Family Tree/Genealogy Scrapping

[alison 2]

It’s amazing how far back you can go.
My family are hoarders so we have lots of photos and memorabilia. Hubby’s family have very few photos and information, what they did have was not always saved so they’ve been quite hard work to research.

[tigerlady]

Ellie, it is worth putting some names into ancestry / one of the others or Google. Other family members who you may never have met just might have uploaded photos. I have contacted people before to say “ We have Mr X in common, would you like to see his photo?” That’s another wonderful thing, most of my old photos have names written on them!
Photos stored on phones won’t mean a thing to future generations, if they can even access them.

I am glad you are a match to your son Alison, it must be horrifying to not match up. I have had my brother done so my only other close living family is my daughter. The trouble is her grandfather on my ex’s side has a question mark and I just might open a can of worms…

[alison 2]

Are you on Ancestry Hilary ?
It’s great for finding other distant family members, and lots of resources but I find I have to be careful sometimes as it’s quite easy to add things to your own tree in error !!

[alison 2]

A can of worms might be fun

[tigerlady]

Yes, I like Ancestry best but at various times I have tried offers from other sites. I definitely like Ancestry best. Yesterday when I logged on there was a small pop up "How do you like the tree we have made for you?" I looked around to see if there was anything new or a different tree but t appears they were talking about my main tree which I have lovingly created for however many years! Well, this really got my dander up so I filled their questionnaire in telling them not to claim any credit for my hard work!

Yes, never believe anything you can't back up. When looking at other people's trees and you have the two columns which let you accept info which is different to yours, I never accept anything from people who have fewer sources or records than I have, without checking they have credible proof. Also never believe anyone who has tens of thousands of people in their tree, it is very unlikely anyone has time to do that much research! Oh and beware of Americans claiming UK born and bred people as their relatives, it is depressingly common for someone born in Newcastle UK to strangely turn up in New castle Delaware. Often that is because when inputting them, someone has just put Newcastle as the place of birth and when saved Ancestry annoyingly defaults to the American state rather than UK.
Have you contacted any new relatives through your DNA yet Alison? I helped a man confirm who his father was within hours of uploading mine! I have also met one distant cousin from Australia and was sent an autobiography written by another who I helped- my daughter thought the photo on the front was my brother! It all fascinates me. If you ever need a fresh pair of eyes to look for something I am happy to try. My tree is currently quite stagnant, I need new records to be uploaded to let me go further back in a few branches.

[tigerlady]

And yes, while my Ex was putting me through hell during the divorce I would happily have opened that can of worms! I only do his side for my daughter, I'm not interested as they were a very odd and unpleasant bunch.

[alison 2]

Thanks for the tips. I can see some people have only done the basics, and have copied other peoples trees. I was told to always try and get at least 3 different sources of evidence to back up a piece of information
Im only just getting back into it, and tidying up all the stuff I already have so haven’t really tried to make any contacts, maybe I’ll give it a try soon.
I did contact some American relatives before when I discovered a link, we keep in touch with one branch of the family which is nice.

[tigerlady]

It is hard going back to it after a break, You have to get a feeling for all the different branches so you know what makes sense and what doesn't. How far have you got so far?
I have just solved a puzzle in Denise's tree, she was never certain who her grandfather was and I just looked up the 1921 census and it confirms that our friend was 1/4 Italian as she had suspected!

[alison 2]

Oh wow, well done on solving that one !
I’ve only got back to last 1700’s, early1800’s really, it becomes much harder then, but more and more info can be found online which is good.
Yes, I’m having to relearn all the ins and outs of each family, I’m enjoying it though

[RED HEAD]

Oh that’s a lovely thing to find out Hilary. Denise would have been so
pleased to find that out.

It is fascinating to hear what you can find out, but it seems you have to be quite
dedicated to the task. Well done both you and Alison for sticking with it.
My Paternal grandfather sounds like an interesting man, but there’s no one
left to ask now . I have a few photos of him in France during WW1 and one of him
In Canada later. I never met him . He died befor I was born.
Ellie

[tigerlady]

Ellie if you would like me to look for him I am happy to do so. PM me with all the names, birthdays, place of birth death date. Anything you know about him, wife and any family who are deceased( info only gets released after a death so it is nigh on impossible to find anything about the living) It is much easier, normally. than you think it will be.
Yes, Denise wondered if his father was the Italian lodger who was named on the voting register but the 21 census which hasn’t been available for long had the lodger using the mother’s surname and grandfather had his name for a middle name so I am pretty sure we can tie up that mystery. I think I will email Carel and ask him to contact her brother to see if he would like a copy of it.

[tigerlady]

Yes, from 1700’s back you need parish registers and finding those is very hit and Miss. I found someone had published a book about part of one line of my tree, that took me back to 1200’s but I can’t claim the credit!

[alison 2]

That was a great find Hilary. Both Denise’s story, and your family tree research

[RED HEAD]

Hilary thanks for the offer. I really haven’t much info to be honest.
My late father didn’t talk much about him. I think that grandad deserted my
grandma and the children , so that’s why . I only found the photos after dad died.
I think I have a letter to my Grandma telling her he had died. They never divorced,
but I think from what my dad said, that my granddad was living with another lady.
So I don’t think that you would be able to find much out.

I think that Carel will be pleased to pass that info onto Denise’s brother.
I don’t know if it’s Denise’s Brother or niece that lives not far from me in Sheffield.
I did have the address in an email, but have probably deleted it by now.
Ellie

[tigerlady]

Good point, I did have her brother’s address I wonder if I have the email or pm. Probably not as my laptops keep dying .
If you change your mind Ellie let me know, it doesn’t take long to try.