Find Ancestors

Hello BattleMaiden - at the risk of getting shot down in flames for being "board police" I would suggest you start a whole new thread of your own for your query - if we tried to answer on here it would get lost amongst the comments about this particular topic.

Just go back to the main "Find Ancestors" page and click on "Add Topic" - read the drop down text that shows (or, even better, click on the Help Clinic button at the top left). Both places tell you how to proceed.

Don't be scared - we're here to help! :-)

(In fact, we're desperate to help!)

Hi Dea

It has been very quiet. Maybe people are skint and watching the pennies

We're all redundant :-S

tend to disagree there sue,i'm afraid(sorry!)..but i think you can't get TOO much information!

in my experience,the extra information i have been given,sends me down routes i wouldn't even have thought of....for that i was very grateful. ;-)

Dea...From your one query you have created possibly the nicest thread I have read through for some while...
Lovely thoughts from some lovely people.

Hello everyone, I do hope you are not too cheesed off so as not to try my puzzle.

I am trying to find info ref the birth father of my cousin or some idea of what his background was.

What we do know is his name Thomas Mills born c1903 in Jarrow Co Durham, he was married and was father of Pamela c1933 and Peter Mills c1935, We believe he also had a step sister Phyllis Chambers b 1910 Monkton Co Durham.

The latter end of the war Tom was based in Dorset a Sgt in the Army and love flourished with my Aunt and my cousin was born in 1943, she does not want to bother the family, just wondered what his background was.

Many thanks, hope I am in the right place, I have been lost since all the changes.

Awdrey.

As people have already said..some people are put off posting queries becaus they sometimes get jumped on for posting maybe the same family name but different christian names.

Also maybe too much info is put on for the family..ie if people are loking for a marriage/death/Census then that at that precise moment is all they want.Not reams of other info on other family members.

It can be very confusing if too much info is given on the rest of the family in the census.I have seen this happen quite a few times.

If people put a thread on the wrong board it's either reported to GR or they are told not to post that query on that board but put it on the right board..

I have never seen so many board police as I have in the last 2 years coming on and telling people remove this to another board or don't post the same name twice..

Why can't people live and let live..

Sue

lol sylann and densirl....i agree tho(and i too getting on in years!)..it merits a different thread for a different person.

sometimes,the original thread does go on and on,so is easier starting afresh!

also agree that helpers on here do a grand job...i take my hat of to you all!

thankyou. ;-)

Hello all,
Just want to say that I felt a little sad reading the comments from people I've found to be so very supportive and so willing to help other members. Almost all of the helpers named on the board today have assisted me in the past and I've very much appreciated that and always been amazed by your generosity and expertise. A very big thank you to you all. Best Wishes from Lynn

p.s. just a thought! Sometimes, when I've been helped, I don't come back with another query until I feel a suitable period of time has elapsed in order that the board isn't flooded with requests from us demanding novices. I wonder if others perhaps feel the same. In truth, I could keep you all occupied full time, so inept am I at family researching!!

please miss, who or what are 'starry helpers'?

And who is that gorgeous man called Jones ?

I agree with you Sylann ,i do appreciate every thing people have found out for me ,and i allways try to send a message saying so ,maybe i miss out on people but dont mean to .I get the message to about family names ,but they do expand and never know whether to start a new thread or what ,i would be lost without you people ,so please bear with me everyone if i post something on here you have allready found ,because i get so confused ,call it getting on in years xxxxxxxThankyou every one

Hi all

I must admit I've always come on here for excellent advice and help, but reasently I've been put off by all these
"only post one question for one family name"
I find this very off putting when you have families with 10 children and your trying to expand your tree sideways who they married etc because of this I'm reluctant to ask for help now
I know if your asking about the same person it is wasting time, but asking about siblings???


To all those who give good advice and help a big THANK YOU

i don't see things unless they put in my hand! lol

never even noticed any stars..never mind who has them!

all i know,is that i've had LOADS of help on here...yes,i've had my knuckles wrapped too,but only cos i started another thread,instead of continuing original one.

to me,that IS a bit confusing,cos i would have thought you had to start a new thread if its for a different person.

but,hey ho,wot do i know..i'm only learning!! <3 <3 <3

Hi everyone......being in Australia I have had great help from you guys in the past. There has been maybe only once or twice over the years where I haven't been able to be helped with a request. The generosity and kindness given to me has been greatly appreciated.

In return I try to help where i can with Australian records.

Even when I'm not in need of help I like to read posts and see what people are up to.

Please don't get too discouraged (I might need you in the future )Maybe this is just a bit of a down time and things will pick up again shortly

" SMILE AND THE WORLD SMILES WITH YOU :-D

Cheers Colleen

never seen the name blackduck before of course .......... too bad we can' t look back at where they were 'shot down in flames' to see who was doing the shooting ..........



............. and I wonder who those members were who 'took out their frustrations' at members with stars ............. I don't remember seeing that but maybe I just don't see what's in front of me ..............



I have always felt summat the opposite I guess .......... it' s the helpers who get shot down in flames .......... there really seem to be some people who delight in criticising helpers but not doing much if anything themselves ......... I know some helpers just get fed up of it

You DO have a point there Lorraine.

There has been a lot of 'reporting' of threads recently and this would certainly frighten people off who are not over used to using the boards.

I hope that GR have got this in hand. - I know that they have been working on it.

Dea x

hi all
maybe people have come to a stand still and dont know where to go next on there family tree [i know i have]
but maybe they wont post in case they get reported

who knows
lorraine

Some very interesting comments posted over night - It does seem that there are several factors involved but I still can't pinpoint the main cause of the problem........

I think I will take a look at this new Living Relatives board now that they have changed it and see if that is where all the queries which should be on here have disappeared to.

Many thanks All !

Dea x

Most of the people who had a star applied for it. Some were asked but declined.

You had to have 100 people in your tree been a paid member for a year and no abuse reports about you. I dont think people wanted to be a star, but it made them look as though they were more experianced than others

I take no notice of how long people have been a member that means nothing to me...I have been a member since 2007...rubbish... I added my name in 2007 actually paid some money and added a few more names in 2010

Anyway I have been busy on Living relatives today :-D

jax

I think that part of the problem has been sheer and utter frustration, not being able to access the site getting error messages all the time, the Hot matches you can't access because of a "Technical problem".

People just give up and go elsewhere, Ancestry has become extremely popular, it costs more but people are switching over.

Another small problem is that in the past there were certain people on here who weren't very friendly and actually put people off from posting.
I myself for one have been on the receiving end, as you can see I've been a member for quite a while and have tried to help where I can but each time I did I got shot down in flames by others, regardless if the information I supplied was correct and pointed the poster in the right direction, so I stopped helping.

The other factor as mentioned was the "Star" I inquired about this, as to how they chose the "Star" members as I have been a member for so much longer than most at that time and was told that it was only offered to those who post the most to the boards. It did sort of mess things up a bit as some members took out their frustrations at not being a "Star" on other members posting an inquiry. I still don't understand the "Star" concept.

I feel that most peoples hearts are in the right place and they genuinely want to help others find their ancestors, but there are a few who let it go to their head and unfortunately I think it has had an affect on the number of people willing to post on the boards.

To all you genuine good heart lovely people, a very much appreciated thank you for all the work that you do.

Find Living Relatives

somebody wants to find descendants of their ancestors, that's where they post now

count the posts on that board

add up the fees paid by new 'members' to post there ......... even at the basic sub rate ( I know some have paid for Platinum memberships )

consider then what interest the site owners have in these traditional boards now where most users are of longer standing

not much , I think.

The money is in the new subscriptions brought in from the long lost families advertising from people who think they pay their money and they find their long lost family member ( just as Ancestry brings in new users with its adverts about finding your ancestors in other people's trees and never having to do any work at all ).

as long as new people keep buying subscriptions to post there, the corporation makes its profits, who cares about the real help boards ?

there are about 1,000 posts on living relatives ( not counting many that have been removed after review ) a large majority from new subscribers

even at the minimum fee for a basic membership what does that add up to in what is really money for old rope ?