Genealogy Chat

When I got stuck on one of my names I decided to look at other people with the same surname. It's not a common surname and it is one that is definitely concentrated in Somerset. I've gradually collected a lot of information about them and it is turning into an unofficial One Name Study. As I've gone on I've found all sorts of connections between them. I believe they are all related somehow but it may take me a lifetime to untangle the puzzle. Another of my family groups lived down on the Somerset Levels. I've really enjoyed finding out about the lives they might have led, the occupations they had and the sort of homes they lived in. Looking at a booklet written for the Millenium by a local WI in one village gave me snippets of information and I learned about a riot in the 1860s which involved some of my relations. I'd love to discover as much as I can about as many of my ancestors as possible. There are some who are only names and I think it is unlikely that I will find any more about most of those but surprises do happen. So if you think you have found everything just try filling in the details and gaps with general knowledge about the places and times your ancestors lived in. Even if you don't find your actual person in records it will make it easier to imagine them if you know how they lived. Sue

Never as far as I am concerned. I have 3 main villages of interest in Northamptonshire and I'm now into reading the village history books for these areas, and have found a few ancestors mentioned in these books, which is leading me on to more research. I also know other families and their occupations that have lived in these villages, and as I am back to the Civil War period there is much work to do on that.You never finish. I have too many projects I want to do now to see me 'off this mortal coil!' Am working on a big newspaper Project at present obtaining all letters written by an ancestor to an Irish newspaper in the 1850's to 1870's. Also working on a project for a Swedish Scientist and hoping to find time to work on many of the Estate Records in Northants CRO. Each project you complete leads you on to another track. Gets a bit boring though to just collect names. Janet

its actually a very good question...i`ve gone back to 1700 with my family name....as a man,my surname is important to me so i find i want to research my surname....my mothers side of the family was actually easier to research....my surname has become frustrating....where do you research before 1700?....does it then become expensive to pay for certs/travel to parish/church records....i`m in liverpool...do i have to go to herefordshire/shropshire/cheshire etc to trace 1700`s relatives records....personally,i`ll probably carry on til i find 1600`s and further...but i do find it harder and more frustrating,the further i go back...happy hunting...and best wishes for xmas and new year to everyone....allan

I am stuck fast on a 2 x GGF - appears fully grown aged 39, everything before that is surmise and speculation. But to fill in the last 35 years of my hopeless quest for him, I have researched his POSSIBLE ancestors, based on the little KNOWN information I have of the man, and I have seven possible lines in place, should I ever confirm his origins. I also got sidetracked into doing more or less a whole tree for a village where another line of ancestors have lived since at least 1480. Everyone in the village is related to everyone else and I got really involved in working out the relationships, working out a sort of map in my head of where they lived in relation to each other, delved into the history of the village (which was extremely interesting!) and so on. My problem is that there is not enough time left in my life to see everything I want to see - I have a list of documents to buy or view which is now over 600 items long! OC

There's also the jobs they did to research and the history of the places they lived. What was happening nationally at the time they were around? Would it have affected their daily lives? For one of mine, I've done a time line of Great Yarmouth during the Napoleonic war. For my East Yorks ag labs, I've investigated hiring, wages, the late change over from oxen to horses, what happened to the 'estate village' they lived in - it kept on being sold, rather than passed on down through the family of a large landowner. My father was brought up in the great depression and couldn't get a permanent job - I've investigated the Blyth shipyard and some of the ships built there, following on from some memoirs he left. At present, I'm doing photos of where they were hatched, matched and despached. The list of things to find out is endless - I've been at it for 20 years and if I manage another 20, I still won't have finished! Jay

You won't stop researching - there will come a day when you can ask the missing relatives where they've been while you were looking for them. LOL Keith

It would take several lifetimes to do all I want to do I think. Can anyone ever be sure they have found everything about everyone? I don't think so. Perhaps if everyone on your tree is a John Smith type name and you can only go back with certainty for a couple of generations but even then there would be a lot of finding out to do about their daily lives, places of work etc. if that interests you. Sue

Dont just collect names, look at each important individual try to find employment/apprenticeship/jail records etc. Look for newspaper reports, take photos of their old homes, look for Wills, for bastardy bonds, settlement certificates. Theres always something new out there.

As far as I am concerned, there is always a previous generation to research, another step sideways to go, another village to learn about. I'll probably stop when they are shovelling earth on me though. OC

Stop when you get bored, not that you're likely to. There's always something new to find just around the corner :)

I would never stop researching my family as no matter which line you go down you are still all related. I think the only time i would stop is if i was getting fustrated or i lost interest but i'm sure it wouldn't last long. Jen

Never ! ... :-) Sometimes I may feel despondent with a brick wall, sometimes I wonder where to go next ... but whilst there is a census to search, or a BMD index to search, or a village to visit where my ancestors lived to ''tread in their footsteps'', then I continue. They are real people to me, and I feel very close to some of them.

But doesn't there come a point where you're almost researching a stranger's tree, so distant has it grown away from your original branch?

When you loose interest I would say. But there`s always something else to uncover round another corner, Ros

Never - there's always someone else to link in!! It's an addiction! P

When you've dotted every 'i' and crossed every 't'? When you've traced the grandparents and gt-grandparents, etc. in a direct line as far as you can go? When you've accounted for every cousin of every sibling of every second marriage? When's the best time to stop instead of adding names for the sake of it?