Bones or Meaty Bones

[softcoats]

 Hi
I started my tree, like probably many others, after losing both my parents within a short period and finding old family photo's in their belongings and remembering little snippets of "Stories", Also shortly afterwards  the BBC series started .
Here I am 4 years later with so many bricks in the wall it makes the great wall of China that look like a garden path!
My question is do I keep trying to get further back, do I side step and try grandparents siblings, or should I just try to put meat on the bones that I already have.
I now find that I have time on my hands to try to knock down a few bricks but funds are very low [made redundant]
Any advise greatly appeciated

Jean

[g a r]

My question is do I keep trying to get further back, do I side step and try grandparents siblings, or should I just try to put meat on the bones that I already have.

From my own experience, researching grandparents siblings can lead to discoveries that help your main quest. I have found more than once relatives visiting each other on census day.

Also finding out how your ancestors lived, histories of the places they lived in can be quite enriching as well.

Finding out more about their occupations has helped me several times as well.

So all the things you suggest can apply - do what interests you most and certainly ask for help here at rootschat.

cheers,
g a r

[lizdb]

It is really personal choice, but my preference is to go for a tree that starts at the top with one chap and branches out as it goes down, rather than starting with one person (you) at the bottom and branching out as it goes up!!
Finding out about grandparents siblings, I agree with g a r , can produce leads to going back further, and also makes the family 'story' so much more interesting. I like to find out all I can about each person in my tree, rather than just use them as a step to the next generation back. So that means finding out about their parents, children, siblings, birth, christening, marriage, death, burial, Will, their work, addresses they lived at at various times, what they did in the war (if relevant) and anything else that comes up!

Will that keep you occupied for a while?

[kerryb]

It is really personal choice, but my preference is to go for a tree that starts at the top with one chap and branches out as it goes down, rather than starting with one person (you) at the bottom and branching out as it goes up!!

I have to agree with this, somehow it seems easier to start with someone up the tree and work downwards rather than the other way round.  This way seems to brings the rewards by getting clues to brickwalls via siblings and looking at naming patterns and such things.

Personal choice - mine at the moment, seems to be all over the place, one day I'm on one bit of the tree, the next another.  I wish I was more organised!!!

Kerry

[softcoats]

hI
Many thanks for your replies.
I have taken on board all your comments and will carry on in my unorganised way, jumping from person to person. As you say one day I will maybe knock a few bricks down along the way.
Thanks for your comments
Kind regards
Jean