Genealogy

[Historybuff83]

Anyone here dabble in genealogy?  I have a little bit (although I have had older generations do a lot of the work for me in documenting my family line), and I just find it fascinating.  Especially for the Americans on the board, where a lot of us only have an inkling of where our ancestry came from.  For example, my mom's maternal side is Irish, so I had always assumed they came over in the 1840s and 50s with the potato famine.  Turns out, they had come to the colonies before the Revolution (one being killed during the war fighting in what would later become Kentucky.)  Just wondering if anyone else has tried to trace their ancestry and if they had any interesting stories they've uncovered.

[Nickhbnz]

I started getting interested a few years ago, and followed my family tree back to about 5 generations, but then got really stuck. Most of my ancestors are from the UK and I am on the other side of the world in NZ, so could only use what I could find on the internet which was frustrating..especially since my last name is very very common, and all my ancestors also seemed to have very common names!
One day I would love to travel to the UK and do some more research in the libraries etc over there.. it is a very interesting subject.
There seems to be a lot of info online if you are from the USA, but I think the rest of the world struggles a bit.

[Ola]

Genealogy is pretty cool! It's a lot of fun to know about ones family back in time.. I haven't really needed to do the research tho, as I know pretty much everything there is to know about my family all the way back to the fourteenth century.. Lost out on the thrill of the hunt tho!

[Nickhbnz]

wow Ola.. that is amazing! did your family keep very good records? or has someone else done the research for you? Perhaps you are actually Norwegian Royalty and there are books written about your family?? have you ever stopped to think of what that particular persons life was like in the 1300s? That is what really interests me!

[Nude_not_rude]

I've been tracing my family a bit with help from my dad. Got heaps of leads all the way back to 1790 on one side before I lose track of  English records, but can't get past 1895 England on the other. Frustrating. I'll have to go to England as well to pick up the trails...

[Nickhbnz]

Do you happen to descend from any convicts Toddo?

[Nude_not_rude]

A soldier in the Rum Corps actually. He had an interesting life once he landed. Can't find out anything before he left England though.

Have you descended from convicts Nick?

[Nickhbnz]

No, but I have been researching my wifes and her family are from Tasmania.. there are some interesting stories and gaps, with several name changes that suggest she is possibly of convict descent.
England is difficult once you get pre census I have found.

[Ola]

wow Ola.. that is amazing! did your family keep very good records? or has someone else done the research for you? Perhaps you are actually Norwegian Royalty and there are books written about your family?? have you ever stopped to think of what that particular persons life was like in the 1300s? That is what really interests me!

It's a long story, and an old family, but no research needed=)
I have! And its a lot of fun! We have quite a few old paintings, as early as from the 1400s, so it's easy to see what they looked like and how they lived, and so on=)

[Nickhbnz]

wow Ola.. that is amazing! did your family keep very good records? or has someone else done the research for you? Perhaps you are actually Norwegian Royalty and there are books written about your family?? have you ever stopped to think of what that particular persons life was like in the 1300s? That is what really interests me!

It's a long story, and an old family, but no research needed=)
I have! And its a lot of fun! We have quite a few old paintings, as early as from the 1400s, so it's easy to see what they looked like and how they lived, and so on=)

I am green with envy Ola.. All I have is a pocket watch from my great grandfather. I am seriously jealous of what you have. you are very lucky.

[Historybuff83]

Yeah us Americans do have an advantage that a good chunk have decent records once our ancestors reached America.  Unfortunately a sizable chunk of Americans had their ancestors come to the states under less than noble circumstances (i.e. as slaves) and thus records are difficult.  On my father's side it is difficult to go back more than a couple of generations.  I am having difficulties getting a hold of records from Puerto Rico (my dad is from the island) and either they have yet to put a lot of the old records online, or they didn't survive the Spanish American War.  Further making things difficult is my paternal grandfather's side is descended from African slaves brought to the island for sugar cane production.  Also not a good sign when you ask your dad what your grandmother's maiden name was and he goes "ummm I dunno"   

[luvthemgiants]

i found out my great grandad was from Greece, everyone else in my family was born and raised in ireland

[beachboy1]

An interesting question, I did a bit of research on the 1901 census and found some of my dad's ancestors listed there. I asked about it and found out some things, such as my American connections over several generations.  But the most exciting thing is to find a whole set of cousins I never knew I had.  Now we are best friends :D

[Nickhbnz]

Yes Historybuff.. It is amazing how the world has changed, in many ways for good, and in others not so good. It is horrific to think of times gone past when humans were slaves, not to mention what happened to the Jews, Hiroshima and many many other parts of history.
Beachboy - that is pretty cool!

[luvthemgiants]

.....I did a bit of research on the 1901 census.....

that is actually as far back as Irish records go...... that's due to the records department being burned to the ground during the civil war, its such a shame, makes doing a family tree really difficult