Genealogy Chat

Firslt-thankyou to all those who have helped me so far- you are very much appreciated. Ive managed to get the 'basic information' on relatives through your help,census/birth/marriage records etc. But when i look at each person profile i wish i knew more than d.o.b, when they got married,died etc. Ive recently been adding adresses and occupations from the census records to fill them out a bit more but i have this 'urge' to make them 'more real' ( does that sound a bit daft!). I wonder where they were buried,who they are buried with,what clothes they wore,how big their homes were,what they earned,what they looked like etc. What started as a bit of research for my nans next Christmas present has gotten me more involved then i ever realised. Some of my relatives lived quite near me- so i intend to visit Churches and trawl for gravestones, take pictures of their old homes, get some old maps etc- but i cant do that with the majority that live in Stafford,Suffolk etc. Also- any tips on searching for things in newspapers etc? When i give my Nanna her present on Christmas day i would like her to feel she knows they people too. Any tips for 'making them real'?? Thankyou so much, Nic x

Do look again at the census returns - trawl a few pages around the entry for your relatives for an idea of the sort of people who wuld have been their neighbours and friends. some of the censuses also give an indication of how many rooms your family occupied - I was able to track my gt gt granddad over the years going from having 2 rooms in a multi occupancy house to occupying a whole house in the same road and having an apprentice (he was a watchmaker) living in his household. If you can find old directories for the area you may also get an idea about local schools, businesses and transport links. Suffolk records office put together village packs containing old maps, directory entries etc and I have copied this idea for 'my' parishes in other counties.

Try Googling for the person's name (put it in double inverted commas). Try Google book search, which comes up with a surprising amount of information: http://books.google*com Google image searches can also be interesting, to see the house or area where your ancestors lived. It's also worth looking at a map to see exactly where they lived, and how they moved around. The following sites can also come up with lots of information if you're lucky: http://beta.gazettes-online*co.uk http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/searchthearchives http://www.genuki.org.uk http://www.historicaldirectories.org http://www.familyhistoryonline.net http://www.lightage.demon*co.uk/BSINOTES.htm (replace asterisk with dot) Wills are also a mine of information. The Times online is also a good source of information. You can access it by registering with the Bedfordshire library site. The local Records Office will also have lots of information. If you can't go in person, try e-mailing them. They usually make a charge for lengthy searches and photocopies. And finally, you can order microfilms of parish records from your local LDS centre.

Nicola, that's the sign of a true genealogist, not just a name collector. They are real people and you want to know everything about them. I get so excited to see an old photo of one of my ancestors, or to see a copy of their actual signature. I try to record every little detail I can find no matter how insignificant. It makes them come to life. Good luck with yours. Margaret

Glad im not crazy then!! I was really touched by one relative who was illiterate- she signed an x on her childs birth certificate, signed an x to witness her brothers wedding, and then when she got married herself she actually wrote her own name. I was so proud of her thinking how she must've sat and practiced just so she could sign for herself on her big day. the signature is so wobbly it looks like my little boy did it- but like i say- i felt really proud of her.

Sounds liked you are well and truely hooked on the family tree search! Welcome to the club! If you need any photos taking of different areas have you tried contacting some one in the Genealogy Phote Service site, I got a photo my gggg grandparents grave in Cumbria taken by a brilliant chap and couldn't thank him enough. http://photoexchange*ourgenealogy*co*uk/pe/index*php (replace* with .) good luck Jane

See if you can find a will for any of your ancestors. I felt they really came to life when you read things like one son got the gold watch, the other a gold albert chain and the daughter got the piano!

Check the witnesses at marriages on the certificates too!! We had a couple of letters to my gran from a cousin, who had an unusual surname. Then I noticed the name on marriage certificates going back about 4 generations. Researched the family name on censuses and noticed this family had lived in the same neighbourhood as my g grans family for years - even when they moved, Eventually one of my g grans sisters married one!! maggie