How do you choose?

[skymoo]

I was just wondering how everyone else chose which branch of their family to concentrate on.  At the moment I have traced all the 'easy' bits from online and now have four areas I am really interested in three of which are born outside England and causing me real problems.  The fourth is the obvious choice for me to work on and is the branch of  my family that are from the area where I live (I moved to Norfolk from London 6 years ago and find I have rellies from just down the road  ) I can easily get to Norwich Family History centre and am planning that now.  But those brick walls are just SO tempting that I keep coming back to them in the hope of breaking through.
The reason I ask is that my dad was tracing his tree until his death earlier this year.  On looking through all his papers I could see big gaps where, due to his illness, he had stayed online and kept to the records available.  With just a little bit more work on my part after his death I found his G Grandfather was born in Canada!  Seems such a shame now that what I consider an exciting find he never knew about    The rest of his family are firmly placed in West Ham and Woolwich with the earlier years in Kent.
Are you like me and really want to find out the stuff thats hard to find, or like my dad and go for what you can find relatively easily if you know what direction to head in?

[KathMc]

First, let me welcome you to Rootschat. You have come to the right place for help on anything genealogical. Great people happy to help.

Now, to your question: I didn't know we had to choose.  I can't. but you are right, finding the hard things is especially wonderful. But sometimes, it's that starting with the easy that gives you somewhere to go. I am presently working on all branches of my family. I work a little on each, move on from one to another when I hit brickwalls. It helps give me a fresh eye when I come back to it. I like to fill in gaps for siblings (work sideways) and learn what I can about life during my ancestors times.

I couldn't agree more about brickwalls. They are the ones I have become the most fascinated with also. Post some on Rootschat, maybe you'll get some answers. 

Kath

[Sarndra]

I just tend to find a line and do as much as i can on it.  I'm doing 80 lines at the moment.  Get bored with one line or strike a dead end, then i go back to another after a break and it's often then i strike gold :-)

Cheers
Sarndra
www.sarndra.com

[Sylviaann]

At first I just looked for the one name until I realised I had to go back to find the wives.  I did all back to 1837 and then went on the trail.  I do the main name first and then the wives and their wives etc ususally in alphabetic order or take the latest wife's family back as far as possible.  It is your choice really.

I am now on my third time around for my mothers side.  I estimate it will take me a couple of years.  Then I will start again on my fathers side but I definately have a dead end with his in 1812 in London.  He could have come from anywhere.

You do whatever takes your fancy really.

Sylviaann

[MarieC]

Sylviaann is right - you do what takes your fancy!    I don't rule anything out or in, and sometimes I find a really interesting family that is not in my direct line, and pursue it.  Sometimes going sideways gives you clues about your main line, too!    I don't think I'll ever finish!  Anyway, it's too much fun to finish.

MarieC

[trish251]

I spent months tracing the ancestors of my husband's aunt's husband - initially because his surname was the same as my husband's great grandmother's sister's husband - and I thought they may be related - I quickly found that they weren't but became quite fascinated with the family - despite them being very distant inlaws!

My husband thinks I'm weird   

Trish

[Josephine]

I'm researching as much of my and my husband's families as possible.

Sometimes there are dead ends; brick walls that might never be cracked.  Those depress me but I have to focus on the lines that I can follow.

Sometimes it depends on what is available online.  For example, my Beaumonts (from Gillingham, Kent) are well-documented in the parish records that are online for free at the Medway Ancestors site.  I spent a huge amount of time there, building a good tree almost from scratch.  In that family, I was able to trace siblings, their spouses, and their children, quite a ways.  Oh, joy.   

I recently found my great-grandparents on a ship's list in 1906 on Ancestry, of all places.  I had no idea they had arrived first in Philadelphia and then somehow made their way to Canada from there!  That ship isn't even listed on the (Canadian) ArchiviaNet site.  My grandfather was born in Canada in 1914, so I thought his parents had probably arrived circa 1913. 

That lovely discovery led to more discoveries and set me off again on that particular line. 

For my birthday, my husband gave me money so I could order some certificates, which will help prove some relationships for a few lines, and will get me going on those families.

It's never-ending, really.  The great thing about researching more than one family is that you're never stuck with nothing to do.  There are always new sites to search or new query letters to write or more certificates to send away for.

I'm sort of the family historian on both my and my husband's trees.  I have made binders for my aunts and a cousin.  Now I am making more for both sides of the family on different family groups.  This takes a lot of time, printing, thought and money.  It helps me organize what I've got and is a good motivator.

skymoo, I can relate to your sadness about not being able to share your discovery with your Dad.  I started researching my mother's tree after she died.  Her sister had already done some good work and I was able to take it back and learn quite a bit more.  I still wish I could tell her about everything that I'm finding.  I do get a lot of happiness from sharing the info with her sisters and her cousin.

Good luck on any research you undertake!  You are fortunate to live in one of your key areas of research!  I can't say that for any of my lines.

Regards,
Josephine

[meles]

I've been at this for 30 years. 

I go as the mood takes me. Sometimes I find something that makes me follow one line, then something else diverts me to another.

But whatever you do, make sure you record where your info came from. You'll kick yourself otherwise as you have to retrace your steps years later!

Good luck! 

meles

[Jayson]

I've been fortunate to have  made so many wonderful discoveries on my Bayley line that I haven't had the strength of personally to pull myself away from it.