General Chat

My brother is the only sibling who is interested in my research.

My husband's family don' t believe my research. They insist that their mother was born in Wales even though I have proof that she wasn't.

that's lovely Sue. I'll "borrow" it.

lol @ maggie W........ I get the same......... along the lines of "she knows more about the dead ones"

I have a Tshirt, black with white letters......... I SEEK DEAD PEOPLE.... in smaller letters under that...... I'm a Genealogist. I HAD to buy it! It doesn't claim I'm a professional, it's just a bit of fun.

:-D

I wish someone would introduce me as the family historian.
The nearest my siblings get to it is 'This is Maggie, the hoarder of cr*p'

BUT my brothers were chuffed to bits when I gave them back their original Maltese birth certificates (found in mum's stuff). Unfortunately I forgot to copy them first :-(

How interesting Jemima :-)

Sue,
My Great Aunt married into nobility, and while searching records of her husbands family I accidentally accessed the Census of Queen Victoria and her household!!!!
The relative was an Equerry!!!!

I like that Sue, lovely words.

My beloved Nana used to call me an old story teller, when as a child I would have a moan about something, like being hungry or cold when I was really after a bit of attention.

Always said in a loving way and usually with a cuddle, but maybe she set the way to come for me.

I just wish I had listened a bit more to her stories and certainly should have asked more questions.

M

I also like to find out the politics of the time, who was the reigning monarch and the working and living conditions.

Jemima my father in law told me so much about my husband's family and most of it proved true. My father knew his grandparent's names and my mother knew her paternal grandmother's maiden name. It all helped :-)

How very true. As the story teller of our tribe I have to know fact so I can bulid up a picture of their lives as said putting flesh on bones. I like reseach what was going on about them at the time, clothes they would wear conditions of where they worked.

I agree Allan. Awhile back I started a scrapbook about myself. I have put in photos and stories about my childhood and my life.

That's why I love looking for my ancestors. Bringing the past to life, and learning the story of how we came to be where we are today. I love trying to imagine their lives, and any tiny bit of information is a treasure to me. If I come across any photographs, all the better! :-)

SueMaid,

A beautiful piece of writing :-)

But can I add that as well as searching the records and trying to flesh out the past, we take time to record our own memories.

How did we spend our childhoods and how did we meet our partners?

These are questions that I would dearly love answers to, but alas for those people now gone, I will never know.

I have started to record my own history for those who come after.

Whilst quite unremarkable in the overall scheme of things I want my children to know of their origins, not just the UK ones but also of their Polish and Ukrainian ones :-)

My pleasure, Mau :-)

Don't you wish Sue that you could have been able to get all this information while certain family members were still alive to enjoy it?

I have such depth of knowledge of my family history now, which I did not have the technology skills, etc. to have until recent years. How I often tell my husband I wish my Great Aunt Nesta was alive to know all this. She would love it!!!

"The Story Tellers" for our families I like that a lot :-D

My family always joke when I start to relate tales of what I've found out about our missing families from many generations past, but I know in my heart that they're pleased I've uncovered the secrets and 'put flesh on bones'.

Thank you SueM

Jemima - welcome to the boards :-)

I have a copy of an account in a set of war diaries detailing my great grandfather's death in WW1 in France. How sad I felt reading it and knowing what his last moments were. Something his family didn't know.

That is exactly how I feel SueMaid.

I am documenting each branch of my Ancestors in files, with Write-Ups on each person, Certificates, Census Records, photographs, Pictures of where they lived, etc. l like to look for"Story behind the facts". I feel I need to have recorded history on all those who have gone before us.

eg. After a year of trying to find out what happened to my x3 Great Uncle, I managed to find out on Google, that he was torpedoed by a German UBoat during WW1 whilst he served in the Merchant Navy aged 69. There are actually YouTube videos of divers in the Wreck.
When his name came up on the screen with the video of the wreck in the background, haunting music playing, I just cried. It was like a bereavement, although I never actually new him or of him until recently!!!

We are definitely "The Story Tellers" for our families and for our future descendants :-)

I think that sometimes we get caught up in facts and figures and we forget that our ancestors were flesh and blood.

I'm glad you have enjoyed reading these words.

My thoughts exactly Suemaid, brought a small tear to my eye.

Carol :-)

That's a lovely way to be introduced, much better than the 'weird one' :-)

Of course I don't mind Lyndi - I copied it because I love the words. My brother once introduced me as the "family historian" and I felt proud.