How did you get into researching?

[Erato]

I was lucky.  I started out with a rough tree of my paternal side drawn up by my father and going back about four generations.  I also had a 60 page account by my paternal grandfather of his boyhood in rural Wisconsin from about 1875-1900 with notes on his forebears.  From my paternal grandmother I had a 30 page detailed account of her family going back several generations.  And on the maternal side I had a sketchy tree of my mother's paternal side going back about six generations which had been produced by a distant relative.  All of these materials turned out to be mostly accurate - there were a few minor errors and many omissions but nothing seriously off track.

I decided to compile all of these documents into a single family tree and document it.  I'm still at it.

[pinefamily]

I watched Alex Haley's Roots on television when I was a teenager. It got me asking my mother about our family. She didn't know a lot, but my maternal grandmother and paternal aunt did. And tha's how it started....
Still hooked today, and the thrill of the chase, and the new finds after digging around make it all worthwhile. As does the camaraderie of Rootschat.
And just for the record,
Me 1965
Father 1922
G/father 1876
GG/father 1843
GGG/father 1809

[Guy Etchells]

So how did you all come to start researching?

I could write an essay on that question alone as I have multiple reasons although this always bugged me, how could I prove it?!

When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...

                                                                     Annie                                                           
                                                                      1961
                                                    Father 1915                 
                                                 G/f 1888        1882 G/m
                                        G/gf 1866                       1864 G/gm

You decide whether it's possible/impossible?

Annie (with all the certs.) 

What you have written is impossible for one simple reason convention.

By convention a tree has the eldest generations at the top their children below, dropping down to the youngest at the bottom.
Your tree is inverted.

Having said that you have added the dates of the people so it makes perfect sense and is of course perfectly possible.

Cheers
Guy

[KGarrad]

Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, so I was curious :
So I started researching, and haven't stopped since.

For the record:
Me 1953
Dad 1928
Grandfather 1876
Great Grandfather 1843

[Nic.]

My father-in-law died 20 years ago and I realised at his funeral that my husband didn’t know how people he called Aunt/Uncle were related or if they were ‘curtesy’ titles.  My father-in-law was predeceased by my mother-in-law. It was a case of starting with birth certificates and working backwards.

My tree is still a work in progress with one branch having hit a wall over 10 years ago but I’m sure it will tumble eventually.

Nic

[Chilternbirder]

My mother gave me an old wallet handed down from her grandmother containing my gg grandfather's letters to his wife, merchant navy discharges and a handful of funeral cards for various people, not all family.

That prompted me to try and work out who was who, a time consuming business in pre computer days. The whole thing came to a halt when my own family came along. I was prompted to restart when one of my, now grown up, daughters discovered a tree online which included my Scottish paternal line, which I hadn't previously investigated for logistical reasons.

[Nanna52]

After my mother died I found little bits of information she had gathered and lots of unnamed photos.  A couple of years later Ancestry started promoting themselves so I decided to have a sticky.  Fortunately I found a cousin very early and we shared information, questioned each other and checked stories.  From there I was hooked.

Me 1952
Dad 1921
Grandfather?  That’s why I took a DNA test.

[Mercia118]

I'm loving how different reasons brought us all into 'the hunt'! 

I could write an essay on that question alone as I have multiple reasons although this always bugged me, how could I prove it?!

When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...

                                                                     Annie                                                           
                                                                      1961
                                                    Father 1915                 
                                                 G/f 1888        1882 G/m
                                        G/gf 1866                       1864 G/gm

You decide whether it's possible/impossible?

Annie (with all the certs.) 

I got laughed at school once when we were given a family tree project and I couldn't fill out anything on my mum's father's line- the teacher was convinced that everyone must know their grandparents.. Got quite a shock when my mum marched in and announced herself to be a b*stard!!

[Kiltpin]

I took over from my mother. 

 Both sides of my family were ex-pats, living their whole lives in the Indian sub-continent. The Europeans lived, married and died within their own community. This was not a problem till India got her independence. Then there was a mad scramble for the precious blue passport. 

Birth certificates did not exist. If you wanted to prove that your 10 year old child actually existed, you would have to get them baptised - then there would be a parish record of their birth. 

Anyway, it fell to my mother to gather all the information needed for herself, mother, her brothers and her sisters. 
That was the start of the family tree. Dozens and dozens of A4 sheets of paper, all cross referenced to each other.

Later, Mum asked me to put it all on my newly built computer. I used a program called Simple Family Tree (I believe). Now Ancestry and Family Tree Maker. 

And the addiction started. I am like the man who collects £5 notes - I am not going to stop till I have them all. 

Regards 

Chas