How did you get 'addicted' to Family History / Gen

[Danboy]

Hi
I go started because I was talking to my wifes grandmother, and she always liked to talk about her past, then it got me thinking I never realy new anything about my own Mother or Father only that they were my parents.
and I racalled how my Father would often talk about his two sisters who he had lost contact with, so I got to wondering who where these people (my parents), and what had happened to my Fathers two sisters. but sadly by this time they had passed away, I was gutted to say the least, it was like haveing a key to the past, and now I had lost it.
So I would say to any 'young' people out there, talk to your parents, find out who they realy are, what they did, where they lived, what were their parents like. I have only just started to research who I realy am, and why I am, and who were the were the acestor's who got me to this point in time.
so if you are interested in who you realy are, ask the key people in your life, dont leave it to late
Regards to all
Danboy

 

[davelambert271]

Hi Danboy

welcome to the forum

I know what you mean, but hey, you don't half get a buzz when you find something and the bits of info you knew about all fit together.

dave

 

[vinnyvangough]

Well my Mum started to do it back in 1999-2000, then in 2006 she and my Father split and i have not really seen her since.
I spoke to my Dad and he said he always feels like he is "home" when we travel over the border and into Cornwall, so seeing as Curno means Cornwall, (Although the correct county spelling is Kernow) i thought it would be good to trace the name back as far as i can.
Now the living room is covered in post it notes and a family tree, and i will not stop.............ever.

 

[madmummy]

Well..........................I started because my dad kept telling us that he was related to Oliver Cromwell. As a little girl I can remember being quite miffed that he was never King and so I wasn't a Princess:'(

Anyway, when I moved to Wiltshire in the early 80's and before the internet I wrote to everybody in the national phone books with my surname. That amounted to 17 including my dad who knew absolutely nothing about his family apart from that one story. He didn't even know his dads birthplace, as he had been put into a home when his parents split up.

All that was put on hold as I got married and had a family but over the years I kept scribbling family trees from the replies I had. About 15 years later my dad finally found out his dads date of birth so I applied for his birth certificate then BINGO I was finally able to put me into the jigsaw that I had made from all those replies years earlier.

Now, thanks to the internet I have got my tree back to a couple who were born at the end of the seventeenth century and I have relatives coming out of my ears I am in touch with some wonderful relatives all over the place including America, and I spend lots of time visiting all the places my relatives lived, married etc as to me that is the fun part walking where they walked, worked and played and seeing what they saw.

Although I will never know them, thay made me who I am and I owe it to them to know who they were

Well, that is how I see it anyway.

Madmummy

 

[admin]

Hi all,

Great to see some great stories here on our "Addiction"

We should really publish a book on all this - or start our own Who Do You Think You Are - Addicts, the BBC might like this!

Anyway FHUK members keep the lovely stories coming................

And Thanks to everyone

Regards,
Dave

 

[sparklingtechie]

I just started out of curiosity then I found out my ggrandad was a war hero(WW1) and that my GGGGGgrandmother(not sure on the G of hand) had nearly 15 children, not including a so called nephew(and theres a skeleton in the closet or two about that one ha!) and by that time I was entrenched in doing this (talk about addiction ha!). I did take a break for a while when we found out that my youngest was also disabled and I started at the OU but now life has got into its own little pattern again I'm starting to dabble with this...and it keeps me of facebook!:2fun:

 

[sandyship]

Having read through many of the comments on this thead. I have to agree . it was mainly a need to pass on info about my family to my Kids and grandkids. The internet has been such an eye opener in many ways. This site is great and many thanks to Dave Lambert who gave me great info about my grandfather and ww2 service.
I also became addicted to geneolgy when a lady mailed me about my family and said I belonged to the Grace family of Liverpool- the oldest one and we can relate our history back to Henry the Eight. i was sooooo impressed and have wanted to find out more since then.It is a great hobby and when you are bored with Tv which I often am, Then get on the net and research. thank you Family History. This is a great site. newcomer- sandy

family names of interest Pickthall, Hackney, gornall, Cowan...cheers

 

[ianto73]

I suppose I got really interested when - years after the sad task of emptying my parents house, I came across two sets of items I'd never known about,:-

1. 4 School certificates of my paternal grandmother for the years 1887; 1888; 1889 1890 - in mint condition.
2. All the original War Office Documents sent to my paternal grandparents regarding the loss of life of their youngest son in WWII - it also happens to be connected to the best kept secret of WWII - the sinking of HMT Lancastria.

Added to that, the various photos, etc and hardly any of them with names on the back.

Then I looked at my mother's side and found 2 cousins not spoken to for over 20 years and the rest as they say is history.

I did like history at school so it's no chore for me, it's pleasure.

TTFN
brian

 

[stevegraham85]

I was fed some very fancy stories as a child that we had Spanish Royalty in our family and that one of my ancestors was an illegitimate child of one of the Royal Princes and a maid, in order to hush it up they married her off to a servant and shipped them off to Australia, it was all lies.

Another story was we were Jews and during the Spanish inquisition my mothers family escaped to Italy then moved to England and finally Australia, more fancy thinking.

I decided i wanted to find the out real truth as there were so many so called stories.

Well i was indeed in for a huge surprise when i went looking for truth.

So i joined A******y and this forum and fund out the real truth, i had an ancestor that was born a slave in Jamaica of African parents and moved to England about 1750 and married a white woman about 1755 and their descendants kept marrying white people of which I'm a product of.

Since my mothers family came out from England in the 1830s, probably to escape racist taunts they started to pass themselves off as Spanish to explain the Olive complexion that ran in the family, After 9 generations I'm the last one born with olive skin and surprise surprise i have blue eyes with olive skin, that's a little bit unusual in itself, there is no longer any children being born with their African heritage being obvious.

So i owe big time to this forum [fhuk] and Gibbo for finally ferreting out the truth.

It was right here on this forum that i finally got to the real truth and i must admit that without Gibbo's help i would never have found the real answer to my colouring.

It just goes to show that you can't believe everything your family tells you
about your family history.

We also have found about 5 Convicts that are direct ancestors that were shipped off to Australia in our tree which in itself was a huge surprise, "funny how no one mentioned that".

Oz Steve.

 

[benny1982]

Interesting story Steve.

I found out about the Family Records Centre in early 2004 on a trip to London and thought "Thats interesting". I took my mum there and we looked up my nans birth in the indexes June quarter 1920, Connie Musgrave, Auckland, Durham, mothers maiden name Coombs.

Mum knew her parents were George and Catherine Musgrave. From family stories I was told of Suffolk, Durham and Essex ancestry. I knew my gran was born in 1920 in Auckland, Durham and her father was from the same area.

I always wished for London ancestors though.

Mum told me that her 1920 born mums parents George Musgrave and Catherine actually met in London during the First World War. I had found the FRC the day before and took an interest and I took her there the next day and she told me. Her nan Catherine had died in about 1932. We looked up my nans birth in 1920 in Auckland district in 1920 and her mothers maiden name was Coombs.

We found a Catherine I Musgrave death aged 40 in Auckland district in 1930. We were now looking for a Catherine I Coombs birth about 1889=1890 possibly in London. I was so excited at the prospect of a London ancestor.

We found a Catherine Isabella Coombs birth in the Dec Quarter 1889 in Islington, London. Wow. We searched for a Geo Musgrave wedding to Catherine Coombs but didnt realise that she had been married before as we found a George Musgrave marriage in 1919 to Catherine I Hart in Auckland district.

We then found a Catherine I Coombs marriage in 1914 in Pancras district of London to a George S Hart. I then recieved the 1919 marriage cert and it said her fathers name was William Thomas Coombs a printer and she was a widow. I then found that her fathers side was from several generations of Londoners and her mum was of Sussex and Kent descent.

The rest is history.

Ben

 

[marjon]

Hi all, just been reading all your stories, all really interesting. My addiction started about 25 years ago when I was thinking of my childhood (as you do when you get older!) and wondered what happened to great grandfather David Brown. As a child I used to read lots of history books about everything from the Picts/Scots battling away to the books we had in the house about WWI, with lots of pictures of Lord Kitchener and others. Our large family bible with the family history going back to 1844 was kept at the bottom of the wardrobe. As a child I read these names but didn't have an inkling that it would be so important in my life. We now have the Bible here in Australia. I always had a leaning towards history but didn't know much about the families of my parents until I started with David. I had a friend who helped me search at a local library through microfiche for him, finding 3 possibles as well as 3 generations of another family in one afternoon! I was hooked immediately on searching for more. It was great going through drawers of microfiche, writing all the "possibles" and drawing up trees and of course the IGI. How we have grown with technology since those days! Thank goodness for the internet and FHUK ! :kissu:

 

[CdnMetcalf]

I started my 'project' after I read up on the book written by Halliwell Sutcliffe.
This is the link that I found on the works of Halliwell Sutcliffe. The book he had written based on the family of Metcalfs in Nappa ( Yorkshire Dales - Yoredale/Wensleydale ) It supposed to be based on historical facts around Marston Moors in 1640s. After that , I got really intersted in searching for it but at the time, there were no internet available and I couldn't go on to search for the book or the family lineage of the Metcalfs. It got me interested because of Sir James Metcalf who was the orginal owner of the Nappa Hall and I am wondering if I am linked to him? My father told me that the house could be related to us by some distant relatives like " uncle " or ' a cousin removed so many times and only god knows exactly where Sir James is in the family! " LOL So it got me started and I managed to trace back as far as Thomas Metcalf who was born in 1780s in Cherry Burton then stumbled over a tree stump! .... I am looking for addresses for land registry or township halls that kept archival records . Anything to get my hands on !!!

 

[davelambert271]

Hi CdnMetcalf
The records for Bishop Burton are held in Beverley

Applications for copy certificates should be sent to:
East Riding of Yorkshire Registration and Celebratory Services
The Register Office
Walkergate House
Walkergate
Beverley
East Riding of Yorkshire
HU17 9BP
Tel: (01482) 393600
Fax: (01482) 873414
Email: registration.service@eastriding.gov.uk


East Riding of Yorkshire archives service
County Hall
Beverley
HU17 9BA
Tel: (01482) 392790
Fax: (01482) 392791
Email: archives.service@eastriding.gov.uk

dave

 

[CdnMetcalf]

Thankz Dave
I will most likely will be in touch with them to see what they can find! .. I know there would be a service fee but don't know if they can take canadian postal cheques ??

 

[Giotto]

Like itching powder grandmother's words of the 1950s eventually got me scratching and it was almost sixty years before I realised what she was on about The main man in my tree, a distant uncle b.1820 was a 'son' of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (all new to me). He went on to manufacture hundreds of Boilers and other machinery for the textile mills of the world and as a sideline championed the building of the Manchester Ship Canal.
Another who is one of my eight g.g.grandfathers was an engine driver on the S&DR who delivered primitive steam locomotives, the first in Russia, to St. Petersburg and met the Tsar face to face ! (The engines were used as playthings in the garden of the Imperial Summer Palace at Tsarkoye-Selo). Grandmother knew of a gold-watch he received from the Tsar but alas that is lost in the mists of time. http://www.g4fas.net/fmff.html [Giotto's website]
The moral of this story is listen to the old folk !
Giotto
Italian for Geoff

 

[JeffAlvey]

I started about 30 years ago following a conversation with my Father. He knew nothing about his grandfather.
At that time there were only about five Alvey’s in the London telephone directory, so I thought “this is going to be a doddle”.
I found two brothers and a sister who died very young, and Dad didn’t know about, and his grandfather marrying in London without problem – but (there’s always a “but” isn’t there) – I couldn't find his birth.
So I decide to search the I.G.I. – county by county – found one here and there – until I finally searched Nottinghamshire.
And there was Dad’s Grandad, and hundreds of other Alveys.
To cut a long story short, Nottinghamshire was the “home” of the Alvey’s, and this then led me into starting a “one name” search.
Before leaving the U.K. I was able to visit Nottinghamshire and Woodborough (the home of my direct line so far proved) and stood by the graves of my ancestors, which was very moving, I must admit.
Since that time I have “met” (usually by mail) many other Alveys and I have a massive data file of certificates, wills and other documents. I have since found cousins in every English speaking country in the world and have made some firm friends who have given massive support to the search.
My very strong belief, from the data I have, is that all Alvey’s are in fact related and am trying, with others, to prove this theory.
On my “blood line” I am stuck trying to find the marriage or birth of John Alvey who had a son:
20th MAR 1735 Sammuell son of John baptized @ Woodborough NTT (my GGGGGF).
So my reason? It was my Dad’s fault! (ha ha!)

 

[Robyn]

What fascinating reading.......My interest started with my G'parents talking abt Somerset & Gloucester pre 1974, they left England in 1912. G'dad talked of his mother's family and the lamplighter...John Breillat...Bristol Gas...it was disappointing to find he wasn't actually, The Lamplighter, but he did sort out the gas. That was an interesting trail. Every name has a story other than hatch, match & dispatch, it's up to us to bother to find it in our rush to get back to Adam. My Dad was 3rd generation Australian, his G'fathers were from Peckham & Kent. We've recently decided we have a convict, James Dawes from either Sutton, Lincs or Norwich, Norfolk as he has given both...so that's another story. It's a never ending story & mine is on ancestry.com, photo's, maps, certs, love it, I've chatted to descendants of my G'aunts, & Uncles....I married a Pom & his is on there too, a niece added a story & pics of her Dad after he died...from Salisbury & I'm in Sydney, you have to love the net.

 

[Ellie]

Hi Robyn,
FH is definitely fascinatingly addictive, I've lost hours searching lol. The net has to be one if not the most valuable resource for tracing your family tree.Being able to contact people from all around the world is amazing isn't it.

 

[michelle28]

Hi All,
My addition statrted in 2003 when my Grandfather passed away. I asked my dad if I could see the death certificate.
It stated his Father as Unknown and his mother as Martha (maiden name unknown).
This started me asking my poor dad a million questions, about how it is possible he didn't know his grandparents names.
My Dad (an only child) asked his father about his dad and his answer was always the same., "I never knew my father, had nothing to do with him".
And so it began....I ordered my grandparents marriage certificate. And there is was, name of grooms father Arthur Edward Brown, mother Martha Eliazbeth Richardson BINGO it was a start. The hard part is concentrating on one person at a time and knowing the right places to look. This is a fantstic site and people like DaveHam9 and the other Dave, Gibbo, Oznannie, Glen are worth their weight in Gold. for these people to go out of their way, spending many many hours researching for a complete stranger shows that they are amazing, kind and incredibly giving people. Thank you so very much :kissu:

 

[Zen Rabbit]

I am often accused of looking for my "dead relatives" jokingly by my wife.

It was one of those things I was always curious about. I had vague stories about my Great grandfather who had a different name to my great grandmother and that my grand father was illegitimate but that was all. The when my mother became ill I realised that time was short and asked about the family and then started to look on line for them. At first I was only looking for names and expected to spend a few months on it. But then I got the bug and wanted to know more not only about how far back the family went but also about the lives of the people involved and what life was like for them. So now two years later I know more about obscure archive records than I ever expected to and the family I knew next to nothing about now extends back to 1594 with wills, apprenticeships and in a few cases even medical records!
I don't expect to be stopping anytime soon.