General Chat

Thank you to all so far :-) There are some really interesting reasons here and they show just how diverse the reason for doing your tree are. :-))))))))))))))

Hello Angelic I started work on my family tree about 3 years ago. Out of curiosity I typed my grandmother's maiden name in on the GR site and found someone working on the same family name in the same borough. I wanted to find out if there was a connection and paid a membership fee to GR instantly. Sure enough there was a connection and I have stayed hooked ever since. Regards, Jay

My dad was 70 three years ago. 4 months before his birthday I was at a dead end trying to figure out what to buy him - he didn't want anything and didn't need anything and I just wasn't inspired. Then in conversation I discovered that because he was the youngest child of 3 - with big age gaps between him and the others - he felt as if he'd missed out on knowing some of his parents brothers and sisters and grandparents. He didn't even know all their names. So I set myself the target of finding out as much as possible so I could present him with a chart and some family biography notes on his birthday. I did it and was hooked so I never stopped - now I've nearly 5000 people in the tree and loads of details about the key people. Angela

Because I wanted to find out the names of my mums triplet sisters, who were stillborn. Still haven't found out though! lol

Hi Julie ~~~~~~~~~~waves~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I was same as Angela - I started to do tree for my Dad's 70th which I managed but now doing my mum's and am hooked but spend tooo much time on this board to get much done at the mo!! I thought I was all Brummie but I have close links to Cornwall and Wales and Ireland but hoping to avoid a scottish link lolol Kaz :o))))))

I joined to try and focus my mind on something other than the fact that I had to come to a decision about my sickly horse.......he died.....I stayed......

Jay I know the feeling of being hooked lol I've had to put mine on the back burner for a couple of months because of college work but I'm really looking forward to getting back to it. Angela what a lovely present :-) Paul don't give up hope.

My dad had some whopping 'mysteries' in this family - mysteries that I couldn't delve into while he was alive as he was too afraid of what I might find. When he died in 2001, I began to research, initially not realising that dad's family, being Irish, and me not knowing any dates or places were going to be virtually impossible to trace. But I was instantly hooked and though I have almost nothing on dad's line, I have over 1,000 in my tree and the same in my husband's. Bev x

My late father in law lost his father in WW1 and my husband always wanted to know more about the details and the war etc. We found out he did not have a grave but was commemorated in Tyne Cott Cemetery. In February 2005, we went as a family - husband, daughter, son, daughter in law, grandson and I - to Belgium to see where he had died etc. The taxi driver had worked in the cemetery as a 12 year old boy during WW2 and led us to the right panel. We saw Alexander Wood's details - and just a few entries above was the name of my mother-in-law's uncle, Robert Moir! He had died just 6 days before Alexander Wood; both were killed at Passchendale; both were in the same Battalion of the Gordon Highlanders; they probably knew each other well. How amazing that 19 years later Alexander's son met and married Robert's niece. I was hooked!

Because a relative had researched my husband's maternal side and I was fed up hearing about knights carrying banners at the coronations of CharlesI and Charles II so I thought I would do his paternal line and find a transportee or someone interesting - all I found were Puritan Vicars!

Julie, my parents migrated here to Australia with little 3 year old me. Three more children were born here in Australia, but no other family followed us here. As I grew older and heard stories of my grandparents and aunts and uncles, I would often wish I knew them. My friends at school all seemed to know their extended families, but I didn't. So a few years ago, my brother and I decided to find out more about them. We have found so much more than we ever expected including 'cousins' that we never knew about. I love being an Aussie, but I am very proud of my roots in England. Susan

Thank you :-)

I always failed when it came to history exams at school and I was even related to the history teacher. When I moved to work in London in my early twenties, I needed to find an interest to fill my days off as I was lonely. Searching for long lost ancestors in the BMD kept me busy and fitted the bill. Twenty years later I'd like my two young daughters to know where their family tree and various branches originated from and to be proud of their roots. Louise

My Father was fostered and always wanted to know what happened to his parents. I've been searching for nearly 20 years ( before computers) my Father died in 2003 and I made a promise that I wouldn't give up my search. Through my SiL I have found his sister (also fostered ) but sadly they both died,(2 months apart) never having met each other. I am still no nearer to finding my grandparents,but, I live in hope. God loves a trier so 'they say'. Mau xx

when i was little we all used to go roung to my gt grandmothers house, that was ALL the family. the grown ups used do chat over a cup of tea and i listened to all the grown up talk when they thought i was playing with my 'cousins'. my gt grandmother died when i was 10 and the family never got together again in the same way, but i was still interested in family stuff. at 14 i did my first very basic tree. from then on it was only done now and again. when i heard talk about the family. at 30 i read that a family history society was to be started in scarborough and so 8 1/2 months pregnant i went to the meeting and have been researching solidly for 21yrs. it is not a hobby, it is an obsession! lol not enough time in the day for me and soooooooooooo much to do! tina x

When I was bought my PC for a present it was one of the first things I wanted to do. Only sad that my dad isn't here he would have loved it. He had started the his family once but it had all got lost so I was starting from scratch. He woudl have loved the things I have found so would my Mum. Germaine x

Just reading all the reasons, and I think they are really interesting. Everybody has a story to tell. I especially like the one about the Puritan Vicars.........and Woodys one about Paschiondale.......

I started to search for my dad's family because my elder sister had a paper trail left by my German Grandmother for her husband's family (my grandfather). My sister wanted to look into Dad's family and didn't know where to start, so me and my hubby decided we would try and start. Looked up Scotland's People and boof we had found something. From then on I started to dig and delve finding out more and more. I only have just over three hundred people on my tree now, but I have come into contact with half cousins and distant cousins, who live all over the world. I have found it very rewarding and hope to continue, once I break down the brickwall that is in my way. Raven

Its surprising how many people have German ancestors.....I seem to remember that on a couple of Who do You Think You Are's they had German blood. One was funny, it was Stephen Fry.....he found out his g.grandfather on his father's side was German, and his mother was really sniffy about it, and said, don't find any on my side, will you - guess what, he did......

There were family stories passed down on both sides that were intriguing. Mum and I have proved a few of the sories are true but still looking for the name of the Pirate and the illegitimate link to Tennyson ............. But I have found that branches of my 'family' around the world have the same story passed down about the Tennyson family link ......... :-))))))))))))))))))))))