Trouble over Family History !!!

[alllegs]

Hehehe  This is an interesting topic of discussion....

My mum tries so hard to be interested and understand what I'm going on about 24/7 but to be quite honest it goes right over her head!

My dad is interested too but he can only take so much of me saying 'well today we'll celebrate grgrgr granny and grandads 148th wedding anniversary!'

My sister is only interested in the unusual names, to see what she can call her kids (she is only 21 and doing a degree and doesn't want kids till shes 30!), but she has a growing list of names!

My friends are at extremes, some are really interested and want me to help with their trees (1 friends mum keeps ringing me asking for help, and my next door neighbour is always questioning me on msn!) and the rest just don't care.

The grandparents (3 left) are all fascinated by my finds, especially my maternal gran who never knew any of her maternal family and never expected me to be able to find anything out about her secretive ancestors, a brick wall I am proud to say has been well a truely demolished in the last couple of months!

My boyf is interested, he has an 'interesting' family, his great great grandfather was a Norwegian seaman who jumped ship and ended up in Liverpool, he changed his name to Mr Smith so he wouldn't be found and then married a French lady of the night!  And boyf's mother is Irish.....  Need I say more?!!!  He just wants me to teach him history....

I think the dog is the only one who actually listens to me going on and on without a bored look in his eyes....awwwwww

As for graveyards......I LOVE 'em, my dad does accompany me to them though just in case I get so engrossed I never come home!  I couldn't care less what other people think and drag whoever is with me into any we pass on the off chance I might find something of interest.  I always have a pen and pad in my bag, plus the digi cam or my mobile phone cam.

Love
Legs
xxxx

[Zelley]

A most interesting subject.   When we were young it is highly
unlikely we would have been interested in family history.

Now, years later, us brave or foolish few that walk down the endless path in search of connections past and present
will encounter a variety of reactions from close to
distant relatives or in-laws and maybe an outlaw or two.

The important point is we must live with the fact that
we will encounter mixed views on the subject. So, we
 continue to search and communicate with the understanding
that we will never reach the end of the road with the many twists and turns.

[Maid of Kent]

Reading these comments has really made my day!  My family show little to no interest in my hobby and it's so good to hear that others are in the same boat - thank goodness for my three cats one of which always sits on my desk, with her tail sometimes switching over the keys. She would appear to be the only family member to be interested in my hobby.
Meg

[BevL]

You know what really annoys me?  It's when you tell someone you are interested in genealogy and you find out they are as well - and then they completely take overand start telling you about their boring family and don't let you spout about your own family!!!

[Zelley]

You know what really annoys me?  It's when you tell someone you are interested in genealogy and you find out they are as well - and then they completely take overand start telling you about their boring family and don't let you spout about your own family!!!

However, if one listens long enough,  a connection may be found,
then  it would shed new light onto their family (and yours)!!

[patrish]

I think that can be said for most of us BevL and lets be honest it is our family's we are interested in not theirs, atlhough I always listen..

As Zelley says you do learn things by listening to others, My friend and I discovered that we share some same surnames and not common ones. which is ironic because it was her who first got me interested.


Patrish

[Lydart]

My family (I'm the family 'matriarch) are all in their 30's, they don't show much interest, BUT my grand-daughter aged 13, is interested, so guess who gets the updates now.  She's really amazed that Granny can use the internet, web-sites, etc. !  Life in the OAP yet !

BUT, I have a cousin in Canada who is really keen; she spent 5 weeks here recently, and we toured Dorset and Manchester together looking for 'where the ancestors lived' !!  I'm fortunate that I live with a friend who is similarly researching her family ... so we sit, lap-tops on knees, tapping away, 'looking stuff up' !!

Beats TV, knitting, snoozing and other OAP occupations ... and its cheap(ish), uses the grey cells, gets you out and about, connects you with others (on RC, of course) and isn't fattening ... but, oh dear, it is an addiction !!

Lydart

[pennine]

This thread has some resonance for me. At my husbands works  xmas 'do' a couple of years ago he introduced me to a guy who he said was also tracing his family tree. However when I got talking to the chap it seemed that he had not done very much at all. I asked him if he was new to it but he said no he had being doing it for a number of years but had got stuck. I asked what family name he was chasing basically to say if I came across anything I would let him know. Big mistake! Huge! He droned on for two hours about how difficult it was because his family had a very unusual name. I commented that that should make it easier but he denied that. Again I asked the name and he said  wait for it - Wilson! I kept looking at hubby begging him with my eyes to rescue me. Eventually when the chap went to the loo I moved to sit elsewhere and hubby came over. I asked him why he had lumbered me with this guy. His reply was well 'he was boring the backside off me I can't do with him'. I smiled sweetly and said 'he is behind you and has heard every word you have said'. Vengence is sweet
Pennine

[patrish]

Where ever did he get the idea that Wilson is an unusual name.