How far back into the dim mists of time.....

[Family Guy]

I am aware of the census info as to be honest I have used this alot for the information that I have and also IGI which a friend put me onto.

Wills are another matter as  I don't know where to start, Googleing?

Quarter Sessions, again, where to start with these ?

Newspapers interest me as I have three deaths in the family, all children and at the same time but cannot find anything in newspapers as the only ones that I have found are not geared up to go back more than 10 to 15 years with the few exceptions of the odd "This day in ....."

My understanding of the Parish records was that they only held B M D information ?

And to be honest, its the same story with the others altough with Graves stones, I can understand as I have been down to the cemetery looking for the wifes side of the tree.

Now that I have just read what I have wrote, even I have to admit that I am green

We live and learn, hopefully.......

Family Guy 

[Bryan.]

Hi

Welcome to the world of genealogy, everyone has to start from the bottom,every one was green at some point, don't despair....it will get better as you get the hang of things....there are many...many good people on this site, willing and able to help.

Just enjoy.

Bryan

 

[Emjaybee]

To put some leaves on the family tree you must ask anybody who knew your family, the elderly family members, in fact anybody who just might know something. I spoke to a man about my family history. He was behind a car boot stall in the village where my family had roots. It turned out he knew my Gran when she worked in the fields with him when he was a lad.

As I mentioned in another string GOOGLE every combination of names and places you can think of you may get a surprise. I found a second marriage nobody knew about and a witness at a Tollgate that was broken down.

It is essential to record every clue even if it doesn't make sense at the time. Later you may find another pice to the puzzle.

Mike

[Boongie Pam]

I started my family research like I start my holidays. 

I checked all the timetables knew all the connection times - jumped a bus, jumped a train, flew, knew what connection to get to the city centre.  I am a day into my holibags before I realise I should of relaxed, enjoyed the trip and looked around me yesterday!

Luckily our ancestors aren't going anywhere and I could backtrack and enjoy searching old maps to see how far they had to stagger back from the pub.  Or mooch around the churches they frequented.

That means more holidays for me 

There are new sources highlighted all teh time on this site or in the FH magazines.  Many of teh good people here have years of experience and have interesting ideas - I've learned loads.

We are all green in areas we've never visited but in no time at all you can become the expert 

Some source Rootschat has helped me find...

Wills are another matter as  I don't know where to start, Googleing?

Here's a thread with some great help from experienced probate users.
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,27423.0.html

Quarter Sessions, again, where to start with these ?

Have you tried A2A? http://www.a2a.org.uk/

If you search for a parish name some of the results you will get are quarter sessions.  These can be very very interesting.

Here's a couple of examples I found...
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,6309.0.html

Ok it looks like some of mine were a bad lot 

Other records you may find involve mortgages or insurance.  I found a fire policy on a warehouse my 5xggrandfather rentde.

My understanding of the Parish records was that they only held B M D information ?

Not always.

I've seen nicknames used for parents, like "Blind Francie".

And this is an oft linked site but well worth a laugh...
http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/famrec/from-our-records/gems.html

Ok Scotland were maybe a bit more free formed in their records but if you don't look you may miss something.

There is an incredible amount of luck needed for newspapers, graves, other archives but I think it is worth it.

Records offices often have indexes for newspapers which are an absolute boon.

Sometimes it's harder to find the stone than to turn it.  Jeez I get cheesier 

I wish you all the luck,
Pam
 

PS Y'know when they say "the luck of teh Irish" they aren't talking about family history searching.  Very very unlucky to if you ask me 

[Family Guy]

Hi, 

If I do this in order, it should make sense....

Bryan, In the week or so that I have been registered with this site, not to mention the snooping around that I have done  , I have come to the concultion that there are alot of smart people out there just from the detailed information supplied to other peoples requests, the speed of the reply comes as a shock sometimes.  Thanks for the welcome

Michael, I have been asking questions, getting a few funny looks and daft questions in reply such as "what do you want to know that for?".  They seem to be coming around slowly, and some in the family even seem to be taking an interest, mind you, its only when I have something new to tell    I try to keep everything filed away in case it may be useful later, but how to file it in a useful way so that it makes sense later is still beyond me.........

and finally, Boongie Pam, Boongie, you come across as a drill sergeant in the army planning a military campaign.  I know that the ancestors aren't going anywhere, but I want to know NOW, unpractical I know, but well, you know, I just get side tracked with some other clue which mean trying to pick up where I left off last6 night, etc etc.  Thank you for the links, I will follow them and see what other clues I can find, make notes of and generally lose track of a lead that I was following before, or is this normal?

Many thanks for the advice from you all, I will try to repay the kindness in the future, or is that the past?

Family Guy 

[Boongie Pam]

<snip>
and finally, Boongie Pam, Boongie, you come across as a drill sergeant in the army planning a military campaign. 

Tee Hee 

I'm at work it's 9 past midnight, I'm a bit pissed and laughing out loud.

|Going back to my analogy, I've conquered my ancestors like I occupy a country when I'm there for a mere holiday.  Heyho.

Enjoy every minute of your hunt just remember they are there for th eexpanding later 

Luv,
Pam
 

[Rian]

In response to the original question I have just heard from a very distant rellie who has researched my line back to 1520! How lucky is that?!
I've been researching for 11 months and have met so many helpful people — heaps of them in Rootschat.
Thank you all, Rian.

[Grothenwell]

Hi Rian,

I've landed lucky with my Mum's maiden name Still. Some kind person donated to my local FHS a family tree of Stills back to 1600, but they didn't leave their name or contacts details on it. It would be so nice to thank them and ask where they got all the information. I got to the mid 17th C on my Ewens thanks of course to other genealogists who did the hard work most of it probably before the Web helping.
In 7 months I've been doing it I've found a GGG grandmother transported to Tasmania for Theft, a GGG Uncle murderer, a G Grandfather suicide. Best of all perhaps maybe I've got an Ancestor who was known as the Scottish Van Dyke George Jamesone, but there is always the chance he isn't. Hey ho

Grothenwell

[Tracybb]

I usually find they run back to 1740/60 ish, but with some help from Google, I found one family line that went back to 1302!!!
Most of my resurch has been done thr. the net with IGI & censuses, in 9 months I've found 70+ direct ancesters & I've only looked at my dad!

Happy hunting

Tracy
<sub>The computer swallowed grandma.
Yes, honestly it's true.
She pressed 'control' and 'enter'
and disappeared from view.

It devoured her completely.
The thought just makes me squirm.
She must have caught a virus,
or been eaten by a worm.

I've searched through the recycle bin,
and files of every kind;
I've even used the internet,
but nothing did I find.

In desperation, I asked Jeeves
my searches to refine.
The reply from him was negative,
not a thing was found 'online'.

So if inside your 'inbox',
my grandma you should see,
please 'copy', 'scan' and 'paste' her,
and send her back to me!

Author unknown</sub>