Genealogy Chat

Having consulted census, civ reg and parish records, I now know the names, dates, places of residence/B/M/D and occupations of most of my ancestors back to 1800 or thereabouts (with the exceptions of a few Joneses and Evanses, which I'm working on). However, in most cases that's all I do know about them - and then I come on here and find people telling so many stories they could write 300 page biographies of most of their ancestors. Where do you get all this info, please? At the moment my family tree consists mostly of dates, and I'd quite like to start turning some of the dates into people.

When I started, I also had very little 'personal' information. Over the years I've found distant relatives and they were the ones who had letters, photos, etc. Without their help, most of my information would be just names and dates. Don't give up - you will receive information when you least expect it. As I'm thinking of what I DO have, I'm remembering other things. I found the church where my ancestors attended and one ancestor in the mid-1700's was a church warden. A yet-unconfirmed 'relative' visited the church years ago and photographed the old church bell (it was engraved with this man's name). It turns out my ancestor donated the bell to the church. So, even though you may not have documents right now, they may suddenly appear.

I had to remember the stories my parents told me when I was young. This was important for finally contacting some cousins, who knew my g/parents by different names. Just the little things sometimes make all the difference. I don't have much on the way of a tree, and the side of the family that I though would be the easiest is now my brick wall, but I keep hammering away. yvette x

It's possible to find snippets of information that puts the 'meat on the bones' of our ancestors if you look hard enough. Not for every ancestor of course, but there are a handful of interesting ones in every family! And if you are really lucky, one (or more!) of your ancestors will have had their 15 minutes of fame! Check newspaper archives, especially the Times, for everything from involvement in crime to bankrupties Check convict shipping lists The A2A site Is brilliant for all manner of documentation If your ancestors have a particular profession, look for apprenticships Study every word on them on censuses and follow up everything! It was the barely legible (and crossed out!) word 'coastguard' next to one of mine that led me to a family of lifeboatmen back to early 1800's, complete with huge newspaper write-ups, medals, photos, you name it. Found another working at a fairground - he turned out to be one of the Suffolk/Newbourn Giants! Wills - found a couple of interesting family rifts via wills And google regularly!! Bev x

Yes, Google, Google, Google!! I found that the brother of my gt-gt-grandfather was an aviation pioneer at the turn of the 20th century. He invented all sorts of weird and wonderful flying machines, some of which actually got airbourne - several years before the Wright Brothers came along. You should be able to find plenty on any Army or Navy ancestors - try the National Archives website to see what's available. At the very least, you should be able to find a physical description of them, and their dates and places of service. Any that were in hospitals or asylums, you may be able to learn more at the local records offices. I managed to track another gt-gt-grandfather's final years as he declined into chronic mania. He was transferred to 4 different asylums until his death in 1896. One set of records included a full medical report, even down to the fact that he had hurt his big toe whilst working in the gardens! Put together all the facts that you know of each individual, in chronological order - residence, who they lived with, occupation, cause of death, etc. Then research the places where they lived, the occupations that they did, to get a feel for what their lives were like. If you get a chance, then visit the places - a lot of towns have local studies centres, and even though you may not find reference to your actual ancestors, you will find plenty of info on what it was like to live there. It all helps to build up a story around your names and dates! Before you know it, you'll have so much info, the trouble will be what to leave out - when and if you get round to writing it all up. Richard

I have found out a lot of infomration, from things that relatives have told me, often being presented with names, it jogs the memory and they remember all sorts of stuff. I've found stuff rom the Times archive but also from looking into their occupation. I have been lucky to have people in the armed forces in my family and even though there aren't many records of them personally, I have found out a lot just by looking at their regiments etc. Lynn

WILLS - I have become a really big fan of wills. They can tell you so much about the relationships between families. I had one recently that left land and property and more than £2000 to 2 daughters, however the 3 sons were left 1 guinea each. Bit of a falling out there........(I am always related to the 'guinea' men)!! Jeanne

Yes Wills are very useful - if you are fortunate to find any of your lot left them. They can be a real insight into relationships and life as it was. I am always intrigued with one Will I have that very fortunately lists all the siblings and their wives and the occupations and villages but the most telling bit is that this lady had 2 children - a boy and a girl. Yet she specifies the dosh is doled out to the son by her daughter. This must have been most unusual at that time and does make me wonder just what sort of n'er do well the son had turned out to be.

Just to make you feel better......I have many people on my tree about whom I know a lot, but I also have hundreds, if not thousands, for whom I only have the BMD and census info and nothing else. Some of those I know nothing else about are my direct line ancestors and some I know lots about are obscure distant cousins............so these stories come pretty thinly spread across the whole tree! Merry

Thanks for the advice everyone - I'd better save it before we all get banned...

great tips, thanks everyone don't forget schools admissions registers and employment records [try contacting the relevant union]