Your 2025 FH journies.

[coombs]

Now that 2025 is almost gone, what have been your major discoveries this year? And/or what new databases have helped you with your FH? Many new Cambridgeshire records are on Ancestry, and of course Suffolk, where about 30% of my ancestors are from.

I was born in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, to Essex parents with many Suffolk and some Norfolk/Durham/London/Oxfordshire ancestry.

This year I found 2 direct ancestors who spent time in GY, and when I found out, it was like I had won the lottery. One ancestor witnessed a wedding in the town in 1775, and another direct ancestor was stationed in Gt Yarmouth in the late 1790s, and was from Oxfordshire.

And found a Norwich ancestor who witnessed an admin of someone who lived in a village just a few miles NW of Great Yarmouth, and near where I grew up.

And an Essex seaman ancestor William Ingram from Leigh On Sea who was in Cornwall in 1812 when his boat was lost. He had to get another one made and registered upon his return to Leigh On Sea.

[Zaphod99]

After years of looking, I finally found the grave of my grandfather, after finding a relative on Facebook.

Zaph

[coombs]

After years of looking, I finally found the grave of my grandfather, after finding a relative on Facebook.

Zaph

A good find.

[MollyC]

I had become convinced my gt. gt. grandmother's eldest brother had emigrated to USA;  traces - but no proof.  Her second brother had gone to Canada - lots of evidence.  Then someone on Rootschat gave a link to One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse and I checked the one-step shipping lists.  (https://stevemorse.org/index.html)

And there he was - on a ship in 1836.  "Yes!" I exclaimed out loud, and slapped my hand on the chair  -  so loudly that I frightened the cat and he shot out of the room.

[Zaphod99]

0n that link I get:

This page isn’t working
stevemorse.org didn’t send any data.
ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE

Zaph

[oldohiohome]

0n that link I get:

This page isn’t working
stevemorse.org didn’t send any data.
ERR_EMPTY_RESPONSE

Zaph

It's not just you! stevemorse.org is down.

Last updated: Dec 24, 2025, 9:34 AM (1 second ago)
https://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/stevemorse.org

A very valuable website for the US, in case you aren't familiar with it.

I had a feeling he was a math genius of some sort with an interest in genealogy, but I didn't know
"He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today"s Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 40 years ago."
from https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/speakers/stephen-p-morse/en

edit: it sounds like that short bio was written some time ago.

[oldohiohome]

I realized that last post might be taking the thread off topic, so ....

I'm glad you asked that question. I had forgotten that earlier this year I heard from a 3rd cousin or so in Wales - I'm in the US - and between the two of us we found our gr-gr grandfather's parents in Derbyshire in the early 1800s. He also shared a letter from my gt grandmother to her sister that I hadn't seen before, and another from two of her other sisters to their parents. So a good year overall, despite having taken another run at two brick walls and not getting anywhere.

Aside from that, my journeys for the year have been mainly working on some challenging US threads here on rootschat.

[oldohiohome]

and an update
stevemorse.org is up.
Last updated: Dec 24, 2025, 10:15 AM (1 second ago)

[coombs]

I had become convinced my gt. gt. grandmother's eldest brother had emigrated to USA;  traces - but no proof.  Her second brother had gone to Canada - lots of evidence.  Then someone on Rootschat gave a link to One-Step Webpages by Stephen P. Morse and I checked the one-step shipping lists.  (https://stevemorse.org/index.html)

And there he was - on a ship in 1836.  "Yes!" I exclaimed out loud, and slapped my hand on the chair  -  so loudly that I frightened the cat and he shot out of the room.

Reminds me of when the contestants on The Crystal Maze won a crystal and all cheered loudly, like they won £1000'000 but all it got them was 5 seconds more in The Crystal Dome. That is how i feel when I find an elusive ancestor, or elusive ancestor sibling, or cousin.

I sometimes take a break from the direct ancestral line and go far and wide.