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Don't throw away our family heritage!

britannia

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Derbyshire
#1
Please, please, look through your attic, cupboards or garages!
Did you know that this valuable genealogical material may well be rotting away in your attic, cupboards or garages. You or your family may have packed up a beloved relatives belongings when they passed away and have not gone through it since then. If you are reading this, now is the time to go through these valuables.

It's amazing what gets ruined or thrown away every day that may be evidence to your own existence or a relatives' existence on this earth. Most people think these things may not be valuable to anyone. The things you may think is rubbish/trash could be gold nuggets waiting to be discovered to those researching our family.

I really would like to think that not just my children remember me, but their children and their children to come. So I will be making some sort of pack, with most of my families history/information, together with all my genealogy information. I will also add this to my will (when I make one that is!).

I will also be adding some of this information around the internet.

Brit
 

dawnlea

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March, Cambs
#2
Hi Brit

That's such a cool idea! I could make a sort of time capsule for my descendants to open in the future. I could include newspaper cuttings and photos and all the stuff that I am doing for my familytree. I don't think that my parents have much in their attic and I've already hassled my only remaining grandparent. Will keep trying. Thanks for the great idea.
 

admin

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#3
Hi Brit,

Well said!

I have no photos, documents etc.. at all from any of my grandparents (I have got photos of them though!). Where has all that information gone? Probably stuck in an attick in some old house some where!?!

I agree with dawnlea
I could make a sort of time capsule for my descendants to open in the future
thats also a brill idea :) :) (must look at a capsule - maybe we could setup an online business selling them!!??)

I am also getting a lot of my stuff online and digitised.
On a side note - We will be looking to add a gallery of some sort here soon, so people can add there photos etc..

Cheers
 

marie44

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Owensville, Indiana
#4
throw away? how about if its stolen from you when you are a child? boy did they have fun going through my stuff and deviding it up. its hard to talk about as it really hurts, they thought so little of me as to steal all my parents things from me.

marie44:'( :'( :'( :'(
 

JMR

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Location
Melbourne
#5
A very timely reminder Brit. I found a box about 12 months ago that had sat unopened at my parents place for 30 years after my Dad's Aunt died. If they had opened it sooner there would still have been someone around who could have answered questions, but as it is Dad and I have spent some great time together piecing the puzzle together, but are not altogether sure we have it right. There are some wonderful photos in there as well.

Even after working on family rsearch with me for all this time, he ony thought to mention to me yesterday, after we transcribed a letter dated 1948, which listed what a week's rations looked like, "Oh yes we had a ration book for you when you were a baby, I think I still have it somewhere"! He went off and came back with a file with all sorts of gems in it! I am clearly not asking the right questions, but I will be from now.

Cheers,
Jill
 

p.risboy

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#6
I had an Aunt who passed away some years ago. And with best of intentions, a nephew and his wife and children literally cleared her home out.

As my Aunt's home was run by a charitable trust, they wished to move in a new resident as quickly as possible. There was quite a waiting list, so it was totally understandable.

The upshot was the furniture was donated to the trust, and most of the nick-nacks where also donated to various charity shops.
But everything else went into black bin bags ready for the dustman.

My sister on seeing the bin bags, went into fits of rage. I have never seen her so upset and have not since.
So between us we emptied them out and retrieved quite a lot of family history.

The sad thing is, she has never spoken to her brother since and considered his act as 'rape' on our Aunt's home.

Steve.:)
 

benny1982

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#7
Hi

Collect as much info as you can and preserve it for future generations. A lot of valuable records such as workhouse registers and settlement examinations havent always survived and coverage can be hit and miss for many areas so we need to preserve the records that we do have.

Ben
 

marie44

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Location
Owensville, Indiana
#8
I had an Aunt who passed away some years ago. And with best of intentions, a nephew and his wife and children literally cleared her home out.

As my Aunt's home was run by a charitable trust, they wished to move in a new resident as quickly as possible. There was quite a waiting list, so it was totally understandable.

The upshot was the furniture was donated to the trust, and most of the nick-nacks where also donated to various charity shops.
But everything else went into black bin bags ready for the dustman.

My sister on seeing the bin bags, went into fits of rage. I have never seen her so upset and have not since.
So between us we emptied them out and retrieved quite a lot of family history.

The sad thing is, she has never spoken to her brother since and considered his act as 'rape' on our Aunt's home.

Steve.:)
i agree with your sister. the way the items were stolen from me has left me so heart broken i dare not talk about it much or i will collapse in tears. so thoughtless of them to do this to me.

marie44:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :mad:
 

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