Family Trees........

[ELVIS68]

Have you ever bothered searching your family history?

I dabbled into it and was put off by subscription fees but bit the bullet and signed up and it`s amazing, I traced my family back to 1780, all the births, marriages and deaths are there on screen.

I didn`t even know they had computers back in those days ;o)

[To-Ryscum]

...in a one-horse town like Tupelo...even more surprising!

[trt]

I signed up last year and because I couldn't remember where my mother and father got married it went blank and couldn't progress.

[ELVIS68]

Names will do trt

[Lore]

Ive thought about it... Maybe I should just do it. :o/

[ELVIS68]

Do it, you`ll find loads of little scouse sofa bouncers out there x

[Lore]

Mmhmm! Maybe :p

[ummmm]

Thought about it and decided it would be too complicated. Too many family members with the same name.

My Grandad's brother done theirs years back. Wealthy man with plenty of spare time....his was done a long time before the internet. Interesting results...

[emmie]

I have done some, had to stop because of the cost. But got back to around 1860's, good fun, if not a little disconcerting when you find information that seems to contradict stuff you have heard from family over the years.

[venator]

I've been on Ancestry.com for 12 months, and have about 500 names in my tree.
I've got back to the 1760's in Edinburgh, and traced the movement of family members down to Manchester. An ancestor was a steam engine manufacturer, and my father & grandfather had an engineering business. (I've let the tradition down by becoming a Chartered Accountant!)

I've found a branch of the family who were in the Army in India, and am working on another branch who were probably employed at Chatsworth.

I'm doing research for several friends too - it's an absorbing business!

[venator]

ummmm - I cant see any ummms on Ancestry.com! :-)

[ummmm]

Lol....look for Patrick or Thomas Moriarty. Tipperary or Kilkenny.

[netibiza]

Well my tree stops at WW2, but some of my siblings can go a bit further back!

[Barmaid]

I've been doing this since I was 18 and have about 10 different lines on the go. Earliest I have managed is the early 1500s - in a direct line in only 3 different villages! On my grandmother's side I've got a direct line back to the early 1700s in the village where she still lives. I haven't actually told her that the village vicar referred to her gggg grandmother as a ***!!

[vulcan]

I signed up recently, it said start with somebody you know. I put in my name and discovered I don't exist, I'm not mentioned anywhere !

[Bobbisox]

My brother has done ours, fascinating stuff it is too, he gave me my copy thankfully, allegedly we came down from Scotland searching for work in the mines of Northumberland and Durham

[milly143]

I started doing one a few years ago but found that while I have an unusual surname (which made me think it would be easier) there have been so many variations in the spelling over the years that I got completely lost and felt like I was including people in my tree who actually have nothing to do with my family.

I also tried doing the tree from my maternal Grandad but found that being Irish with the surname King, well, I may aswell have just put the entire population of Ireland on my tree.

I would like to start again but I think you really need the time and patience to sit through and go through the finer details.

[jackthehat]

I have had some spectacular results in searching my family tree.
I've corresponded with 'cousins' in far-flung places and met some of them when they have been holidaying in UK.
I found two half-sisters for my Mum, and in the process acquired 6 cousins for myself.....where previously I had none.
I have solved several family mysteries.....and gained many others.
And have not discovered a single person of any fame (or notoriety) amongst the hundreds of names on my tree. :o(

[joeluke]

Roughly how much does it cost to research your family tree thoroughly?

[jackthehat]

It can take up lots of your time and money, joeluke.........

There are many 'subscription sites' (costs vary) but there is a wealth of free information, too.

It helps if you set yourself some sort of budget and only spend out where it is really necessary. Buying one BMD certificate can knock down any number of walls, but each one costs c. £10 (again, this can vary).

[joeluke]

Thanks jack

BMD certificate?