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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: supersan on Tuesday 24 May 05 16:42 BST (UK)
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I was thinking about this the other day, how it happened to me, i was taking to my great aunt while looking through an old photo album, i'd had the album for years a gift from my gran, but i didn't know who anybody was, my great aunt knew them all, and lots of gems about their characters, i started to write it down, and my obsession began there, interested to know what suddenly clicked with the rest of you! Sandra ;D
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Well this has been done before on here some where ,but never mind !
I think its alot to do with us all being Nosey , and want to find out what they were up to and like !!
But me i wanted to know about my father ,
But when i found him i knew his dads name then i wanted to know about him , and on it continues :D
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Well this has been done before on here some where ,but never mind !
I think its alot to do with us all being Nosey , and want to find out what they were up to and like !!
But me i wanted to know about my father ,
But when i found him i knew his dads name then i wanted to know about him , and on it continues :D
Sorry didnt know the question had already been asked, i think i must just be nosey too ;DSandra
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??? ??? ??? ??? ???
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I think anyone, like myself, whose grandfather owned horses which raced at the Curragh in Co. Kildare, Ireland and whose grandmother was the daughter of a Norwegian seafarer would at some stage in their lifetime begin to take an interest in their family history.
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My grandmother. She knew everyone and their lineage. When she died last November I realised just what we'd lost. Not only a wonderful person but so much knowledge. I vowed at her graveside that I wouldnt let that happen...and here I am at all hours of the day and night trying to piece it all together. I tell her how I'm doing as I know she's watching. I'm sure she's laughing too when I'm banging my head against real and imaginary brickwalls and saying "if only you'd listened more and talked less".
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My quest to trace the family tree started in 1977, when I on trip to England I tried unsuccessfully to locate any information about my mystery paternal Grandmother (Eva Elsie Hicks). Back in Australia I decided to start at the beginning with her marriage certificate. I then discovered that my Grandfather was not an only child as previously thought but had several brothers and sisters, with his father marrying twice. ON ON ON and on now have over 400 names on the tree, have meet new cousins, some I am glad are on the branches some I wish had fallen off.
Returning to the question of who my Grandmother was, well 30 years down the track I am not that much wiser. I do know that she wasn’t born in Inverness in 1887 ( as per marriage certificate) but Sussex in 1889 and christened Elsie Emma. I have managed to “find” her family but she remains a mystery whom future generations may be able to solve.
Robraw
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I think anyone, like myself, whose grandfather owned horses which raced at the Curragh in Co. Kildare, Ireland and whose grandmother was the daughter of a Norwegian seafarer would at some stage in their lifetime begin to take an interest in their family history.
Wow, Christopher,
Not many people are lucky enough to find ancestors with such interesting lives, even when they go way back, what a start! sandra :o
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2 things. My Grandmother said my Great Grandfather died in an asylum, (not sure if thats true, but will keep looking) and also our Surname is spelled differently to everyone elses. McGoverne (with an e on the end)
Sheldon.
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My father was a black sheep of the family, when I born we moved from Sheffield into Nottinghamshire.
He never spoke about his parents or his siblings, but one, his sister, who used to visit.
He died many years ago and I was left with a 'void ' for my background, I was the only one with my surname in Nottinghamshire and no one to ask 'who was I', so being the same minded (nosey) as the rest of you 'rootschatters' I decided it was time to fill in the 'void'.
I have found two cousins, a second cousin with the promise of another plus I have the enthusiasm and help from friends and so minded people as the ones on this great site, to fill the void.
Bryan
8)
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Dear Supersan - Thomas Keneally ( well known Australian) summed it up for me - he wrote:-
' There is a new religion - the type that sees colonials beetling through ancestral relics and documentation. The impulse to know who our great grandparents were is a profound impulse, an instinctive tendency towards ancestor worship - a natural religion, almost genetic. We re-invigorate our imagination by finding our ghosts, even if they were a crazy pack of bastards' -
Love it !
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What a sad story, Flipster - I mean the loss of all that knowledge. In our family we all thought we would remember the old stories, but we forgot to write it down and after the oldies had gone it suddenly all became very vague.
Love the Kenneally quote, Emmeline. Love Thomas Kenneally, actually. I met him once at a book festival here in NZ when my husband and I were asked to 'mind' him for a couple of hours. Ended up at the nearest pub and had a fabulous time talking and listening to him.
Ros
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Well said Tom!!!!!! (as usual)
Thanks Emm, :)
cheers,
Wendy
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Dear Piedstilt - What a great story to tell another Kiwi. Thank you.
Thank you WendyMc - Glad you appreciated it.
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What a sad story, Flipster - I mean the loss of all that knowledge. In our family we all thought we would remember the old stories, but we forgot to write it down and after the oldies had gone it suddenly all became very vague.
Ros
It is sad but I'm enjoying walking in her footsteps. If only I could make bread pudding the way she did - my inheritance was her secret recipe, she never gave it to anyone else! Maybe she knew then that this would be my destiny...canny woman, my Nan ;D
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Great you had such a bond with your gran, Flipster. Mine were formidable little old ladies in black dresses and I never knew them well enough to feel affection rather than duty! (It's Sunday afternoon and you are visiting your grandmother, like it or not ...).
Ros
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Oh I had one of those too. Maternal grandmother was awful. When I returned from NZ I went to see where her ashes were scattered in the crematorium. I guessed straight away - there was a huge bank of nettles!! No love lost there as you can tell. Though her family are very interesting with all sorts of scandals emerging...One up to me!
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Makes you wonder though what happened to make those formidable black clad ladies the way they were.
What were they like as children or young women,did they have hopes and dreams that went sour or were they born with a lemon in their mouth?
If those old photos could only speak...
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I think in my case, her dreams went sour. Her mother apparently was an absolute scream according to my mum, not at all prim and proper! Her dad, on the other hand, was a horrid man. Its only recently having read letters sent to her in WW1 from her favourite uncle (killed in the war) and WW2 from her youngest brother (killed in that war) that I have started to at least understand her abit. As I said to my mum, I dont condone or forgive her behaviour, but I think I can see where it all started to go wrong.
A clairvoyant told me once my spirit guide was an old lady dressed in lilac standing behind my right shoulder driving me on...this nan always wore lilac! I asked if there was a knife in her hand ;D If so, I wasnt being driven on, I was running like heck!
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There wasn't one person in my family who could tell me about my G Grandparents.I wanted to find out who these people were ,where they came from and what happened to them? When I did find out I must admit I felt a bit emotional. I came across a piece in a S Australian F&LH article. Some may find it cheesey......... for me it explained a lot.I'll repeat it for those who haven't come across it........
We are the chosen.My feelings are that in each family there is one who seems called to find the ancestors. To put flesh on their bones and make them live again.To tell the family story and to feel somehow they know and approve. To me, doing genealogy is not a code gathering of facts but, instead, breathing life into all that have gone before. We are the storytellers oof the tribe.All tribes have one. We have been called as it were by our genes.Those that have gone before cry out to to us:tell our story. So, we do.In finding them,we somehow find ourselves.How many graves have I stood before now and cried? I have lost count.How many times have I told the ancestors you have a wonderful family you would be proud of us? How many times have I walked up to a grave and felt somehow there was love for me? I cannot say. It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who am I and why do I do the things I do? It goes to seeing a cemetery about to be lost forever to weeds and indifference and saying I can't let this happen. The bones here are the bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh.It goes to doing something about it.It goes to pride in what our ancestors were able to accomplish.How they contributed to what we are today.It goes to respecting their hardships and losses,their nevergiving in or giving up,their resoluteness to go on and build a life for their own family. It goes to deep pride that they fought to make and keep us a nation.It goes to a deep and immense understanding that they were doing it for us.That we might be born who we are.That we might remember them.So we do.With love and caring and scribing each fact of their existence, because we are them and they are us. I telll the story of my family.It is up to that one called in the next generation to answer the call and take the place in the long line of family storytellers. That, is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what calls those young and old to step up and put Flesh on the bones.
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Mine is a similar story and yes I too seem to be 'the one' in the family left to piece it all together. The journey so far, has been frustrating (most of the people who could help have already gone to God), rewarding, exciting, tiring, satisfying and more. I have been lucky enough to find living relatives, even met some, but most of all it's the friendships that have been formed just through giving and receiving help and having the same strange interest in this stuff. Some of these people I know will be with me forever on this journey and that makes it all worthwhile.
Nice one Cardiff.
Wendy
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Cardiff,
Loved it, says it all, not too cheesey either! Started my day off nicely...Thank you.
Flipster
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Cardiff
That was really nice.
For me, it started out when I found out the my last name really wasn't the real name. My great-grandfather changed it upon coming to Canada. My dad found out in 1969. I did not find out till later and then I was young and didn't have any questions. Now, I am trying to place all my lines, the problem is, is that I get a little bit of information, but then I get greedy and want to know more. It's neverending! Now that I am married, I have my husband's last name, but it's not really his either since his father was adopted.
Karen
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I'm sure I've replied on one of these 'why genealogy?' threads before, but nevermind. You'll just have to cope with me repeating myself because I think you've all come up with some interesting points.
Cardiff, I've seen that piece from an article on another site and I think it's a great way of expressing why many people probably trace their tree. I agree whole heartedly.
I felt the same need to fill the void that Bryan mentioned. My family either didn't talk about their past, or on my mum's side, didn't KNOW about their past. Funnily enough it also relates to the bitter old lady syndrome that Ros, Flipster and GalaxyJane were talking about, my own Nan being one of them!
I personally refused to beleive that someone could be such a negative, horrible person without reason, so I wanted to find out why she was like that. I don't think anyone else ever bothered to wonder why. Thanks to researching, turns out she had good reason. Not a very stable childhood.
Like Flipster said, it doesn't excuse a person's behaviour, but it gave me some insight into how my Nan's mind works and made me more able to understand. I just hope I don't end up as one of those types of old lady! :-X LOL
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Well I was never interested in my history.... at least until they were all gone!! I used to envy my friend with her exciting Irish heritage.... now I realise I am more Irish than she was!!
I started asking a few questions one day and trying to piece it together and realised that everyone knew so little!! The detective in me set out.... my grandad tried to do this about 35 years ago and got nowhere.... I'm sure he's watching me now and helping....
.... andI've had the spookiest experiences since I started.... I think my ancestors are trying to help me.... discovered my great grandparents are buried about 200 yards from my house!! Left the computer one night with a pad of scribbles cos I couldn't understand where three of the kids had gone between censuses - put the pad in the cabinet. Went into the room next morning and there was the pad with ' died of meninigitis, aged 6 years' and 'died scarlet fever aged 7 years' written down....
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It may have something to do with the genes .... I have come across 4 other very distant relatives also searching and we are all offshoots of the one main line. in all of our cases descendants of other lines have shown absolutely no interest.
Re understanding .... I don't know if I am any closer to understanding any of them but there are several I would love to have known and several others I wouldn't admit to knowing ;D
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My family's search began when my grandmother reached retirement age (early 1960s). Apparently, there was no proof of her existance. Her mother had always told her that when she was born (1902), there was no legal requirement to register births. Tosh, of course.
Back then, tracing family history was difficult. The powers that be accepted other evidence (plus an affidavit, I think) and she was eventually granted a pension.
My mother attempted another search in the late 60s or early 70s - to no avail. She started again a couple of years ago and that is when I became involved. My grandmother was born in a workhouse and no father is recorded on her birth certificate. The man who she had thought was her father married her mother a couple of years after she was born (and at the time of her birth, he was living at the opposite end of the county). However, as far as we are concerned he was her "real" father if not by blood.
We have a couple of candidates for the 'blood' father but, short of surrupticiously pricking people with the same surname with a pin and doing DNA tests, I don't think we'll get very far.
And in the long run, does it really matter? As far as my grandmother was concerned, the man she knew was her father and, my mother thought was her grandfather. As has been mentioned elsewhere on this site, there are so many illegitimacies that we are probably all taking the wrong routes somewhere along the line.
Anyway, to get back on topic, this is what got me started. That, an interest in history and a penchant for research. Oh - for heaven's sake, I'm nosey!!!
Deborah
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Oh - for heaven's sake, I'm nosey!!!
probably the best summary of us all ;D ;D
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My Aunty (mums twin sister) died in 1997 just before my first child was born and I thought it was really sad that my whole family in all the world amounted to 7 people. My Aunties three children, My Mum, me and my two brothers. So I decided for the sake of my children that I would find out as much as I could about my Mums side of the family. I started very, very slowly (when you had to pay to see the 1901 census and 91, 71, 61 where just a fastasy) and didnt really get anywhere, then pow, along came internet geneaology and before I knew it my tiny family was not so tiny anymore (over 350 proven names - not including in laws etc). It has been a fantastic journey, still with many more miles to go, but the best thing has been all the amazing people I have met that have a passion for hanging out with dead peeps (my husbands term !!!). I salute you, arm chair geneaologists and the real coffin stompers out there, one and all. Whilst looking for a dead family I seem to have found a whole new one amongst you guys that is very much alive and kicking. ;D
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I Migrated to Auss, a real newbie, that a trip to the local store would take me hours, could never find the same shopping centre or my way home. I was always lost!! then one day lost again came across a street with my mothers maiden name. Thought ODD, unusual surname, and here is a street with the same name. I went to the local library and found that all the streets and this particular suburb was named after villages in and around Scarborough Yorkshire, the bug bit me!!
Years later I remarried and sat one night with a bottle of wine and as the conversation goes, I asked my husband if he could meet anyone dead or alive who would he choose. I picked famous and infamous people. My husband said he would like to meet his grandmother, whom he never met. I felt rather selfish by his answer, as I grew up knowing my grandparents and even my great grandfather. I thought well I can't grant his wish, but I could find out about her. Next question - what was her name?? the only information that he could give was her name was Katherine, she was German and lived in Pennsylvania. Oh boy what a task!!. I wrote to people with the same surname, and weeks later received a letter from a family member. My husband was told of cousins, Aunts and Uncles whom he never knew he had. Thankfully also Grandma's maiden name (spelled wrong) Since that time, with thanks to family members I been able to show my husband photo's of his grandparents, cousins and other family members. Family stories, and most importantly, how the family all knew of my husbands existence, and Grandma did have photo's of him when he was a young child. So I'm sure that they both would have loved to have met each other, just never had the opportunity.
Jane
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G'Day All!
Fantastic new insight's,never mind it's been done before,new blood,new life!
My interest is well catalogued on this site,initially my maternal G'Ma,who was never talked about,hardly ever,if ever visited in the Asylum/Refuge that she spent a large,part of her life in,til her death.
Family tale's,remark's,shushing's,have all stayed in my mind luckily.Little ear's are sometime's more receptive than realised!!
Thank you all for your contribution's,that's part of this site's
greatness,long may it be so.
Sincerely,Goggy.
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Hello to everyone--
I started being interested when hearing, from a cousin of my late father, of my gt.grandmother who sailed from Liverpool to Australia when she was 14 to join an older sister who had emigrated a few years before. My gt.grandmother was not accompanied on this voyage - what a journey it must have been!!
Have found quite a lot of info. on her and her family, and it makes very interesting reading.
Good luck to all fellow 'researchers' :) :) :) :)
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I was always curious about my ancestors from looking at old photo's.
When I became a Granny I thought that it would be nice to compile a tree for my grandchildren and add family photo's together with my memories..............before I forgot!! ::)
Sue
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I needed something to do in the evening after finishing organising my wedding! ;D
I thought it would also be a nice thing to do for my son as he will inherit all of the family photos and by doing this they won't just be unknown faces.
Also now I'm married my dad and his brother are the last of one side of the family. Shame the name is't carring on, but it really would not work as a double barrelled name. :)
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I had looked into my grandfathers military career in 1972 because I had his WWI death cert. & was mildly curious, but that's as far as it went because no 22 year old wants to be pre-occupied with old bones when there are girls & cars etc. to experience. So nothing happened until 2001 when I learned that because my grandfather was born in Ireland I was entitled to Irish citizenship through the Foreign Birth Registry. I needed a lot of documents for this, got them & my citizenship. Then I was hooked & had a NEED to find out about the rest of the family & have been slowly & quietly going mad ever since.
Roger McCalmont
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I have always had an interest in my family history, because there has always been a great big skeleton in my grandmother's closet regarding the paternity of my father. Dad has always said that the man Gran married was not his father, (they divorced when Dad was a baby) but this was based on his own speculations, nothing concrete. Still for years I believed it.
Add to this that the man was an Italian and changed his name in WW2. I never knew where MY surname came from until 1987 when my Gran told me it was her mother-in-law's maiden name. So at least he picked a family name!
So, nothing was done for years and I didn't think of it again until Gran died, and Dad brought back her paperwork from Scotland. In it were quite a few old certificates, and I began to wonder about who these people were. So I began my research in 2002.
I got nowhere and gave up fast. ::)
This year in April I decided to start again. I started with 75 known names and it has grown now to 360. This is my total tree, inlaws and all, but I am pleased so far. I have made contact with three distant cousins, all of whom have helped a great deal, and I feel like I have a family now after all! I have also found that Dad's dad IS probably the Italian (a great shock to him!) and so I am continuing this line, although Italian genealogy is difficult.
Nina