General Chat

I have got to know you all mainly in the General Topic board, but I don't know your interests in Genealogy. Give me and others a clue - when did you start, why did you start and make me green with envy, how far have to got. Sorry for being nosey, but it's the one thing we have in common apart from being a load of chatter boxes. Lin

hi lin i'll let you be nosey, you have to be nosey with this hobby otherwise we wouldn't get anywhere. I started towards the end of last year, and really got into in january 2004. My reason for starting was my daughter and hubby were expecting katie feb 2004 and i knew they were going to emigrate to new zealand in the future [ which has been put off for another year] I wanted to be able to give my 1st grandaughter a book on her past in england with stories and photos of her ancestors in case she never returned to this country, so she has something to pas onto her kids etc. Now all 5 of my adult kids want a book to so i will be kept busy for a few years yet. As for how far i have got i have almost 1300 in my tree and some lines are back to gr gr gr gr and others only gr grandparents so it'll be a while yet, some people have been researching for over 20 years sso i'm a novice in my 1st year but i thorougly enjoy it happy hunting sandra

Hello Sandra I think it's grand to be able to pass all your hard research onto the next generation. Unfortunately I have no one who is interested, but that is not the reason I first started digging. My father died in 1996 - our relationship was at a distant London/Highlands so it was a case of letter/telephone contact. He died of cancer but did not tell me - I found out via a telephone call from the hospital. My father was a very deep man and kept things to himself, including who his father was - I never knew my Grandparents. So to feel nearer to my father/family I started to do research and have done for the past eight years as far back as 1596 from East London and ending in Kent. It just feels grand to look at the family chart and know that as far back as the 1500's I can say where I stem from - It's a pity dad did not know he would have been amused. Lin

Hi Lin In March 1997 I saw a message on Channel 4 Teletext re.a general inquiry about my maiden name inviting people to get in touch. Being a nosey sort myself, well not really, - shall we say intrigued by what they wanted, -I wrote off and although I haven't yet made a connection with that particular family, we have become friends, talk at least 3 times a week on the phone and exchange info. as June is now the registered co-ordinater for the one name study of that surname. We have traced our lines back to separate familes in Sussex in early 1700s but as yet haven't found the elusive link. The spooky thing is that if you saw June and my sister, you would think they are siblings.

Hi Lin I have been researching my family tree for just over a year ,but have only got back to early 1800,s . Since chatting on here i dont have much time for anything else . Must try and start again soon . Val

Have always wanted to know more about my father and his father - like so many families they never talk about the past etc. My father was in the Secret Service after the RAF or as well as. Did'nt know my grandfather but knew he was an artist.When my father died in 1986 we were given 5 paintings by my grandfather - one matched 3 others in the The London War Museum, so we dontaed it to make up the set. Grand father and his youngest son were both war correspondents and artists - so it was quite important to keep the paintings together - SOooooo l started looking on the net for the name Meninsky and then wanted to find more info on my fil who knew nothing about his father - again his mother never talked about him.He died having never seen his son - my f i l still cried about that up to a few yrs before he died in 1999. l just love looking on Ancestry(.)co's census pages, can't now though,not registered. l have'nt done any research since about Dec 03 and feel guilty cause l have so much info laying about and info to come from USA and had such enthusiastic idea's - but like someone was saying "l have lost me oooomph" :o( Have l waffled again?? Jude sarf wales

Jude waffle all you want - I have to say that all of the interesting stories I have read of when and why do not differ greatly from my own, but when I look at all the pages I have accumulated I think it is sad that I have no one to pass them onto - is there a Family Tree Bank ie somewhere you can have your tree kept for always? for Prosperity. Lin

Hi Lin When I was at Junior school I did a school project on my family tree and spoke to my Grandparents and found out things about them - where they went to school, what theyre parents/grandparents did for a living etc and I was so proud of my project I kept it. My Mums dad then started researching his family, but sadly died before he had managed to get back too far and I inherited all of his paperwork. My mums cousin - Hi Auntie Christine if your reading this! then introduced me to this site October last year which renewed my interest in the family tree and thanks to one of my Dads Second Cousins I have information on my Dads mums family back to 1475. The good part is that when you hit a brickwall with one branch theres always other branches and twigs to follow. Also my Mum and Dad all only children, and my Dads mum died when he was only 13 so in doing this it helps me find out about my rellies that I never got to meet. Karen

Hi Lin With regards to your question about leaving your family tree paperwork someone. You could contact Kent or London records office as thats where your families started from and see if they would like your research. I think I remember Judi in USA saying that is what she has done. Karen

Lin - l don't know about thet, sure be nice to show it off somewhere - do you have God children or very good friends. Don't know ur age so don't want to sound rude, but what about close friends children - do you take them as sort of grand children???? Or you might find someone on here that is related to you that would appreciate it!!!??? Jude sarf wales

I started as far back as 1992 on and off searching for bits and pops - but then I lived in london and most places were accessable. Children came along and I dropped it - too expensive and time consuming lol! During that time though I searched on and off for ONE person lol My grt granny who i ha known and loved for 11 years of my life. There were never any records of her other than her death and marriage certs. Anyway last summer I decided to start in ernest as i found out on my maternal side a grt Aunt had done some research and my Uncle was carrying on with it. I became interested about them as my mother had left my father when I was 8 so I never knew her or this side of the family. The family were Scenic Artists and theatre owners in Londons west End. Thanks to the INTERNET we found tons of refrences to the work of one of them - they had even been commisioned by the American Philidelphia Theatre in the states back in the edwardian period. Fascinating stuff. Anyway on my paternal side my grandfathers family were farmers in Sussex and a few branches moved to Australia in the 1830's - there are tons and tons of them there - a whole new family for me to meet : ) My grandmothers family on her mothers side I was able to climb the tree to 1480 thanks to Hearth taxes, wills and a distant cousin from the states who i found . To date in the last year I have collected some 5000 names and dates with the help of distant rellies, GC gang, Internet and many other resources. A good 2000 of them I have been able to bring alive with historical facts they have left behind. small clues here and there. Thats's just my side............I best not start on hubby's lol Much happiness Debi

Debi - how interestin, we have something in common!! Where in Sussex did ur rellies live?? l was born and bred in Sussex:o)0 Jude sarf wales

Oh jude Generations of Sedlescombe PLAYFORD men as far back as 1690 - when they came from KENT. My grandfather was the last of our line - joined the Met and was based in North London.( 1937) Many came from Beckley & Ewhurst - Familes entwined into the PLAYFORDS were Ballards, Bryants, Rootes, Cox, Kemp And your gang? lol Much happiness debi

Hi My son & I got into this because my late husband had never known anything about his parents or family. Shortly before he died (12 years ago now) he at last wanted to know if he had any relatives, unfortunately nothing much could be found at that time, and after he died, my son wanted to go ahead & research to see what we could find. Now we have all the family (branche & twigs) going back to the early 1700`s. Now during the last 2 years I`ve started on my side, boy did I get some surprises!!! now I`m hooked, but determined to find out what I can about my rellies before I turn up my toes! wish now I had started long ago. If anyone is interested (you never know, you might have a link!!!) have a look at my web site www(.)tribalpages(.)com/tribes/jarvisbarr is interested (you never know you may have a link!!!)

I too have been hooked, for the last year or so, after looking at old family photo's!. Just wish when grandparents were alive, that i had asked more questions!..It is a fascinating project, that does take you over, just wish it wasn't such a common surname (WRIGHT),.

Sorry Lin, cut myself off! (doh!).., as I was saying Wright, is a common surname, Gr.Grandfather, served in India, in the Army, 1890's-1909, so I have been looking at different sites, to do with this. I never realised how much help is out there, since having this laptop. It certainly brings some of the photo's to life, like others have said, just wish i had started earlier!.

Debi l had friends, ex neighbours who were Bryant and her maiden name was Cox - Jackie and Les,they now live in Ipswich!!!!! My maiden name is Menin,changed from Meninsky and Menusken. Bernard Meninsky was the artist and his son Phillip. Phillip is still alive aged aprox 83yrs. How long have u been on this site - u may have heard about a card l found for sale in Worthing Museum - l picked this card up and thought wow this is beautiful, when l turned it over it was from an original of Bernard Meninsky.It was a picture of a Baby in his mothers arms - the baby was my dad - well, as you can imagine l became quite emotional, had to contain it though as l was with students, who were by now convinced l was mad, having thought it for ages!!!!!! Jude sarf wales:o)

started on here to look for my twin half siblings i never knew existed until a few years ago.unfortunetly haven't be able to trace themxxxx(:

While my husband's uncle Bill was alive (the oldest male in the family) he refused point blank to allow anyone to research the Seldon family history. He hinted at dark secrets. When he died in 1983, my father in law and brother in law started researching. This was before the internet and they didn't get very far. I decided to take it over at the end of 2002 and joined GC/GR. In April 2003 I made contact with my husband's 2nd cousin through this site and we met up last year. Neither knew of the others existance before then. Their grandfathers were full brothers (we knew about half brothers & sisters from my research when I found Grampa Willie was widowed and remarried). Was this the sinister secret? Disappointingly cousin Pat didn't know the secret either! I have now traced the Seldons back to the 1600s. I could get no further so decided to try my side. My father was Canadian, born to a Welsh mother (who emigrated when she was 11) and a Scots-Canadian father. I managed to trace my grandmother's ancestors, both maternal and paternal, although I haven't connected with anyone yet. I discovered my Aunt in Canada was researching, but there is not so much Canadian info on the net as there is British. We have pooled resources and last week had a real breakthrough when I connected with 2 other Kilpatrick researchers in Canada and a very kind lady, also in Canada, sent me census records, marriage records and info about the town where my Canadian G G Grandfather lived. Still haven't found the dark secret of the Seldons though :o( I'll keep trying Sue P.S. Does anyone know any Seldon secrets from Devon? Please pass them on - I won't tell anyone (well except maybe cousin Pat) LOL

I was adopted and the finding of some members of my birth family coincided with noticing the 'GR' advert on 'Friend Reunited'. I joined in April this year and decided to do two trees - adoptive and birth. Taking on such a mammoth task, I have to keep myself organised ... I get to a point with one branch, then I go across and try to reach that point with another branch. This way, both trees are about level pegging at the moment, but my adoptive paternal line is the biggest and easiest! At the moment, I only have about 20 on one tree and 57 (I think!) on the other, although I did digress for a while and do some research on my sister-in-law's behalf. After being away from home for most of the summer, I'm now raring to go again! My family don't find it as exciting as me, but they do show an interest (perhaps they're just very polite!!). Mandy :)