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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Latchfordian on Tuesday 13 March 12 18:01 GMT (UK)
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I wonder how many of you have spent many hours trying to get through that brick wall only to suddenly realise, after much head-banging, that there's an easy way around it? I have spent a lot of time on and off during the past few months trying to find out what happened to my GG-Grandmother who disappeared from the face of the earth after the 1861 census. I couldn't find her in any later census or find any record of her death, so where had she gone to?
Well yesterday, whilst searching for clues in what records I had of her, the penny suddenly dropped. Her husband had died in 1867 as I'd known for some time, so what if she'd re-married? Sure enough after a short search I found that she had indeed re-married in 1870 and, of course, went by her new name in subsequent censuses. I was overjoyed at finding this but kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner, as it seems so obvious now. I suppose you knowledgeable RootsChatters would have investigated this route much earlier, but it simply didn't occur to me with my limited experience.
Has anybody else had the delight of a discovery tempered somewhat by a feeling of stupidity? :-[
Jim
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Don't beat yourself up Jim, we've all done it, and aything is obvious when you know the answer ;D
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Probably to close to see it! I found a good idea from a rootschat member, hopefully my ancestor grett graddad has an exceptional/obviously recognisable signature then i can compare copies of handwriting from original documents. He's got a common surname he changed from and i doubt if he'll have changed the christian names , he may have reversed them. I need to find granddad's birth cert. There are several areas to search and at least 3 areas to check. I probably would have thought to do this when i have the certs in my hands. I feel a trip to kettering, barnsley and may be back to wakefield coming on !!!
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My ggrandmother lost her husband in 1888,4 years after the birth of her last child....number10.i found her in the 1891 census with 7 of her children,but not in the 1901.i first searched for a death but nothing came up.I then saw a marriage for someone of the same name,in the same area and sent for the cert.Eureka,,,,she remarried in. 1893 .She was not on the 1901 census under her married name and again I found 2 possible death pre .1900.i sent for one death cert and luckily it was the right one.....she died in 1898 from TB.
Ringrose
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Has anybody else had the delight of a discovery tempered somewhat by a feeling of stupidity?
Isn't it lovely when you find them again?
In my own family I have lots of examples of this. A man with a young family will be widowed and very quickly he re-marries for the very practical reason of needing a mother for his children. Very often he will be marrying a woman herself recently widowed, with her own family, and needing the support of a man. When times were hard and possibly re-settlement and the workhouse just round the corner a quick re-marriage would be a very practical solution.
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It definitely helps, I think, to stop racking the brain cells for a while and turn your mind to something different, perhaps a different ancestor/line completely. Then when you return to the original search, it all becomes clearer.
I did use a bit of lateral thinking on one particularly puzzling ancestral trail. My GGrandmother appeared on the 1881 Census as a domestic servant, aged 14, living in the home of a wealthy family. I couldn't find her for months on the 1891 Census, despite extensive searching, and I knew she didn't marry until 1893 so she had to be on there somewhere under her 'maiden name', didn't she? Wrong! One day, I thought it might be worth checking the 1891 Census record for the family she had been living with in 1881. There was just a chance she was still with that family. I checked and Lo and Behold! she was indeed still with them, aged 24, but listed as the daughter of the Head of the Household under his family name. I knew it was her because the first names, age and place of birth were correct ... it was just that her surname had been entered erroneously.
That discovery was a sweet moment. Sometimes it's worth thinking 'outside the box', something I don't do often enough ::) :)
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I had a recent Eureka moment identical to yours Jim. My Gtx3 grandmother couldn't be found in the 1861 census and no death record either. I suddenly wondered if she had married again and, lo and behold, there she was with a husband 17 years younger than her ;D As she was in her mid-60's by then, I was really pleased for her.
I gave myself a further pat on the back when I realised there are a lot of trees on Ancestry with her on there but none mention this second husband.
Now I just need to find second husbands for all the other women that 'disappeared'
Rishile
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I spent many years trying to find out what became of my2x great grandfather. Because he was a farm labourer I continued to search the county in which he was born for what happened to him after his wife died in 180. last sighting of him in 1881 census. No luck and then thanks to the kind people on this website someone pointed me in the right direction. He had moved to WALES remarried lied about his age and had a second family. I am now trying to establish contact with all my new relations so I can help them fill in the gaps.
regards panda
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As a newbie some 10 years ago, I spent a good year searching for my mom's first marriage, after several dead ends, I had the EUREKA MOMMENT and decided to do a one name search on both of them, and low and behold, I found her supposed husband was already married with a wife and child, they had eloped while in service together, I then had to tell my half brother that he had an half brother out there somewhere, I think Mills and Boon comes to mind on this one.
Margp
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I must say I agree with previous posts here - if you find a brick wall, a dead end, or your research runs into the sand, try following a different line for a while; leave some notes for yourself to help jog the memory.
I had no fewer than three Eureka (or serendipitous) moments while wandering in the SoG Library having wrapped up my targeted research for the day. One history of a company which had biographical sketches and excerpts from letters of both my gg grandfather and my ggg grandfather; a book on ships of the Tyne which linked to a (mildly unsuccessful) master mariner; and the Sons of The Repulic of Texas which led to correspondence with descendants of my ggg uncle and some amazing tales from the early days in the US.
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I feel there is no indefinite brick wall; some as long as the great wall of china but......
My major eureka moment was when helping a friend with a relative in the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary). They were on the Irish Census in their barracks with only initials - we could find several intials that match but could prove nothing until it struck me that the constables were the enumerators; we went back to the census records for each area and checked the signature of the enumerators to find the names of the constables and we found him, and because we found him we found his wife and family in the same area and were able to trace siblings previously unknown!
I think it is a little like doing a crossword, sometimes just saying the clue out loud, or to someone helps!!!
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Congrats to all. I'm still waiting for my Eureka moment, to trace my g.grandfather's past. Unfortunately, common name, apparently born Bethnal Green, apparently Spanish/Portuguese mother, didn't marry g.grandmother so no certificate with father's name (false or not), means no clues to follow.
Lizzie
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{Buried} "28 Apr 1872 Barbara Dawson [Routledge], of Sheriff Hill, age: 20. The name Dawson was on the coffin plate, I learnt on 29th April that the death was registered as Barbara Routledge". Note on the Burial Records St. John, Gateshead Fell, County Durham. Barbara is my Great Great Great Aunt whose mother was unmarried. Her mother Isabella then lived with a George Dawson and had 11 children with him.
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An ancestor inherited in a C17 Will two manors (he lost them soon after as he was on the wrong side at the Restoration, so the good news didn't last). They are merely named as Cromer and Luffnall. Printed sources say they're in Norfolk. I spent ages with the Manorial Documents Register, gazetteers and OS Get-A-Map to no avail: I couldn't find Luffnall. Then for some reason I looked for Cromer: after all we all know of Cromer in Norfolk. And here was the revelation: there are two small settlements within a couple of miles of each other in Hertfordshire called Luffenhall and - Cromer! So - don't trust secondary sources; don't trust what you think you know unless you check; and just keep looking!
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Many thanks to you all for giving me your views and sharing your experiences. It's reassuring to learn that many of you have "been there" at some time! ???
Jim
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I've had a few eureka moments where I thought after "why didn't I think of that ?"
My granddad had an uncle that vanished between the 1901 and 1911 cencus's
He brought up his brothers after their father died, kept his stepmother and her sisters, and had his own shop:............. Then he vanished.
My granddad talked about his family and he never mentioned him so i couldn't figure it out, I spent ages searching records all over the country, then checking out the ww1 records n found nothing at all
Then one day I was checking some info on my granddad brother and just for some random reason I put in the mystery uncles name on the passenger lists . . . And there he was not dead as I thought but emigrating to Australia!
Suddenly a comment in my Granadads brothers letter home in 1950 made sense (he mentioned "your niece" in a letter to my granddads dad, but I never realised what he was saying! "
Quick check on AustralianWW1 records n I had his address, wifes first name and his date of death!
Why I never thought to check if he emigrated I have no idea, could have saved myself YEARS of searching
Gaille
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Links with derbyshire, turned out to be the surname derbyshire not the area.
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It's all part of the learning process. That's why genealogy is such a great pastime - learning all the tricks and tips which don't get you through brick walls, but around the sides of them. I had one particular "Dohhh !" moment when I first started - I asked how I could get the mother's maiden name of someone born in 1833, when there were no birth certificates. Then one of the RC regulars asked if the person had any siblings born on/after 1837 (which he did), and they suggested getting the birth certificate for one of those...... "Dohhh !"
People did tend to remarry in what often seemed like undue haste in those days, but for them the priority was for the welfare of their children, before affairs of the heart.
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I was whacking my head on the desk for months trying to find someone in the 1881. They were in the 1891, but not the 1881.
Eventually I thought of looking up the neighbour they lived next door to in the 1891. There they were in 1881 at the same address, and they also had my people living next to them. My people had been indexed with the neighbours' surname :P
Cheers,
China
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I'm not sure if there is a thread somewhere on RC like this but I haven't seen it. Apologies if there is.
We all have those 'Eureka' moments when we've discovered something by looking at it from a different angle, so could we share them?
I have been doing some transcribing of 1955 deaths for BMD recently and have discovered that quite a few deaths are registered in names which I would consider shortened or nicknames. Just this morning I have found 'Flossie', 'Lizzie' and 'Betty'.
There is a chance these are genuine names but, as we know, it all depends on the person registering the death. It has never occurred to me to search for 'Lizzie' or 'Betty' when trying to find a death record of Elizabeth.
Rishile
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I'm not sure if there is a thread somewhere on RC like this but I haven't seen it. Apologies if there is.
We all have those 'Eureka' moments when we've discovered something by looking at it from a different angle, so could we share them?
There is a 'Eureka moments' thread here - started only a week or so ago :D
http ://www .rootschat. com/forum/index.php/topic,586994.msg4381106.html#msg4381106
Moderator Comment: topics now merged
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I have been doing some transcribing of 1955 deaths for BMD recently and have discovered that quite a few deaths are registered in names which I would consider shortened or nicknames. Just this morning I have found 'Flossie', 'Lizzie' and 'Betty'.
There is a chance these are genuine names but, as we know, it all depends on the person registering the death. It has never occurred to me to search for 'Lizzie' or 'Betty' when trying to find a death record of Elizabeth.
My mother's name is Peggy, which is a recognized nickname/pet name for Margaret. When she gives her name to, for example, the local council they sometimes try to 'correct' it to Margaret and she then has the hassle of getting it 'uncorrected' - because her name really really honestly is Peggy ::)
She finds it quite annoying and blames her parents. I'm just glad I'm not researching her ;D
Carol