Genealogy Chat

Hi, How far do you go. What I mean is I have found quite a few ancestors with 10 or so children each, then these children have another 5 or 6 or more and so on. Do you put them all on the tree and end up with hundreds on there or just the direct lines. By the way England 118 all out (test match).

Its up to you really, I've tried to include the non direct lines in my tree. George

I started with just the direct line but having hit a brick wall in 1751 i decided to trace other lines and now have other family members trees included with my own. I find it quite addictive to keep adding as many names as possible. I think i am past 500 at the moment but i know other members have thousands! Basically - the sky's the limit! Alison

Thanks Georgina and Alison, You have confirmed my worst fears and I will have to keep adding. Only joking about the worst fears. It is just so addictive and I am getting nothing else done. Janet

Hi Mum, You're telling me - you should see my ironing pile! Have sent you email Love Liz xxx

Hi Janet, You go as far as you like. The great thing about genealogy, as with all our hobbies, is that it should be fun. Jim

I usually find the siblings of my direct ancestor, and if I can get their dates of birth and death, I will include them, but my priority is to go back rather than sideways. Most of my relatives kept churning out children like they were going out of fashion. When I started, I had to pay for this hobby with my pocket money so I couldn't afford to get sidetracked. The habit appears to have stuck.

Hi Liz, In case you read this before checking your e-mails, a list of Terry's on its way to you. You too can spend the rest of the afternoon entering on here. After all it does seem to be the done thing. Love Mum xxx - PS SA now 61 for 5

I hate to say this but how many of the hundreds have been double checked with parish records? I have over 500 names but only 144 on GC as they are the only ones I know for certain. On the subject I suppose you go as far back as is possible, then you go sideways eg find where they live, photos of if still standing, what sort of life did they live etc. Sorry re the first part but as you know it is my 'pet subject'

What I do is, whenever I come across another new surname (eg a female link) I look for that persons birth and than you have a new name to search. After all they are all of your ancestors. 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents etc. There is never an end to genealogy, there is always a new name to look for. Margaret

Hi John I understand what you mean about checking the information found. I am lucky in that some other branch of the family has done a lot of that already. The rest I will have to do myself. James, This is fun I think but the housework is definately suffering. I know what I prefer doing. Janet PS - Bad light stopped play

The greatest thing about going 'sideways' is that this is usually when you find the 'live cousin' who is a descendant of one of the brothers or sisters. I do enjoy going back as far as I can but the best fun for me is contacting relatives with the same hobby. I've discovered three 'cousins' in the UK, two in USA and one in New Zealand. We all keep in touch, especially when we find some new info for 'our' tree.

I currently tend not to concern myself too much with the family of those who are in my tree, simply by marriage unless they are closely related to me and my immediate family. I may at some point in the future choose to relax this rule but I think there is a danger of it spiralling out of control. I have gone sideways with the Cooks in my tree. I found that my great grandfather was one of 10 children in his family. His elder sisters all had in excess of 10 children and of course, their offpsring weren't exactly unproductive either. So, it can get a bit mind-boggling at times!

It is easy to let things escalate out of control. You could end up researching the entire population if every lead was folowed. I like to know who the siblings of direct ancestors were, and if they married and had children, I also like to trace the mother, father and siblings of wives. I see it as a bitlike Leggo bricks, so long as the connections are there then related trees and other peoples research can easily be attached to mine, and if I come across related information I will collect it rather than ignor it, but you have to set your own limit to what is appropriate for your tree. Smiths will have a hard time collecting every one, but more unusual names may be related to every extant occurence. It just depends what suits your family research best. Pam

Hi Jant We all do it a different way i like to find out as I go along as much about them as possible,where they lived take photo's if possible,where they married again take photo's. Doble check with parish records I get a real buss looking at Parish record's and finding entries belong my rellies!! It's all good fun Ann,Darlington