Genealogy Chat

Read the baked bean joke by Elaine on the general board, opened my eyes right up, and my mouth...had a real giggle.

I help my friend with her family tree. It is MUCH more interesting than my lines and I don't have to write up the notes afterwards! Brenda

I`m stuck at the moment -so if anybody has any DURIS or DURRIS or DUIRS in Scotland about 1790`s could you give them to me ????? Thanks in anticipation, Ros

I've pretty much hit walls with all of my lines. A couple of them disappear into Ireland, which is the Death's Kiss for research, and the others have stalled because their births weren't registered and I don't know the parish of birth. It's the first time I've looked at my tree and not found something to tweak.

I also have a look sideways. Another way of feeling I'm doing something is by offering lookups for others. So when you see me offering lookups -you know I've hit yet another brick wall, am waiting for certificates or just can't get get any further and I'm bored! Nice way to give something back as I would never have got as far as I have without people doing various lookups for me. Jackie

Ann Sometimes I concentrate on a different branch of the family. Writing up what you already know sometimes gives you new avenues for research. Asking people on the tips board to kick around a few ideas often helps. In fact, just typing out a message giving the info often clears my thoughts and makes the next step obvious. Just having a break enables you to come back refreshed and see things in a new light. I've just been putting all my loose bits of paper, post-its etc into order and I am amazed at where I am now, compared with what I knew about my family last year! nell

Ann, I think I am going about this exactly as you are. You are right, putting it into context does indeed straighten it all out (sometimes...). When I cannot get any further I leave it for a while, and then come back when the enthusiam restarts. Looking with a refreshed pair of eyes sometimes uncovers information previously missed. Also you find new avenues to explore when restarting (like this site!). Just do not give up - the info is out there somewhere! Ian

I find that if I choose one of my ancestors, preferably one that I know a bit about, and do a write up on him or her it reactivates my enthusiasm. so far I have done 'biographies on four or five of my ancestors, I try and put in a time line so that I can place them in context in the times they lived in. with my Gt Grandfather, the one I had a lot of trouble tracing both birth and death, I have also detailed exactly how i went about finding him, where I looked etc., It is surprising what little details you stumble on when looking at birth, death, marriage certificates and censuses for information for your write up. Ann glos

try putting this in to google "i'm bored" worked for me! brenda x

When you feel your research is going nowhere what do you do?