Genealogy Chat

Please see below....

I sometimes get fedup with looking for my own family tree members and like a break from the norm. It used to be lovely helping others look for BDM references also helping with brick walls.(I love problem solving) It's almost as good as finding one of your own!....but now.... ....threads are full of individual searches that I cant join in!!! I miss the old ways..... I cant see the point of looking on the boards anymore :-((..whats the point? I dont want to go to 'General' and follow silly threads about songs/pets/and poems/follow the leader and change a letter..... My hobby is Genealogy!!! not NONSENSE! I have membership to Ancestry and love to help others but now feel I have wasted my money! I thought this site was for sharing....... Am I alone? Gerri x

Gerri I think it's just the time of year - people are concentrating on Christmas at the moment and genealogy is taking a back seat for now. Be back with renewed vigour once they have had a chance to quiz old Uncle Charlie over the Xmas pud, and got Auntie Mabel to tell a family secret after two glasses of sherry. OC

Have responded to duplicate thread on Records.............

I agree with you Gerri.......the boards are not the same at the moment, but I also think OC is right, and that the time of year doesn't help, as people are too busy with Christmas. I know I haven't been online as much as I usually am. I too, hope that there will be more to do in the way of look-ups in the New Year, as I also like a bit of detective work (as long as it isn't too difficult, lol). Kath. x

Hi OC I think your missing my point me darlin....(no offence meant) There used to be individuel threads asking for help...but not now! All we have now is the odd thread from one member asking if he/she can help......these have hundreds of requests!!!!......(not worth reading) I dont bother reading a thread with more than say three/four..ish answers....

I have to disagree with you Gerri......I've been helping with an individual lookup request for the past half hour............. However, there are not as many as there once were, as so many former GR members now use a different site. Reg

Reg You caught me out!!!! lol BTW...I think your good! Wish I was as clever as you.....I bet you could solve my flippin Matilda!.....dont ask!....lol Matilda is a lost cause... Gerri xx

I am not sure what is different - less requests maybe. There have always been threads from people wanting help, and guess there always will be.I dont really see why you say you cant join in - what stops you? We all have something to contribute Jess

well if you want requests.........I've got quite a few lookups and questions that need solving. Are you sure? lol I'll try to post a few today on the board but I'm going to my mums later this afternoon so may not be around to answer any queries. Also, I'm dashing around trying to get housework done. (oh the joys of buying your own home - should have finished my family tree first lol)

Lots of people have access to ancestry now, so maybe there aren't as many people needing help. BMDs are free to search on ancestry so there is no need for BMD requests unless another pair of eyes is needed. But I still see individual requests on here. Genealogy is only one of my hobbies and I enjoy some of the threads on general, I certainly wouldn't say they were all nonsense. Fine, they may not be to your taste but to dismiss poetry as nonsense seems rather extreme. Gwynne

I thought the same as you about the general board until I read that the general board was set up for the people who were the original members of GC who suggested a general board so they didn't clutter up the requests for help with chat. I think it works well. Now i spend more time there that I do here lol

Hi Gerri Also, I think people are missing outif you do not read threads that have more than 3 or 4 answers. The poster may not have found the answer yet. Eg look at the thread I posted for help today. First post was asking for help, second post was giving details (as it would have been jumbled up in the first post) The 3rd post was someone clarifying which census records I was referring to. The 4th post was confirmation of that census record. However, i still didn't have an answer to my query by this stage. x lesley

It seems to me recently that there have been quite a few requests for the names of grandparents or similiar where the poster just posts the name of a known child. People then spend time replying saying that to find the details a birth cert is needed and find a likely match for a birth ref but no reply is ever posted (and in a few cases the same question appears a few weeks later with the same ranswers and you just know that no cert has been ordered(. Maybe it is just me but sometimes you have to help yourself before you can ask for the help offered by others. Expecting someone to produce names out of thin air when you need to buy a cert has put me right off this board for months now. Glen

Yes and just because all the censuses are online and the Birth Marriage and Death certificate registrations are online, people seem to think EVERYTHING related to Family History is online - not so! You need to visit record offices in person, or if you can't do that you need to contact the appropriate record office and see if they will do a lookup for you. Sometimes there is a charge for this service and sometimes there isn't. Not all family history can be done online. However more family history resources are being put online all the time. Cheers, Horatia