Ever had anyone turn up on the doorstep?!

[coombs]

I have found several collateral ancestors (ancestor siblings, cousins etc) who emigrated to America, Canada and Australia and I am researching them so one day I may get one distant cousin turn up on my doorstep with a Family Bible. 

[Gone]

I once lived in a very remote house in devon, It had been empty for about 12 years and was in a right old state. A single track road led to it and only two or three cars passed a day. One sunday a car went past, 2 minutes later went back the other way, then eventually came back, pulled in and the woman driving asked if it was the house that Miss Rocky lived in? It did belong to her once so the person was invited in, she had been an evacuee during ww2. We were treated to lots of stories about the house, the brother and sister that lived there, how the old chap had "shot" the front door when he put his shotgun down and that the old woman had taught the young evacuee to play the harmonium which set her on a path to be a life long musician. What a great way to spend a sunday afternoon :-)))

[Jane Masri]

I have not had anyone knocking on my door but I've been the one that's done the knocking 
The first time was on a visit to Dorking in Surrey where a great deal of my ancestors came from.  One in particular leased a mill in nearby Westcott.  I eventually found it & plucked up courage to ring the doorbell (it's now a VERY nice residence) I was about to walk away as there was no answer when a young man opened the door.  Having explained what I was about & the arrival of his mother, I was treated to a tour & shown photo's of the old mill.  What a thrill that was!
The second time was in Dorking itself where I had pin pointed the above ancestors house, an early Georgian house.  It was being used as an office but, again, having explained my connections to the house to a bemused receptionist, I was given a tour & allowed to take photo's of the original rooms (it had been extended at some point)  Because of my doorbell ringing I have wonderful images in my head of these two places that were so important to my ancestors 

Jane

[Gone]

Thats just reminded me Jane Masri;
as I live in Devon and half my family are in N Wales, my late aunt went and knocked on the door of the farm where someone I was looking into worked in the late 1800's and into the early 1900's. by the time she left, she had a studio photo of the man. sometimes you just have to be brave and try it
Griff

[Tiki1962]

I was looking for my great grandfather's family and so I researched his family in New Zealand working down the lines until the present day. I am in Australia. I thought if I rang them the worst they could do was to hang up. I rang,  I told them the story and six months later visited Auckland to meet in person. My distant cousin showed me photos of my great x 2 grandfather and grandmother and even sent me a copy of it! Best times! People can be so nice 
Tiki

[miriamkinga]

Great stories 

[Billyblue]

Back in 1954, we were having a New Year's Eve party at my place.
Around 10 o'clock the doorbell rang and I answered it to find an unknown man on the doorstep.
He said "You must be Dawn" and when I agreed, he said "I'm your Uncle Bill"

I didn't at that stage know I had an uncle Bill!  I called my Dad and the brothers who hadn't seen each other in years, were reunited.  Sadly, that's the only time I ever saw Uncle Bill, who died in 1955.  But at least I know his children and their families now.         

Dawn M

[Sinann]

When I went to the graveyard to take the dead flowers off our family graves there was a note left on my aunt and uncle's. This couple had lived in England and he was English but she had insisted she was to buried  with her parents in Ireland and so in time he had to join her.
The note was about his family so I put them in touch with my cousin in England.
The lady that left the note was only in Ireland to visit her husband's family, some of which are buried in that graveyard, last thing she expected was to find one of her relatives.

[conahy calling]

Yes about 30 years ago a couple from Australia called to my parents house. They explained that their ancestor had been a subtenant on my fathers farm back in 1870s and wanted to know why they emigrated.  My father had absolutely no idea. A few years later one of our family looked up Griffiths Valuation. All their information matched perfectly.  It was one of reasons I m now into family hjstory.