Brick Walls

[Vasquez109]

Oh dear! Have you thought about a holiday to Ireland to resolve this? Might be of some value to you (depending where you live now obviously).

[ali607]

hey iv got huge walls like the rest of you, many of which will remain im sure for some years to come yet! However iv found that the following tools are extremely valuable in wall demolishing:

a) A LOT of persistance and willingness to go to any lengths to solve it - even things you wouldnt normally do like knocking on strangers doors for example. Also if you try doing something and it doesnt work first time you need to keep trying - yes you will annoy people lol but you need to be like that to knock down great walls of china!!

b) you need to accept that you're probably not going to solve it fully in the near future - but you might make tiny steps which all help in the end. You need to be satisfied with that and keep having a stab once a year or so - if it still seems impossible even with new angles then just try again in a few months time.

c) When your family have no/limited knowledge on the person/matter in question you need to seriously - and i mean persistenly look elsewhere such as googling with "..." and particularly every few months re search Genes Reunited and contact ANY - i repeat ANY possible relations! I found a man who had been researching my family for 30 years in this way - all i entered was an adress that my family lived at in 19th century! Iv knocked down many BIG brick walls this way - bit its very important to KEEP searching every few months cos things appear online all the time.

d) you need to think AROUND obstacles and accept that going a log way out of your way and sometimes onto a completely different line to solve something about an ancestor. Googling not only names but also known addresses is often a good 'wall basher'.

e) also accept that money goes a long way in wall bashing - sometimes its just better to cut to the chase and spend a few pounds rather than waste another few years searching - for instance to find living or recently deceased relatives (or indeed to find out if theyre still alive) use traceline - yes it costs but you can have an answer in 5 working days...also National archives and other archives - searches cost but save up and it will be worth it in the end.

f) Its important to give your brain a rest from one major 'line of enquiry cos you begin to not be able to see the wood for the trees. Fresh mind tackles things in new ways and looks at more obscure records and thinks round things better.

g) ask questions to older rellies before theyre gone - and show them photos - theyre the only link you may ever have - once theyre gone theyre gone!

Iv just solved a huge brickwall which people have always told me I would NEVER do - they were telling me that just a matter of weeks ago.

A lot of the battle is belief that one day you will solve it. Be persistant and think round problems and always asking other rellies that you have found on the net. Thats my key to the bit of success iv had.

Hope that helps.
Dont be defeated!
Alison

[ali607]

ps i think if we could 'trade' brick walls on rootschat it would be great!

Alison

[Lydart]

Lots of excellent advice Alison.  Ways you suggest have worked for me ... like thinking sideways; keeping going back to old sites which get updated; putting requests on all the boards like Rootsweb ... 1% get answered, if you are lucky, but its that lucky one that you are waiting for.  And of course, what better than RootsChat !!

I'm now waiting (im)patiently for the 1911 and 1921 censuses ... if I live that long !    But even so, if I don't, then my notes and where I've got to might help one of my children or grandchildren to continue the search.     Think large time scale on this one !

[Vasquez109]

Some very good points there Alison! Persistance is the key. Sadly, the persistance here is slowly wearing thin!

Older relatives do not know, and I have nobody else to turn to.

AARRGGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!

[william james]

Hi all
Now what you need is a nice story of how brick walls come tumbling down to cheer you all up.
So here goes.
Like most people i could trace my gg aunt through her birth marriage and death.
But could i find any info on her siblings NO.
I had info on 7 of them but new there was more, but no matter where i looked brick walls all round.
Then out of the blue i got a letter from my great aunt saying that a member of that family had been to see her, by chance and she was interested in the family tree, and wanted info,
Well we meet for the first time ever 2 weeks ago and wow i have more info than i know what to do with now.
By the way the family i was looking for was called SMITH
and i have waited 25 years for this info.
So never give up.
William James

[MarieC]

That is encouraging, William!  And I will need a relative to appear out of the blue to solve mine!  I have done all of what is suggested above, as far as possible, but I am one of those who left it too late to ask a couple of the oldies who might have known some things I need to find!

And Vasquez, since I am in Australia, a holiday in Ireland is not too easy to organise!  Maybe some time in the future...

MarieC

[Vasquez109]

Yes! That is such good news and very encouraging! There is hope for us all.

Marie, have you any contacts in Ireland that could do some searching for you?

[MarieC]

Vasquez,

A very kind Rootschatter did some searching for me a couple of years ago, and I also paid an Irish researcher an obscene amount of money to do a little more.  (Irish researchers charge like wounded bulls!!  )  I don't have anyone now who could do any looking. 

I did post on the Dublin board to see if anyone could look for a headstone in the Mount Jerome cemetery, but unfortunately no answers so far!!   

It is extremely difficult to do research in Ireland unless you physically go there, or unless you pay megabucks to a researcher.  And the one I had left a little to be desired. 

MarieC