Genealogy Chat

She has always been 'sort of' interested, as long as she doesn't have to do any research (her words not mine). While we were there she suddenly had a flash of inspiration. When my Dad was in a retirement home for 3 years before he died, she took most of his paperwork to her house (his was sold to pay the fees of course), in case he wanted them. I was dubious about this because i was the one doing research, also i am the elder daughter, and I felt I wanted to keep the papers in case there was something important there. To be fair, after he died she passed anything she felt was of interest to me to look at - photos etc, and I have most of them for safe keeping. However, Friday she produced a scrap book. "you might want a look at this" she said. In this scrap book were all my Dad's references - even one from his headmaster, so i now know which school he went to. His Naval History record when he was invalided out and references from different firms he worked for. ALSO there were (stuck in with glue) birth, marriage and deathe certificates for his family, one dating back to 1830. what a search these could have saved me!! Ove the past 2/3 years I have paid £7 for some of them and now I have the originals. A couple of them answered queries for me, I would never have guessed that my Gt Gt grandfather, who lived all his life in and around Botley hampshire would have died in his 80s at his daughter's house in Portsmouth. So - how much do your family understand the importance of paperwork relating to the family? How much do they know what your research involves/ My dad helped me with research but it never occurred to him to tell me about this scrap book bless him, he didn't realise the significance. Ann glos

How frustrating for you Anne! We recently cleared my Grandads house and everything was passed by me to make sure it wasn't of any relevance! lol. Jeanette x

In my estimation they understand very little. Even my hubbies sisters now and again come up with flashes of knowledge that would have helped me ages ago and they are not 'old' or infirm.

I share your frustration. My Mother is the only living relation who can provide me with infomation. Her older sister unfortunatley hasn't any idea of her family history. She does't know her Mother's maiden name, or her Father's middle name. The tiniest scrap of info i get from any source is cause for triumph, and celebration.

The sad thing is that my Mum died first when she was 85, fully fit and still very with it. She used to give me anything she thought was of interest to keep. My Dad did quite a bit of research on his side of the family back in the 70s/80s so I had a good foundation on which to build. i don't know when he made his 'scrap book of memories 1830--1979 but he obviously forgot all about it, and he didn't like parting with things. His memory failed him a bit at the end (he was 93 when he died) although he could still tell me bits about his family and identified most of the people in his parents' wedding photo for me. the annoying thing is that I talked to him a lot about where his Gt grandparents lived (Botley), and he never told me he had hid Gt grandfather's death certificate. I also have all his photos as he was a avid photographer from an early age. Some are named but a lot have entailed a hunt for names. Luckily there are a couple of cousins on his side who have helped with this. My latest project is a typewritten diary of his I have got out of my trunk where it was put when he went into the home (I took it when sister was not there as I was afraid she would bin it!) The diary is of his time on HMS Durban and describes the trip they did from 1931-1933. I also havve a book writen about the trip by the Commanding Officer so i intend writing up Dad's diary. His version is on very thin typing papre and liable to disintegrate. anyway, it was a good weekend and I am thrilled with all the bits and pieces, even the references bring him to life, as he was before I knew him so to speak. Ann glos