You never know whats around the corner!

[MarkyP]

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!

[PrueM]

Hi MarkyP 
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! 

Prue

[yn9man]

Hi MarkyP -   

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

[old rowley]

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

[KathMc]

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

[deeiluka]

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   

[yn9man]

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

[liverpool annie]

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 !! 

[Jayson]

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!  A wedding dress from 1787 . . . what does a wedding dress from this period look like?

Jayson