Ever had anyone turn up on the doorstep?!

[oldfashionedgirl]

I am the one who has done the knocking. I went armed with proof of who I was and certificates of whom had lived in the house. The lady was a little frosty at first but warmed up when she realised I was genuine and only wanted to take a photo of the house.

The funny thing was I only had a name for the house where my GGG grandfather lived in the early 1800's it now has a number and street name. It had taken me many months to find it by various avenues and dead ends.

Turned out I had walked down the street many times when visiting a friend who lives in the area !

[LizzieW]

As my house was only built in 1979, I doubt anyone will come knocking to find out where their ancestors lived.

[Billyblue]

Not long after I moved into my current home, one night the outside sensor lights went on and I heard a woman's high heels coming up the drive. I opened the door to see her talking into her mobile phone, saying "Well I'm at the house now and they'd better tell me where she is, and let me see her!"
Then she saw me at the door and said, angrily "I'm here to get my daughter and you'd better bring her out to see me"
I said "I don't know who your daughter is.  Why should she be here?"
Answer: "Isn't this 44 X street?"
reply:    "No, it's 44 Y street.  X street is one street back that way"
She looked quite put out and left without so much as a 'sorry', telling her caller that she was in the wrong street.

People!

Dawn M

[Neil Todd]

Idle dreaming of going back to where my ancestors lived I thought to look where a likely central place may be to stay. Of course lots of farmstays and B&B's but one struck my attention. Todd's Farmstay. Well it looked nice, rate seemed Ok, nice and central and sure had the right name. Hmm might email them and see how far ahead I needed to book. Email was returned with the correct information and a pleasant thank you for considering. Hum, nothing about the name coincidence! So I emailed back and asked their name, I only had christian names of husband and wife team. They asked why I had asked in a return with still no mention of their last name. I sent another and said why I was coming to the area to research my family history as a once in a lifetime event and thought it would be nice to stay somewhere that my family had possibly been. I got a terse reply that they knew no one of that name and didn't know why the place had the name, but they had owned it for the last 15 years and the last bloke wasn't a Todd either. I asked if they knew how old the place was as in the blurb about it it stated several hundred years old. I never got an answer. Pity, I would have liked to stay there. Or at least gone knocking on their door.

Neil

[RRYFS]

Not sure if I've told this story on here before - apologies if you've heard it.
During the war, my parents had a knock on the door. My Dad answered to be greeted by an American soldier who asked his name, and said "Hi - I'm your cousin". Turned out he was descended from my Dad's grandfather's sister who had left for the States in the 1880's after her husband's family farm had failed. As my Dad told it, I'm not sure there had been any contact since she left. They kept in touch, produced a family tree together (which started me off) and my parents later visited them in New York. From my research, the cousin was very likely to have been stationed at a base which was on, or adjacent to, his grandfather's family farm. Not sure if he knew.

[Treetotal]

Some interesting stories here...I haven't had anyone knock on my door but when I went to St.John's Nfld to meet cousins and carry out family research I went to the house where my Father grew up...I knocked on the door and explained that I was over from England and this used to be my Father's family home and would he mind if I took some photographs...he told me to go ahead and then he shut the door  I was hoping to get inside but I suppose there is a lot of mistrust these day...sad really.
Carol

[sleepybarb]

I've never had anyone turn up ,but I had to go to Occupational Health and the receptionist asked my address.She said oh,that's where my Grandmother used to live.
                                       Barb

[Mike in Cumbria]

No but I did once turn up on someone else's doorstep.

It was the house that my grandparents lived in when I was a child - I didn't know exactly where it was but, finding myself in the area, I  knocked on a few doors and found it. I was welcomed in by the couple who had taken over the house when my grandparents moved out, and we had a cup of tea and a nice chat about the old folks.

It was great.

[ewatson11]

I have a relation who was coming over for a family reunion but on his other side of the family they had lived on a farm that my Father ended up owning but my brother sold it and the people who had taken over ran it as a B & B so the relation through me was able to stay in the farmhouse where his ancestors came from.

Also I had been in contact with a member of my paternal side of the family and I had said to them anytime you are in the area are welcome to come and see us, well she must have told a cousin and they were the ones who turned up on my parents doorstep who lived round corner from me.  I promised them the tree and I feel really bad as I have never sent it to them, I will one of thes days.

Emma