I can't paint or draw (yet :D ), however, some years ago I expressed an interest to my father of knowing more about my ascendants. The people, not just names and dates. Bless him he started the research, and did from his grandfather down, and when he died, I took it overand went back from there and fleshed out his information. It is truly amazing how much information and indeed help is now accessible on line and I have found it absolutely fascinating discovering my roots - and exploding some family myths, besides as the celebrities on BBC1 have found, discovering so much about why we are like we are. If you like cross word puzzles,and problem solving you will enjoy genealogy. I was not looking forward to doing my mother's maternal side, as that was in another country, however this year I discovered someone else had done research in that country, and with his generosity, I've got the information back to the 17th century. I find it fascinating. Maybe I will try water colouring in time, but for now digging up the past is keeping me busy :D
I had a go at doing it and yes its fascinating and time consuming but i struggled as i was adopted so i found it really difficult..it will be really a work of art when you have finished something to hand down the generations..
Yes it was difficult i got as far back as great great grandparents on my mothers side.and that was only her fathers line..Then i gave up as it was frustrating..I was starting to think that people hadnt been registered as it was so hard..I knew my real mothers father name you see and i knew he had 3 brothers..so it wasnt too bad..The worst bit was my grandad was killed in the last war so my trail was sort of cold..It is fascinating ..
Hi all, Genealogy's my 'Winter' hobby too!! My father's side has hit a brick wall at the birth of my gt grandad x4 in 1809. No father listed and no other trace of his mother after his baptism. Soooo frustrating!! Had much more luck with my maternal Grandmothers line, met loads of descendents online and between 3 of us managed to get back as far as 1600. Absolutely fascinating!! Began it as a gift for my elderly grandma who was orphaned aged 12, and got completely hooked!! made some very good friends thru it too. Re: my 'brick wall' - if anyone has any relations called Radcliffe who stem from Lancashire in early 1800s please let me know!!
Wow! Geting back to 1600 is very good indeed. I got into family history a while back and found it fascinating too. Traced most lines back to the 1790s and then got stuck. So I went sideways and found out as much as I could about the people and how they lived. Most were agricultural labourers from all over who gradually came together in London. Some surprises like the coal miners from Somerset. What impressed me most was the sheer heroics of raising families in dire poverty. The high child mortality rate and the early deaths of the men. Most exciting was to trace them through both world wars and see where they fought and sometimes died.
My cousin has been tracing ours for years and has only got back to the 1700's, farthest back came from Somerset and later ended up in London too. Small world too.!
We have a cousin who is tracing our history and so I am leaving it to her at the moment. One of the most surprising bits of information was that about the end of 19th century a relative died in the same house that Jack and I lived in when we first got married. How's that for a coincidence?
Coincidence is so strange or is it something more? I was married in a church in Southgate to the north of London. I didn't live there at all but my fiance did just temporarily as a student in digs. She is from Lancashire. Much later, I started on family history and followed various branches all over England. The main branch (that of my surname) was all around London - Clerkenwell, Bethnal Green, Shoreditch, Hackney etc. Then I found myself looking for my paternal Gt Gt Gt Gt Grandfather who turned out to be a coachman in Southgate. He was married in 1779 and had all his children baptised in the chapel that formerly stood on the site of the church where I was married! Of all the churches in all the parishes in all the country - ....
Coincidence reigns!! All those areas you mention Hornbeam, Shoreditch, Bethnal Green et al is where my maternal tracings took me to!! My Gt Grandad x4, made his way from a tiny village in Wiltshire (presumably by foot) to enlist in the West Kent Militia in Maidstone; and then volunteered to the front line and fought in the battle of Waterloo. It really is a fascinating past-time.....
Coincidences indeed. Tell you another one. This year I went to the somerset vilage where my father's paternal roots come from. Kinda surreal seeing in person the village names etc I knew from my research. When I arrived at the village, stopped to ask an elderly man the way to the church. Turned out to be a chap I had once written to some 4 years previously about the "tree" and I ended up having tea in a farm I had only read about. My ancestors were looking out for me obviously.
All this is really fascinating..Its a wonderfull hobby tracing your ancestors..I like looking through the old records to see what people died of ..I know its morbid but it fascinated me.. :rolleyes:
Found some interesting entries in Parish Records. One was the funeral of a child in 1725 and reads: Elizabeth Smith/Salter illegitimate child child own'd by William Salter (a married man) to be by him begotten on the body of Susan Salter, single woman. Some epitaph :eek: Poor little soul :(
I have been trying to trace my family on my dads side for about a year now, but it seems my grandmother was born in India. I have tried and done all I can at this side so I have had to hire someone in Bangalore to do some research for me. It is a very interesting hobby but frustrating when you get nowhere. Thats when gardening comes in, very theraputic. I also make novelty cakes usually for family and friends. I'll try and look some out for viewing. I'm no expert mind so be gentle.
