Genealogy Chat

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As a child I frequently visited two elderly great great Aunts. They were sisters and born in 1870 and 1872. From my researches I know they spent at least Census night with THEIR grandparents, who were born in 1796 and 1798. The grandparents of those Grandparents were still alive in 1820, having been born in 1765. So, if ONLY I had asked, maybe my 2 x Gt Aunts could have told me family stories about my 5 x GPPs, but I was far too interested in Adam Faith at the time! Talk about a missed opportunity. Olde Crone

That is why i feel so lucky to have both my grandmothers alive in their 90's! I have quizzed them over every little detail possible and they have been able to tell me things that i would never have known or been able to find out. I'm so glad the bug bit me while they are still alive!

I know how you feel. Unfortunately far too many of us take up researching our family history when we get older and it's usually too late to ask the people who could really help us. Kath. x

Sadly I lost my 89yr old grandma last month, she offered a whealth of information regarding her ancestors, if it was'nt for her I would have been clueless of where to start with my research! There have been skeletons in the cuboard that Ive discovered along the way too, again none of this would have been possible without her generous in put. Thanks Gran.................your a star! Lib :))

As you say 'if only'. Unfortunately I never knew any of my Grandparents and sadly in the last couple of years I have lost my Dad and his only sister, there is no one left on their side who is able to help. I have a huge box of old photos all unmarked some at least of which are probably family and sadly no way of finding out who they are. What research I am doing I am carefully recording for my children. Michele

Yes, I am now the oldest remaining member of the family, apart from an elderly Uncle who does not wish to participate in any Family History (says he can't remember anything....) What maddens me is that these two Aunties used to chat away all the time about various family members and they were walking encyclopaedias about the various relationships-- 'Cora? Wasn't she Arthur's girl? Married a Snape, his mother died i childbirth and his father married her sister. They had a Greengrocers in Middleton and their Landlord was a cousin of Theo, you know, he was from a Jewish family.....' And I used to roll my eyes and yawn. Olde Crone

if only.... if only..... I have often said

Hi Olde Crone, Your little 'conversation' made me really laugh. I remember my Mum and Gran, both now sadly gone, having chats like that. We used to talk about 'old family' a lot and luckily I know quite a few things. Although they did omit to tell me that two of my Grans sisters married two of her husbands brothers. Also that the Rosetta that I had been so fondly looking at on the 1891 census wasn't my Gran at all. THat child died of measles and my Gran arrived 4 months later and was called Rosetta after the dead child. Perhaps they never knew themselves about the baby Linda

Great Thread! I keep telling my daughter that she will be interested one day in Family History, and will wish she had listened more when I was boring her!! I'll make sure I'll leave her lots of records so that she won't be going 'If only....' too much!

I had to do my family for homework at school, went to see my granny who promptly rattled off the names of all her brothers and sisters, all my grandads brothers and sisters, her parents names, grandads parents names. Oh how I wish I'd kept this - its been a long hard process to find them all again - and I still haven;t located any of grandads siblings. Lisa

Old Crone Gosh just reading your thread and your remembrance of the conversation gave me a definite feeling of de ja vue. Likewise I was the one yawning. How I wish !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Id listened Sue

One great aunt lived to be 96. I had nearly twenty years to pump her (and if pcs and the internet and search engines had been around then I might have been able to pump her to better purpose) but.... I was thwarted by a mother who asked leading questions. 'He was called such-and such, wasn't he?' 'Ye-es, dear. I think so' and you could see a look of bewilderment come into the old lady's eyes. After a while, her reminiscences were so hopelessly compromised by what my mother told her was the truth, that no reliance could be placed on them, while her eyesight was so poor that she was unlikely to recognise a photo of her mother unless blown up to the size of a poster. I would like to talk to her now, to tell her that her grandfather WAS brought up by his aunt: I've found them together on the 1841 census. And I would like to listen, to what she wanted to tell, not what I wanted to hear.

Olde Crone Well, I don't recall ever discussing anything with my grannie about her family - but I do know from what she told my mum that her memory wasn't always reliable. But, bless her, she kept all the letters my grandfather wrote her from when they started as penpals during WW1 all through their married life, she also kept obituaries, photos, and the church newsletters mentioning her wedding and my mum's christening. It works both ways - we can't ask for more info, but we can't share it with them either. I know my dad would be really interested in what I've found out about his grandparents and great-grandparents. nell

I remember my gran and her sister bickering happily with each other, and they both used to tell me stories about their childhood in Cornwall. Stories which I can hardly remember now, tho I have wondered if I should try hypnosis to drag back those memories. It feels like they are still in my memory, only just out of reach. Jane

Hi Olde Crone! My mother in law is 83 now and has always chatted a lot to me about her family! Hubby was never interested in her stories, until he too got into family history! She has photographs of HER Granny and down the generations! We have only just copied the photos and written down who everyone is! Ooooh Im SO envious as my earliest photograph is of my Grandad in WW1! ;o))) Kim

Olde Crone, Which greengrocers in Middleton are you refering to?? or was that just a example of your Aunts chatter! Lib:)) with ancestors in Middleton, Manchester.

Libby Sadly, I don't know the name of the Greengrocers, cos I wasn't listening! But I have a vague memory of going there, to be shown off to 'Auntie Cora'. Some of the Middleton rellies were called Whittaker. I think my Aunts recollections would probably have been quite accurate, they both lived till their late nineties and were sharp as needles right to the end - Auntie Emily dropped dead in the Butchers (LOL - she would have thought that was so funny, I know she would!) and Auntie Polly just died in her sleep. My Mum and Dad lived with these two when they were first married (Mum and Dad I mean). My Mum, who was only 17 when I was born, caught nits from somewhere or other when she was pregnant and the two Aunties set about her with vinegar and a toothcomb, shouting loudly 'Nay lass, dawnt cry, us'll ave the biggars!'. Other relatives, equally as old, were consulted and the consensus of opinion was that Mum had to sleep in a room with burning feathers in the firegrate. Mum says it was lucky she and I survived. But I want to know what their childhood was like...they were cheerful busy souls. Polly married age 20 (she lied) gave birth ahem, seven months after the wedding. Fifteen months later she had buried both her child and her husband. She never married again. Emily had a slight squint and was considered unmarriagable. Her sister's husband - my G-GF - gave her and Polly a home after his wife died. When Emily was about 40, the Coalman came a-calling and GGF saw him off with a flea in his ear, presumably afraid that he was going to lose his unpaid staff. I wonder if she was sad about this. Rambling again! Olde Crone

Olde Crone, Have you looked in the trade directories for the Greengrocer in Middleton, ? Google -Historical Directories- You will then find the Greengrocer -listed under tradesmen - His name may ring a bell - if not look him up on the census anyway if you think any of your family could have been living there, Maurice

Old Crone, Love your thread - it's brought back wonderful memories of my early childhood when my Nanna used to take me with her when she visited her friends! Had to sit quietly up the corner whilst they discussed all their other friends who weren't there. Unlike you, I listened avidly and I know an awful lot about the characters who lived in the village years ago, but sadly I never gleaned very much about my own forebears! Janet