Genealogy Chat

I emailed the local paper 3 days ago asking if there any other Markhams in the area interested in their family tree, yesterday they printed my letter, and a man has just turned up on my doorstep with his tree! Also details from the Met police about one of 'our lot' who was dismissed for being drunk, lol. Happy hunting to you all.

What a fantastic result, well done. And i havn't forgotten...

He he thats ok Julie! x

Hope you could get the TREE through the door !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Malcolm.

Me too! Letter to local paper produced four second cousins who actually live about 15 miles away from me. Great result! Sheila

That's great, well done !! I actually considered doing this some time ago so think I will definitely give it a go now ! Marie x

Hi Romany, So glad you got a good result. I too had a great result. My Aunt gave me a copy of an invoice of her uncle's business which he had used to write a letter to the family. The invoice also had a photograph of him on it. The family had originated from another area so I wrote to the local newspaper in that area and asked for their help. They wrote a lovely article about me searching for my roots and they also published the top half of the invoice with the photograph. They then sent me a copy of the newspaper and a letter which had been sent in. I have now been in touch with and visited 3 2nd cousins & 1 st cousin and have discovered a few more rellies along the way. Some of the 2nd cousins also had photographs of my ancestors and gave me more leads. So Good luck to you Romany and to any others thinking of doing the same thing, it certainly worked for me. Lou

I once considered this and would still really like to. The only thing that puts me off is having to give my address. I know you were delighted to have this person turn up on your doorstep. It wouldn't do for me, at all. My husband ( he who loathes genealogy) would be horrified! I wonder if the paper would agree to having letters forwarded to them and then on to me. That would be the perfect solution, and I could choose whether to take each one further, or not. Has anyone else done it that way? Amanda

Thats true Miss Marple, I thought theyd print my email address...not my full home address. Was a bit of a worry really. Although elderly people often dont use computers, so would have been put off getting in touch with me. Maybe asking the paper to pass letters on is best thing. I also emailed the Bridgend paper a few months ago and had an AMAZING result, a man who had been to school with my 84 year old gran (Ive never met my gran), and he was absolutely lovely. I wish i'd asked him more. He gave me his address but I feel guilty getting back in touch!

Romany Star I too am concerned that if I were to give an email address only, many people might not (be able to) reply. I really don't want people turning up at my house. They might not even turn out to be related. If I were you, I'd definitely contact the old man again. I'm sure he won't mind: afterall, he was the one who contacted you in the first place. I think it might be a welcome opportunity for him to chat about old times. Obviously, he won't be around for ever and if you don't get in touch you might regret it later. Consider taping an interview with him. I did this with a great uncle who died in 1993. He loved it, wasn't a bit self conscious (in fact I think he felt quite important) and I'm oh so glad I still have that tape now. Regards Amanda