EUREKA! But why didn't I think of that before?

[GrahamSimons]

I must say I agree with previous posts here - if you find a brick wall, a dead end, or your research runs into the sand, try following a different line for a while; leave some notes for yourself to help jog the memory.

I had no fewer than three Eureka (or serendipitous) moments while wandering in the SoG Library having wrapped up my targeted research for the day. One history of a company which had biographical sketches and excerpts from letters of both my gg grandfather and my ggg grandfather; a book on ships of the Tyne which linked to a (mildly unsuccessful) master mariner; and the Sons of The Repulic of Texas which led to correspondence with descendants of my ggg uncle and some amazing tales from the early days in the US.

[myluck!]

I feel there is no indefinite brick wall; some as long as the great wall of china but......

My major eureka moment was when helping a friend with a relative in the RIC (Royal Irish Constabulary). They were on the Irish Census in their barracks with only initials - we could find several intials that match but could prove nothing until it struck me that the constables were the enumerators; we went back to the census records for each area and checked the signature of the enumerators to find the names of the constables and we found him, and because we found him we found his wife and family in the same area and were able to trace siblings previously unknown!

I think it is a little like doing a crossword, sometimes just saying the clue out loud, or to someone helps!!!

[LizzieW]

Congrats to all.  I'm still waiting for my Eureka moment, to trace my g.grandfather's past.  Unfortunately, common name, apparently born Bethnal Green, apparently Spanish/Portuguese mother, didn't marry g.grandmother so no certificate with father's name (false or not), means no clues to follow.

Lizzie

[barryd]

{Buried} "28 Apr 1872 Barbara Dawson [Routledge], of Sheriff Hill, age: 20.  The name Dawson was on the coffin plate, I learnt on 29th April that the death was registered as Barbara Routledge". Note on the Burial Records St. John, Gateshead Fell, County Durham. Barbara is my Great Great Great Aunt whose mother was unmarried. Her mother Isabella then lived with a George Dawson and had 11 children with him.

[GrahamSimons]

An ancestor inherited in a C17 Will two manors (he lost them soon after as he was on the wrong side at the Restoration, so the good news didn't last). They are merely named as Cromer and Luffnall. Printed sources say they're in Norfolk. I spent ages with the Manorial Documents Register, gazetteers and OS Get-A-Map to no avail: I couldn't find Luffnall. Then for some reason I looked for Cromer: after all we all know of Cromer in Norfolk. And here was the revelation: there are two small settlements within a couple of miles of each other in Hertfordshire called Luffenhall and - Cromer! So - don't trust secondary sources; don't trust what you think you know unless you check; and just keep looking!

[Latchfordian]

Many thanks to you all for giving me your views and sharing your experiences. It's reassuring to learn that many of you have "been there" at some time! 

Jim

[Gaille]

I've had a few eureka moments where I thought after "why didn't I think of that ?"

My granddad had an uncle that vanished between the 1901 and 1911 cencus's
He brought up his brothers after their father died, kept his stepmother and her sisters, and had his own shop:............. Then he vanished.
My granddad talked about his family and he never mentioned him so i couldn't figure it out, I spent ages searching records all over the country,  then checking out the ww1 records n found nothing at all

Then one day I was checking some info on my granddad brother and just for some random reason I put in the mystery uncles name on the passenger lists . .       . And there he was not dead as I thought but emigrating to Australia!

Suddenly a comment in my Granadads brothers letter home in 1950 made sense (he mentioned "your niece" in a letter to my granddads dad, but I never realised what he was saying! "

Quick check on AustralianWW1  records n I had his address, wifes first name and his date of death!

Why I never thought to check if he emigrated I have no idea, could have saved myself YEARS of searching

Gaille

[weste]

Links with derbyshire, turned out to be the surname derbyshire not the area.

[Nick29]

It's all part of the learning process.  That's why genealogy is such a great pastime - learning all the tricks and tips which don't get you through brick walls, but around the sides of them.  I had one particular "Dohhh !"  moment when I first started - I asked how I could get the mother's maiden name of someone born in 1833, when there were no birth certificates.  Then one of the RC regulars asked if the person had any siblings born on/after 1837 (which he did), and they suggested getting the birth certificate for one of those...... "Dohhh !"

People did tend to remarry in what often seemed like undue haste in those days, but for them the priority was for the welfare of their children, before affairs of the heart.