Genealogy Chat

Hi everyone, Just a few things I would like answers for... I have currently got 231 people in my tree and I am back to c1849. I haven't the first clue who any of these people are, and I am never really likely to find out so.... when do you stop tracing your tree and going further back?!?! I keep thinking: I will just find her parents and then stop - and then another truck load of kids turn up and it goes on and on and on.... These brick walls are driving me nuts and I have a lot of gaps in my tree. If I was to just do the branches that are relevant to my tree - e.g if a lady in my family marries a man and they have kids - do I REALLY need to know all this man's family aswell or is he enough - would this still be a proper family tree? If I stop at 1849 rather than going back to when Jesus was roaming the earth (??) is it still a real family tree? And also.... HOW do you stop? How do you stop yourself from "just having a quick check" every time you walk past your PC?!!! I hadn't realised how addictive this geneaology was until it was too late. But don't they say that admitting you have a problem / addiction is half way to being cured?!! All views / opinions / words of advice very welcome. Sorry to have taken up so much "quick check" time!!!!

Very interesting point! I have wondered just the same myself. Also, without the benefit of census info you tend to end up with what can be a rather meaningless list of names and dates. But I can't stop myself either...I think at some point it becomes an intellectual challenge to find and sort out these sometimes somewhat elusive (and very distantly related) characters, rather than any sense of 'familiness'. I shall be interested to read others' thoughts on this.

I think the answer has been given elsewhere. Old Genealogists never die, they only lose their Census. I find myself torn three ways when doing my tree. First I want to get back as far as I can. Second I want to find as many living people who share my bloodlines and thirdly I am fascinated by any information about the daily lives of my ancestors. You can take the Genealogist out of the tree, but you can't take the tree out of the Genealogist. Jim

Wait till you haven't done housework for a month, the ironing is above your head, and you keep your bank statement hidden. I have found that those ancestors who we have talked about in the family, ie going backwards in time, remain interesting, but there is probably a cut off point when the records dry up. The more modern names, where the blood tie is slight and I don't know them don't seem so interesting especially with common names where you'll never be sure you've got the right one without travelling some distance to check them out. Anyone who has solved the problem of this compulsive behaviour please let us know.

Hi Andrea Ithink we can blame those brick walls. I wasn't getting anywhere at all with one line, so I turned to another and wow! suddenly I could add heaps of names to my tree! (Not that it's that big yet) I guess that there's always that hope that someone really interesting might turn up as well, so on and on we go! I'm hoping that I will be able to fill in many a blank in my family and I get great pleasure from tapping away. So, until I get fed up, or get too old and crusty, I'll keep on going. Might be fun to try and find out more about thelives those distant rellies lived as well... Di Syd

I disagree that you can never find information other than broad birth, marriage and death information. My father was unware who his grandparents were and whether he had any paternal uncles and aunts. I have established seven of his granfathers brothers and sisters and 25 first cousins. I have really only concentrated on this part of the family for the past three months. But by using census's, certificates and using local history added background to their lives. For example my great grandfather moved from Cowden a tiny hamlet in Kent to Brighton when he was 20 in the early 1840's. The question was why. You then found him living in an area of Brighton where labourers who were working on the railway lived. At the time the extension of the line to Lewes was being dug. Maybe a rash assumption and I still need to prove it 100% but I have begun to put some flesh on the bones. So don't just stick to dates look at the events that were happening at the time. The 19th Century in England was a fascinating time. Gary

Keep going as far back as you can and then when it gets difficult try other lines back or use different sources. I went to the East Yorkshire Archives at Beverley on Tuesday and was allowed to use some original Parish records going back to the late 1600 early 1700's. Sadly some of the information has been lost for ever, The village concerned they cannot find the marriage records for a 60 year period. So to go back any further I will have to make educated guesses on who the links maybe or look in surrounding villages in the hope the family moved into that area. This is on my wife's side of the family. I haven't had the chance to follow my side back as far yet as have moved to the other end of the country. But people out there will try and help where they can with information on their areas of the country. Stephen

I do not believe it!!! Finally, when I am thinking about giving up - the original thread was mine! - I get a letter from my Gran in the post with all the info she can remember. This is great and fills in a couple of gaps but one piece of info, I could really have done without......her Grandad had a twin sister and (wait for it....) NINETEEN brothers!!!!!!!!!!!! You know how I said you find parents and then a truck load of kids turn up? Would 21 kids fit into a truck? Must've been a HGV!!!!!!!! I have to laugh or I will cry! Guess I won't be quitting just yet!

Maybe there are two strings to this. There is the direct ancestor quest where you trace your direct lineage back and can do a neat tree to hang on the wall. And then there's the intellectual challenge bit where it becomes a battle between yourself and the unknown which takes you down the side-shoots to see what became of brothers and sisters, finding your cousins, second cousins, third cousins and fourth cousins twice removed. At the end of the day, how far you want to go is a personal choice.

I saw this in the paper the other week and thought I would keep it - just to look at when I hit a brick wall. "If you trace your family tree back 25 generations you will have 33,554,432 direct ancestors." Makes you realise that there is a long way to go and is it worth it? Nesta

Is it worth what is the question! I'm doing it because I find it fascinating and will probably never stop although laziness about getting to the family records centre will probably make it take forever. Know all about the housework building up and hiding the bank statements from the husband though!!!

Nesta Don't worry, that is one of those bum statistics tricks like politicians use, like "If the number of cars on the road continue to increase at this rate there will be 100 million vehicles on the road by 2020" (Forgetting to add that the total population at that point will only be 65 million, including 15 million children). If you go back 25 generations the population of the UK was something under 10 million, so we share many common ancestors.

I also have had the problem og being addicted to searching for more info. I started with my Dad's family tree because he was an orphan at 8 and his only brother was killed in the war. I have traced back to his Great Grandparents and have found living relations none of us knew existed who we are about to meet. I am now doing my Mum's family who are more difficult and I have hit a brick wall. How I wish I had listened more to my Granny talking about her family, my Mum died two years ago and because I knew names in her family I thought I knew it all until I came to search. My Dad's was easier to find because he is a Scotsman and Scotlandspeople is a great site but my Mum's English Grandfather and Irish Great Grandmother are difficult to trace. I keep thinking I will give up but I keep hoping something new will appear on the sites I use or someone will contact me from Genes Connected who will fill in the gaps so I have to keep looking. I don't want to spend any more money at the moment and I think I have exhausted all the sites I have used