What do you do with a brick wall?

[Erin2012]

I am not the only one.... But I have come across so many brick walls.

Do you wait and hope something will appear, march on knowing hard work means results or drive yourself crazy about it?

  erin

[KGarrad]

You tell RootsChat about it!

And (hopefully!) someone clever will break it down for you!

[cocksie]

I concur completely with kgarrad.
Post everything you know.  Even if rootschatterers run out of ideas, clues and information it COULD be that another unknown descendent in a far off land (or just around the corner) has also hit the same brick wall (via a different route), then does a random Google search in frustration and up comes your posted information on Rootschat.
It's happened for me this way and by combining what we had both found out we were able to smash out a brick ......
Then we found another brickwall which we are still chipping away at. Part of me hopes that yet another descendent via a different branch might one day do a frustrated Google search, find the Rootschat posted information etc etc
Post what you know! Ask, ask, ask
Cocksie

[lizdb]

Definitely ask on Rootschat!

As for the options you suggest, I wouldnt recommend going crazy!
Yes, hard work is often needed, ploughing through obscure records at Local record offices, looking for records of siblings, aunts uncles etc to see if any produce tbe vital lead etc etc.
And yes, sometimes it is just a case of waiting. Many a time I have found, maybe years later, something will suddenly come to light from some obscure source when researching someone else in tbe family, that suddenly makes sense of something that was a " brick wall" years ago!
But in the meantime - Rootschat!

[larkspur]

My great great grandmother has been my brickwall for about 30 years. I am still waiting...
Here are the links if anyone would like another bash at old Mary!

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=445317.msg3080299#msg3080299
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=240322.msg1304035#msg1304035
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=562479.msg4151297#msg4151297

[Milliepede]

I feel  to keep asking about mine but I can't give up on it.  I don't accept it's something I will never find out.  Something happened to my missing person, he was born, he existed ergo he died/married/travelled, there aren't that many options I just can't find which one! 

So never give up, the answers are out there somewhere 

[carol-f]

Just try to pull it down brick by brick
Follow any lead big small or unrelated
And just keep praying for a break through
I still have one wall very high and many bricks, keeps getting higher ever year

[Dizzifish]

Hi all....

Post on Rootschat and keep chipping away....

Hi to Larkspur.... 

I know we have had a tussle with Mary before.... but what about this Mary? and looks like this Mary's parents are buried at Caunton - if you want to carry this on, which thread do you want it on? or a new one?

Baptism - CAUNTON St Andrews
MARY dau of Robt & Mary RAUWORTH - born 18th June 1797 - baptised same day.

[iluleah]

I tend to recheck previous records and then go sideways, as siblings are related directly to the same ancestors and sometimes I find it is easier to find more records on them than the direct ancestor I am looking for.
I have learned to check records like PRs AND also BTs of the same are/people often finding different/clearer information and if I can get hold of the parish Day book that has broken many brickwalls with information not being transcribed correctly or not at all into the PRs, including finding village taken census with so much detail including what children they had, where they were, who they were married to and the ONLY primary record which proved an illegitimate child to be the child of which sister one named Eliza, the other Elizabeth who always lived with grandma.
The parish chest documents have in the past helped me, invoices paid out/work done and by who.

After that  if I can't break it I will ask, just the task of writing down what I know and where the information  is from often alone helps me see what I am missing with an additional benefit of fresh eyes and suggestions, along with some who have access to records I didn't know about or have no access to.

Then I leave it go onto another line and come back later, sometimes years later to review what I have.

Finally with one direct ancestor I have researched the ancestry of the two men, one 'I know' is the father but have no primary facts/records for, the other who I have all the primary records for but 'I know' he is not the father and write in my records all the reasoning why I think this. ......and this certainly for future genealogist will become more' normal' as  single parents write on records their latest boyfriend down as the father and/or change their child's and/or their name to match boyfriend reality is that it was no different in past generations ie lying on records than it is now, we just know about it now