Genealogy Chat

there was one on the other week of a gentleman who was floggin his dead brothers medals and was a whistle????? I think his brother was in the navy.. said he wanted to get of them to clear some space. How much space qould a couple of medals and a whislte take up!!!!!! My sister and I fought over our grandads medals!!!!! She won GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR but hubby got me a replica set which hang in a frame in my house.!!!

My nan had a son who died when he was 4 (died of diptheria). She kept his little shoes and his little shirt in a polythene bag in her bedside cabinet. When she died my mum kept them but when my mum died my aunt took them - I really hope my cousins never throw these items in the bin - I'd be so cross! Debby

Having run a small antquites shop some years ago I was amazed how meny people knew the Price of every thing but the value of nothing. Sitting in frount of me now is a trouphy dated 1910 won by a C.J.Penny were did I find it, it was in the rubbish of a house cleance I did, heading for the skip.

A few years back me and mate did a car boot sale and she decided to sell some of her deceased fathers records,not knowing any of these artists sold the first one for 50p,the guy replied cheers ladies this is worth about £100,we were gobsmacked packed the rest away and shes kept them ever since wonder what worth now?I even have 2 suits my gran used to wear to weddings always admired them as a child one was pink other turquise and she always kept them in the dry cleaning bags and still are to this day tucked away in a case,even the smallest of things can be such sentimental value Kazzie

It beggars belief I'm afraid - I'd kill for something as precious as that. My aunts first husband was killed in WW2 and she had his log book stamped 'killed in action' and his flying suit - it fascinated me even as a child. At my aunts funeral earlier this year, her grandchildren were talking about it and I said I'd love to see it again - they won't let those items leave the house never mind sell them. Debby

I have a relative who threw his own son's medals away. Didn't sell them, even, just put them out with the rubbish.

How could he, little things like that can help a hell of a lot. Small things that I have found in my loft have provided great information and an insight into how my relatives lived life. Just go to show people will do anything for money, no amount of money is worth those things. Fern.

I was thinking much the same thing the other day, how there seems to have been a run of people flogging birth certs and family bibles etc on places like ebay ever since the BBC ran those programmes and the interest in genealogy increased. Maybe I'm just being cynical but is this just people seeing an opportunity to make money? I'd treasure anything like that that came into my possession. My Dad is gutted that he has no idea where his father's war medals went to. An aunt helped my Dad to clear my grandparents house after their deaths and he thinks she may have taken them. She died herself many years ago so who knows where they ended up!

My oh so unsentimental hubby would be flogging it too if he thought it was worth a fiver. I can't understand it. I treasure stuff like that! I get moaned at for the junk I 'hoard' Claire xx

Hi, I can only assume he must have had his one remaining brain cell removed. Even before I started tracing my family history at Christmas, such things would have been precious to me - now they would be priceless. On a similar theme, when I bought my house I looked at another on the same road, where the elderley lady had gone into a nursing home. The house was full of odds and ends of furniture etc that hadn't been removed, but in her bedroom was her family bible and wedding photo. I was so upset at the time that her family hadn't thought to give her those most precious things. Cheryl

He's going to regret that one day.

I was watching silly morning TV, one of those 'sell your old stuff at Auction and buy something or other'. Two of the items the chap offered for Auction were his great-uncle's: Field Book, belt, cap, medals, wallet containing many letters and photographs and the telegram his family received announcing his death. The other Lot was another relative, also killed in War, a Naval one this time, medals, photos, letters and a complete uniform. The two items fetched less than £140 and while I was thinking 'how sad', the man announced that one of the things he wanted to do when he retired was - trace his family history! Marjorie