General Chat

From now on I shall be sure to get all my details wrong on my Census returns, make sure I marry someone called Smith in London, and name my child John, also known as Joe, Jonathan, Jonty or Fred Smith. I intend to move house and city every two years, and swap husbands every other year - making sure, of course, that I get the Vicar drunk before he fills out the marriage certificate. Any else got any tips on how we should make things more of a challenge for the future generations who inherit our family trees? Or, if you're feeling kind, ways to make it easier for them?

Lol... I always thought I would make it easier, but now you've given me some ideas. I've already started making it hard. My first hubby beat me so I divorced him after 18 months, number 2 died after we had been married 4 weeks (we had lived together for 10 years) number 3 is an irish catholic th youngest of 17..... 4 different surnames. Could be fun Rebecca

Nice one Rebecca! You'll definitely make it to the 'Trying To Find' board in 100 year's time!! Don't forget to put a different birthplace on each Census Return as well, just to spice things up a bit.

It's a good idea not to be married at all, change your name now and then (first and surnames, naturally) and also have some wild leap in occupation, say from road sweeper to Chairman of a building society, or vice versa. If, on the other hand, you want your descendants to find you, commit a major crime. It will be in all the papers as well as many official documents. If my poor mad great, great grand-uncle hadn't killed someone, I would never have had details such as his hair and eye colour, height etc nor read the words his mother spoke at his committal hearing. nell

So, you're my ancestor!

Hi Nell You've got a point there. It's a bit drastic, but I'm definitely prepared to sacrifice my husband, as long as I'm remembered as a 'gorgeous, petite blonde axe-murderer with blue eyes'. Perhaps I could arrange to kill him in a war zone so that he goes on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website into the bargain! Then, while I'm in prison, my kids could be sent to the local workhouse or orphanage and listed as 'imbeciles'. That should give the future generations plenty to go on!! Natalie PS. Would then , of course, marry Marion's son (who does seem rather gorgeous) on release from prison and have five more children, all called Wayne (but with a different surname for each one!)

I've started making it more difficult. In 1961, I was in Malta, my ex in new Zealand. In 1971 I was in Hampshire, my ex was in Cyprus. When we married in 1980 we were living in Essex and both put our occupations as Agticultural labourers - to follow the family tradition we knew nothing about. Our witnesses were my (re-married) mother and his maiden aunt who had a different name from her sister (ex's mother) - so no help with surnames there! I am now an administrator, he is a lecturer! His mother was also the illegitimate daughter of an illegitimate daughter of Charles Stewart Parnell and Kate O'Shea! - I'm not touching that side - their illegitimate children are never mentioned in articles about them, and Parnell was Irish/American of English /Irish descent!! My daughter has double-barrelled her daughter's name, with the father's surname first!!

Maggie Way to go.....!!! You must be the Queen of the Geneaology Dodgers! I'll try and live to 100, just so I can help your gt-grandchildren work it all out!!! LOL......Natalie

Christina Think your next step should definitely be to join the army (choose whichever country you like!), as by the time your descendents have spent ten years tracking you down at the Family Records Centre in London, they will just be ready for another ten years at the Kew Archive searching your military history! Natalie

If you have to marry, go for a Smith, Brown or Jones. If you can manage it, have at least 3 different partners, all with children from other relationships, and have one or more children with each. That's not original thinking; merely what my forbears arranged for me , just to be difficult. Len

For the ultimate confusion for decendants, change Forname Surname and GENDER!! Michelle

Or you could do what a string of my rellies have done for at least 4 generations, and thats use various different stage names depending where you were living and/or performing at any time. Got one who used her grandmother's maiden name as her stage name, but quoted an entirely different name, and husband's name, when called to be a witness in court!

You could try moving to Wales and having four different husbands called Jones, Evans, Davies & Morgan!!!

Or make sure you marry a James Anderson who puts birthplace down as 'Scotland' like my g.g.g.grandmother! Might as well have married a Mr Needle born in Haystack!!!

Everyone should change their surnames to Smith and Taylor, keeping you first names though if you want. No more censuses or birth registration or IGI would be good to annoy your descendants

And once you've changed gender, don't forget to change religion too. So that Wesleyan Methodist Jenny becomes Roman Catholic Johnny!

Having just read this page, I'm at a complete loss as to how my (38 years dead) grandmother has obviously already read it before me.

Also, when labelling family photographs, always include a complete stranger in the picture and label her "Auntie Pollie". There's an Auntie Pollie in all our family photographs....but nobody has a clue who she is. Hang on a minute......bearing in mind the previous messages......perhaps she's actually Uncle Patrick!!!!!

I'm feeling a bit kind and ways to make it easier would be to digitise the BMD registers from 1837 to today and put them on the internet so no more certificate buying, and at present, make the 1911 and 1921 censuses available and scrap the 100 year closure rule

Actually, another good wheeze would be to marry three times to John Smith, each one being a different John Smith. Or do a Liz Taylor-Richard Burton and divorce and then remarry old partner. I don't have an Auntie Pollie, but my mother and I had a good laugh/sigh of exasperation recently, having found a hoard of old photos in a box of stuff to do with my father's family. some of the photos Mum could identify, but some we think were just from the old shop Dad's family ran, which did picture (and photo) framing - they could be anyone! Also, you want to live somewhere that changed its county boundary, and preferably its name. nell