Genealogy Chat

Just been adding addresses to my family from the census records and have found that my gt gt grandfather and his wife to be lived in the same house at different times! She was born there in 1871 and then by 1881 had moved, in 1881 he was living there with his family. Does that happen a lot?

that is very spooky Emma! closest I have got was my gt gran and gt grandad lived two houses down from each other as children, but at different times Fuzzy x

I've just discovered that mydaughter-in-law shares a birthday with my maternal grandmother; also that two uncles (brothers) share a birthday, two years apart. Reg

That is spooky Emma. Something similar has happened to me in my searches. We moved to Bromley in Kent in the early 70's; my parents' families always having lived in London. I have traced both sides on all the census, right back to 1841; made easier because they all lived in Chelsea or Westminster. However, I couldn't find one particular GGG Grandfather in 1891. I searched and searched and finally found him living in....Bromley. Not only that, he lived in a house right next door to the pub which my Mum and Dad used, in a particular area of the town which my Mum has always said she feels at home in. Weird!

When I moved to London in 1979 I ended up living with a great aunt in a tiny little street in Lambeth (it's only big enough for one block of flats) called Wickham St, several months later moving in to a flat of my own in the same block in that street. Through my research I discovered, to my amazement that in 1871 my Grt Grt Grandfather and his wife were living in that very same street at the time they married!!! I wish my Grt Aunt had been alive when I discovered this so that I could have told her that her grandparents had lived in the same street as us over 100 years ago. It's not that she lived there growing up or anything, either - she was from Southwark and when older went to live first in Blackheath. Was by pure chance that she ended up in Wickham Street! Weird, huh?

I have found my father's maternal grandfather, listed after his paternal great great grandparents on a census, although not actually on the same road. I have found other unrelated family members living in the same road as each other. Lynn

I spotted the death of a great uncle on the same GRO page as the death of my grandfather. I had no idea that they died at around the same time.

I'm not sure how much of a coincidence it is that Emma's g-g-grandparents both lived in the same house at different times. I imagine that if g-g-grandmother's family lived there for a while, they could easily have made lasting friendships with their neighbours. After moving away, they might then return to the neighbourhood from time to time to visit. And while the adults would be busy chatting and drinking tea (or something stronger), the children would be let out to play with other children on the street. Once the children were old enough to take an interest in the opposite sex, there would be someone who was not a stranger, but at the same time not a face that you had grown up seeing everyday. I have a few examples in my family tree of people from different counties who married, and I subsequently discovered that one partner's sister, aunt, or other relative already lived in the same town or village as the spouse-to-be. I've always assumed that the young people met while one was visting their relative, as there is usually no other obvious explanation of how they might have come in contact with each other. Of course, this doesn't explain some of the other coincidences that other people have mentioned, like moving to a street where your ancestors lived several decades previously. Tim

not sure i can agree with you there! Just been looking up where the streets are in relation to each other and they are quite a way apart. Both families were never actually living on the same street as far as I can see. Could be that when the first family moved they knew the people who took it off them I suppose though.

i have a couple of coincidences similar, but in names, my sisters 2 young children are charlie and hannah, while tracing the family tree i discovered that our gt gt grandparents were charles and hannah. My gt grandmother was born on the same day as my brother and my grandparents married on the same day as i did. yvette

Me and my brother each have two children, their middle names are William, Lauren, Alice and Rose. Now found these are the first or middle names of my Great Grandparents, although Lauren is Laurence!

My Mum has had this friend since she was very young. Myself and my Mum always went to visit her in the summer. When my Dad died in 1999 I decided to trace his family so sent off for his birth cert. It turns out he lived in the same house as my Mum's friend throughout all his childhood. What a coincidence! Carol

Just out of interest - try doing what I have done List in a notebook births, marriage etc. and see how many fall on the same date.