Are we doing too much ?

[Marmalady]

Or make sure that your children have the same names as your brother's children (or a family with the same surname) - and peferably they all marry someone with the same forename! 

Ever come across multiple John/Ann couples in the same town!! 

I have a brother & sister called Thomas & Ann. They both married their cousins (same surname) also named Thomas & Ann.

Care to hazard a guess at what the children from both marriages were called?






Thats right -- Thomas & Ann


Dread to think of the confusion around the dinner table when they had a family get-together!

[RedMystic]

I too am on a journey and as I like the experience of investigating family members beyond my main lines (i.e. sisters & brothers, uncles & aunts - particularly if there was something of interest going on) I don't think I'll ever run out of things to search.

I've also been able to connect with a few distant relatives and am now planning trips across the seas to meet/visit them. The doors keep opening - and I will keep going as long as I am enjoying going through them.

[mrs.tenacious]

My research will be left for anyone who's interested.
Some may be pleased a major part of it is just there, ready to read and learn about.
Some may prefer to ignore it, and want to start the whole process again, just for their own enjoyment.
Some may want to just ignore it, because they simply aren't interested.
I can never leave the whole story, because there will always be something else to be discovered, or corrections to be made.

None of the above bothers me.  I started it all initially because my parents knew so little about their family history. What I've discovered so far, and been able to share, has been so rewarding.  It's also opened up communication with some of the wider family on both sides; really brought family members together. 

I'm just going to carry on doing it for my own enjoyment, but may leave it all in my will, in a big box, with a huge warning about how addictive it can be!

Mrs. T.

[RedMystic]

One note Mr. T said flagged something for me. I have made USB backup of the old photos I've recovered and store it in my safety deposit box with a page that is paper-clipped to our wills. The process can be repeated, but the photos are precious. I've also attached written explanations for some of the more difficult sluething / findings / documentation that I've completed so that anyone else that looks won't encounter the same brick walls. (Both pics and stories, of course, are a work in progress that I update and store from time to time.)

[nickgc]

As an American researcher whose ancestors came from many areas in Europe and the UK between 1619 (earliest found) and 1871(latest) I can't imagine ever running out of avenues to pursue.  Simply connecting those who immigrated in the early 1800s, or before, back to their origins is a huge challenge.  I have all my 2x great grandparents and all but one couple of my 3 x greats, but after that it thins out considerably.

What I have found is that if I can find a direct link back to where they were living overseas (for example with the more recent emigres), then I can do a pretty good job (with help from other RCers, of course) of tracking them back a few more generations.  But if he came over in the 1680s, and suggestions from old records are that he came from either England or France (yes, he has a French surname, but nearly all the other people on headrights lists with him have typically English surnames) then where does one begin?  Do I travel to England, or do I learn to speak better French?  (These two questions are rhetorical.)

So I don't think I'm doing too much.  My question might be are some people doing too little?   For example, when I find a tree, or a book, etc. that purports to take one of my lines back to a 9th or 10th great grandfather I don't take it at face value.  I do whatever I can to verify each connection for myself.   This happened recently in one of my Scottish lines and I was able to prove to my own and others satisfaction where there was a leap of faith that led to a wrong conclusion.

Nick

[weste]

Yes more cousins to marry cousins, different branches of the surname to marry and live in nearby areas. Have big families with different generations of the surname around the same area. Keep swopping your middle name and have several smith lines and also in the same areas as others and keep the same surnames amongst the generations in the same area, e.g. thomas son of thomas.
I am trying to get as many photos from relatives as possible. from my direct line and sidelines, Who knows what we will find. I am storing them on different media. I like using memory sticks for storing photos.

[mrs.tenacious]

I like using memory sticks for storing photos.

My son's been telling me for ages he thinks that's the best way to organise & store them. Guess I'll have to listen to him now!

RedMystic - what great ideas - and how organised you are!

[Icicle]

Well I think I may have put a small spanner in the works for  anyone in the future looking at the 2011 census here in Ireland. 

I, feeling very smug, and claiming to be the resident family expert insisted that I filled it in.

One of my sons was christened Michael and his birth cert, passport etc confirm this. However, he is known by everyone by a different name (long story - also my fault  )  One guess which name I put on the Census.

I think I might have got my Mums birthdate wrong as well.

OH is doing the next one 

A really not smug anymore Icicle