorgamme so I could print out a tree for my mother I began to fill in a few gaps ...
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I think that my ancestors were quite te opposite to me tracing the family history, they seemed to have had so many secrets and untruths they didn't want anyone to know anything
Kind regards Susan
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My great great grandfather, John Broadley, was a postmaster, newsagent, stationer, printer, insurance agent, photographer etc and one of the penny sheets he printed in the 1850s was for peop1e to record their family tree. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have followed his own advice or my job would have been a lot easier, claytonbradley
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:) Oh it would be nice to have some ancestors who liked a bit of genealogy in their spare time. To my knowledge I have none.
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In addition to the lady who wrote the book my grandfather and his brother who was wealthy and lived in South Africa did some investigation
There was one error though
Bob
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My grandfather.
Amongst other things, he sketched out the first family tree - it wasn't perfect but it was a huge start.
He also sketched out what he knew about his grandfather but best of all, he kept all 13 original birth certificates of his aunts and uncles.
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My aunt had done quite a lot of research.When I first started 20 odd years ago (I was interested in names and not much else) she was very helpful with anecdotes about her grandparents.Unfortunately she passed away before I became really involved and realized that it is the minutia that make a family tree really interesting.However I got lucky in that my father had kept a lot of her notes.
On the other side of the family I am the lucky possessor of The Fletcher House of Lace which a very distant cousin compiled with a detailed family tree and personal stories from all the branches.
Liz
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My nan had old photo's and documents and had written on the back of them who they were...
Nobody in the family is interested in family history except me!! They think I'm boring and should concentrate on the living and not the dead!!
Jules x
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They think I'm boring and should concentrate on the living and not the dead!!
Jules x
That's what my wife says
You keep on Flora
Someone will thank you for preserving your families heritage
Bob
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My grandfather, b. 1909 knew and remembered a lot about his family, and he also did a lot of research in parish records, etc. I was interested in genealogy when I was only a teenager, and so he told me a lot of stories about the family and now that he's gone I have all his notes and records.
I've expanded what he learned, but the basics of the direct line is mainly the same as what he recorded. Lucky that he did too - my g-grandfather's birth record is missing (my grandfather couldn't find it either), and without my grandfather's personal knowledge we wouldn't know his birthdate or who his parents were and I'd be totally stuck.
The downside of having a previous genealogist to go on is that in some cases I'm not sure if some of his notes are based on written sources or if they were personal knowledge/family tradition. There are a few things he told me that I haven't found written evidence for - so are they family tradition, or some record I haven't seen yet? Or have I found some records that back up something that was only a family tradition for my grandfather?
Wish I could talk to him again. Even though he told me so much and I tried to write it all down, there are still so many more questions I'd like to ask.
J.
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My aunty born 1946 who is alive thank god has done some research.
My Titshall family left a family bible spanning 1790s to 1890s. It gave dates of births of ancestors before civil reg began in 1837 where the baptisms dont record date of birth.
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I have letters from a gentleman from Toronto asking my great grandfather if he can come and visit him to ask about his family history (and he supplied a family tree showing his connection, which is fun). As far as I know my great grandad helped him; I keep wondering whether I could write to the address in Toronto - it would really help to clear some problems - but feel the family are unlikely to be there still - the date of the letters is 1926.
Derby Girl
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My Dads dad was the family 'hoarder', he had loads of papers & photos of both his family & my nanas family which I was lucky enough to inherit.
There are LOADS of papers and photos going back generations - but very few with names on which is so frustrating - esp as the photos are from mixed up from both sides of the family so I have to make educated guesses on names sometimes.
My biggest regret goes back to a New Years Eve when I was around 18........... Grandad was here I can see him now sat on the sofa with a drink chatting away to me as I got ready to go out ................ and I remember he was telling me about New Years when he was younger, and about his parents and their various family members ................ but I was 18 & more interested in going out with my friends & partying ............... I wish SO much I could turn the clock back & ask him all the questions I have now about them!
Gaille
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My lot were mostly Ag labs from Warks, Derby's and Yorkie who were total illiterates! so not much chance for me having ancestors as genealogists-come to think! :( with my typing skills and schooling in English lit >:( the habits still persists. :-[
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My greatx7 grandfather, William Rose (1740-1807) was a noted genealogist of his day in Banffshire.
He was quite obsessed in proving his descent from the Rose Family of Kilravock (the Rose clan chiefs), and was pleased with himself when his line was accepted by the then clan chief, Hugh Rose. When he fell out with his employer, the 2nd Earl Fife, he was ridiculed for being so proud of his tenuous link the the Kilravock Roses. William also helped other notables trace/prove their lineage and was known for his impressive collection of manuscripts...until he went broke.
I have never actually seen or read any of his genealogical work.
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When I first got into family history 3 years ago, I was delighted when my mother gave me the maternal family tree originally compiled by her cousin in the early 1990's. In those days, before present technology, this was obviously the result of him having spent a lot of time in record offices etc, and I will always be grateful for that 'head start'. He passed away in 2001.
However, because on my mother's paternal side they had at some point added "Aldridge" to the family name of Hayden, I spent at least 6 months pursuing records of the Aldridge family from Sussex on Uncles Jim's tree who, it turned out, were absolutely nothing to do with my ancestors. Hey ho! ::)
Mrs. T.
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When my mother died in 1989, I found a family tree that she drew up, though only of her immediate family, siblings and parents. With that family tree, was a letter dated 1978, when a distant cousin of my mother wrote to her requesting that family tree. Obviousl,y my mother did the family tree, but never replied.
So, in 1996 I replied to my mother's distant cousin with that family tree (better late than never!), and from that date I also started my own research.
Les
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Back in the 1960's, I began conversing with a branch of my family of North whose mother went to South Africa back in the 1800s. She had no children so decided to pass on to me the decendency back some 100 years. That was the start of being bitten by the bug. From there I found that going back some further 200 years a Benjamin North was a genealogist in a distant part of the family.
Also on my Cockroft side my grandmother in Halifax had sold a book previously for quite a substantial sum of money which had all the history and genealogies going way back.
My own children not interested but my brother who will carry the name on has a son who is. Have kept full records now on both sides back to 1600s with the help of genealogist friend of mine.
Sandra
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I have an interesting bit of genealogy handed down from an ancestor in my mother's family. It's a little poem, composed by someone who must have been the family historian of the day. I suspect it was originally oral, luckily someone wrote it down.
Polly, Emily, Billy, Rich
Silent Tim, Beat and Sis
Jane, Joe, Suse and Sal
Abe and Low
Bess and Cal
My mother can identify some of them, but not all. I take it out and ponder it from time to time, to see if it offers any new clues or matches up with any of my research.
I imagine our ancestors probably did more of this kind of "genealogy", especially if they weren't very literate.
J.
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It's just occurred to me that my great grandfather, whose notebook I have (as other Rootschatters will have heard me mention before) was also a bit of a genealogist, since alongside all the other things he wrote down were details of the family in terms of names, birthdates, dates of death and, in some cases, where they're buried.
He also included little clippings from newspapers of funeral announcements and other mentions of the family, and some stories about his own father, and included a really helpful page in which he noted down his father's sisters' spouses' names.
Strange as it may seem, although this has been immensely helpful to me, it's only as reading this thread that it's occurred to me he was really a genealogist too.....he didn't write down the family tree as such, but so much helpful information has come from him.
;D ;D
Gosh, perhaps I'm like him???
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My great grandfather did his family history, and I think that of his wife. I know that a member of my family still has it, but I'm not in contact with them so I can't use it! However, some time ago I was told that the earliest person in the family tree he could find has an interesting history.
As I remember it, a young woman was living on a lord's estate some time in the 1700s when she became pregnant. She gave birth to twin sons, and despite being illegitimate they were all allowed to remain on the estate and be brought up at the lord's expense. The insinuation was that by being allowed to stay the lord was acknowledging that either he or one of his sons was actually the father. One of the two sons was killed as a teen when he fell into a river and was crushed by a boat. The other was called Medleycote Bowen and is my ancestor.
It's a nice story, but I can't find any evidence for it. Maybe something will turn up in future or I will finally get access to all the details my great grandfather wrote down. Until then, it will sit in the back of my mind as a "could be, but probably not".