h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yes, I've tried to find out about my ancestors. I started with my parents. I have a very small family - mother's siblings didn't marry and my father was an only child and I am now an only child - so no cousins an only one surviving uncle. I used Genes Reunited at first and then Ancestry.com which was really helpful as it has census details for relatives born before 1901 and births and deaths after that date. I found that my father's family came from Herefordshire, which I didn't know before. Turns out that he did know, but had forgotten. He really loved finding out about his family. Mum was less enthusiastic and I found a relative I didn't know about but she did - turns out that her mother's sister was mentally ill and despite being dead long ago, she hadn't wanted me to find out about her.

Most of the interesting stuff was from personal recollection, though, eg a story about one of my dad's ancestor's who had been a railway contractor who went bust when his railway tracks hit soft (swampy?) ground and he made sure he paid all his creditors and ended up living in the big house, keeping up appearances, but stoney broke.

Something else I found interesting was that I went to school with quite a lot of people with the same surnames as some of my ancestors and I wondered if I went back far enough, whether we might have been related.

I think you hit upon two good sites there - the good thing about Genes Reunited is that if you find out you share an ancestor with someone else on there then suddenly your family tree can branch on out forever!

The possibility of unearthing something people wanted to be kept hidden is a real risk - I'm thinking about this when I present the results of my recent research to my nanna. The thrill of discovery doesn't always translate!

It's easy to get carried away though: my family tree's getting a bit like one of those Leylandii...

I have been researching my family tree for six years now,and always thought of us as a small family,just mum(she sadly died almost four years ago),myself,and my sister.I did have a half brother ,but i had no contact with himDad died when i was seven.Since i first started i've found my cousin,who lives in New York state,and we e-mail regularly.My half niece was here two weeks ago,with her daughter and grandchildren.We met last year for the first time in over forty years,could be more(time flies),and i'm in touch with her brother as wellWe were invited to a birthday party just before Christmas,and i met my other half nephews and neices,none of them had i seen for over forty years either,and all of a sudden i have a large family.I've found lots of information from genes reunited,a very distant relative in new zealand,who now e-mails me,and i discovered that my dad was buried with his parents,and got a photo of my paternal gran,who even my half brother had never seen!!!I love geneology...it's been a marvellous journey for me,and it's still ongoing!!!

Aw that's lovely, Smurfles!

I too have lost my parents (I know, to lose one is a misfortune, two looks like carelessness, etc ) and isn't it weird to somehow find out more about their parents' family's pasts than they knew? The other day I found the passenger list for the boat my dad's family went to Canada on in 1941 (a year before he was born). It was such a strange, lovely feeling to see my grandparents and uncle on the list! It's incredible to be able to access all this info online.

I look forward to finding as many long-lost 'branches' as you have!

'The thrill of discovery doesn't always translate!' - I couldn't have put it better myself, Antelia.

It's lovely that you've met up with close relatives, Smufles. I have a friend who has helped me with my tree and she has found relatives in America and Australia.

Talking about search sites, this one run by the Church of Latterday Saints is quite useful http://www.familysearch.org/ . YOu can find records specific to particular places if you look, eg http://users.bigpond.net.au/bunter/bury_data.htm

Fascinating.

Isn't it strange how you can get sad at finding out about the past too. Looking at the last section of the Bury link, I followed it up to find this: http://archive.thisislancashire.co.uk/2003/5/5/553364.html. They would have all been dead by now in any case.

We have two "black sheep" in the family,and try as i might,i can only find their birth records!!!they are in census',but only up to a certain age,and i always wondered why i was admonished for asking about one of them!!My great aunt told me never to mention that name again!!!!
I'm really not computer literate,so i cant put any links in,but if there's any interest a very good site is FreeBMD!!I've found lots of records on there that i couldnt find in Family search.org.

Smurfles, if you click three times on the url (the web address), it will copy it, then you can press Control and 'V' together and it will paste it. To put links into a conversation, that's all you need to do, eg http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

Good luck with finding out about your black sheep! I found out that one of my great-aunts had a child out of wedlock and was sent away to the Isle of Man (to stay with relatives, I think).

My researches, using genesreunited have been less successful than yours. I found that there were some very helpful people there who would look up stuff for you. And there are people on the BBC Family History MB that are helpful too. I am grateful to both for their help.
I managed to trace my maternal ancestry back a few generations (mum's mum's grandparents) but could find nothing beyond my father's grandparents or my mum's father. I did find some cousins from mum's side last seen over 50 years ago but their promise to share information has not been fulfilled.
I guess if you really want to do the job properly you need to go to the actual records which, in my case, means a trip to London and spending hours in some dusty archive. I know that for some people that's worth the effort. Personally I have better things to do with my time and money!

Thank you for that ZSF,I'll have to give it a try.I am stuck with my gt,gt,gt grandmother,who had a child in 1803,but then married in 1807,and it appears was sent to relatives until after the child was born.There's no trace of her before she gave birth,and no trace of her son until he married twenty four year later.No census records then either!!
I'd love to be able to go and look for records,but as i'm a wheelchair user i can't go out without help,so have to do my searching on the net!!!!Poor hubby doesn't object to trailing round graveyards for me,bless him.....but only in summer
I did find that one of my black sheep spent some time in prison!!!!

"if you click three times on the url (the web address), it will copy it"

Really? Maybe in some programs.

Depending on your browser and operating system, clicking three times on the URL will quite likely highlight it (though clicking once then pressing Ctrl+A will work just as well). You can then use Ctrl+C to copy, and finally Ctrl+V to paste, as you said.

All of this is browser-dependent, but most software uses the same standards. Makes life easier.

TRiG.

My great grandfather on my dad's side was born in Appelby in Cumbria but before that I know nothing. This does tie up with the spelling of my surname, which seems to be very common along the England/Scotland border.

My grandmother on my mum's side was from Newcastle. Before that I know nothing.

I think my dad has taken it upon himself to find out more since he has retired and maybe we'll find out a bit more.

I'm really envious of anyone who can trace their family back hundreds of years.