Genealogy Chat

What about the opposite of the info-grabber?? The people who want you to study EVERYONE on their tree and keep sending you things about their relations, but who are nothing to do with you????? Merry

Hi Peter, Have to agree with your sentiments. Some people are passionate about their hobbies while others are just half hearted! I never do ANYTHING by half measures - it is all or nothing with me! However not everyone is like that. Sometimes I can just shrug it off and say: 'Their loss' but on other days I want to have a rant - just like you. I had a contact the other day who asked to see my tree. When I looked at her tree she had obviously done no research at all - all her dates were mere guesswork. There's no excuse for guesswork with FREE BMD and the Ancestry BMD Beta (it doesn't even cost anything!) Its nicer if you can find someone (second or third cousin perhaps) on this site who is just as keen to discover mutual roots and even share the cost of certificates. I have a rellie like that and he is worth a hundred of these lukewarm contacts. Hope you meet someone on here who is as passionate about family history as you are. PS Wait until you come across someone who realises you are a good detective and suggests subjects you should buy certificates for - all at your own expense of course (not theirs)! Then you'll really want to have a rant! ;-) Cheers, Horatia

Hi Frank, When threads of these kind are started everyone starts to feel guilty; but I'm sure Peter didn't have someone like you in mind. I think Peter was referring to people who do no original research of their own whatsoever! If someone offers lookups for BMDs in a part of Australia that I can't get to easily then of course I am going to put my name down for help! But I don't feel guilty because I know I do most of my research myself and only ask for help when records are too far away. Although, having said that, Australia has quite a lot of BMDs online! ;-) I think Peter was referring to people who do next to bu**er all themselves but just vampire off everyone else and give nothing back. I don't think there can be too many people like that reading this thread! You wouldn't read a thread like this if you were one of those people - it would require too much effort! Cheers, Horatia

I know how you feel, but how good is it when you communicate with a genuine 'cousin' and share stories and certs etc? it's worth it. I've managed to uncover such a romantic story about my g gran with the help of my 2nd cousin, who i'd never met or heard of until genes got us together. in the long run it's worth the awkward ones, theyr're not in it to discover their 'story' so don't let 'em bug you! Carol

I agree with Peter, I have had info grabbers and there is still one that hounds me and now and then, ive given some information but not all, the other point is cos I have a family tree maker like most people here do, and Ive found some of my family tree on Genes is now wrong! the info grabber has now the wrong information as they have access to my tree on here. so Im now getting the last laugh. I dont ask many people on here to look for the things its usually when I come to a dead end. but most of the people I have been in contact with are related and we have helped each other by looking for the information and solving the problems by emailing each other privately. I have to agree by looking yourself, round graveyards, record offices etc has been dispointing and very rewarding and at times like winning the lottery. I am usually very careful who I give info too and ask lots of questions beforehand. Best wishes Yvonne

Some relations are warm and some are cold - I distincly prefer the warm variety! Cheers, Horatia

Hi, I've just joined Genes, having just discovered my Dad's work (he died last year) that I'd been asking him about for some years. I found the original rant off putting to people like me just starting out on the trail. I have no idea what a BMD is, or some of the other jargon used - no doubt if I stick to it I'll work it out. Spare a thought for us new searchers.

I get nearly as much satisfaction from helping people with their research, as i do from doing my own. tom.

Hi BMD stands for Birth Marriage and Death. If you want to know any other acronyms just post. LDS stands for Latter Day Saints (Mormons). Any more you want to know? Again, Peter's post wasn't aimed at newbies. It was aimed at those who have no intentions of learning or researching - they just want someone else to do ALL the work for them (not parts of it - the whole lot)!!! Cheers, Horatia