How far back do you want to go?

[Bob Spiers]

I noticed Peter in his latest Newsletter commenting on the fact that 'most' Researchers were intent 'on getting back' as far as they could, caused me to reflect that that had never been my key motivation. Mind you that never stopped me being pleased when a line could be taken back beyond (say) a 6/7 generational level, and many did not make it that far. If I had a target in mind it was to achieve a reasonable rounded 3rd/4th Great Grandparent level. One line in particular (there were a few others) broke this barrier back to 6GGP and a pretty fair indication back to 8GG, but that was the exception and not the rule; and all this pre DNA testing.

Family interest beyond 3GG (and some not even that far) is rare and this was borne home to me in a Skype conversation with a female Cousin. I had recently presented her with Fact Sheets and Charts showing (in particular) her mothers line and our shared (our father's were brothers) paternal line. She had not wanted to take a DNA test but always showed an interest in both our shared and her mothers family history.

She thanked me for the information and said the thing that came alive was in finding out about both her Grandparent/ grandparents. She explained that our (shared) Grandma Spiers (whom we both knew into our teens) would often talk of her own Irish grandparents. The same with her maternal grandmother who spoke about her own (English) grandparents. This level of interest rang a bell with me anyway as I have had similar reactions from my maternal cousins and and in particularly my younger sister.

Only my older sister in Australia shows a more rounded interest, but even she is more concerned with where they lived, and for how long, how many children they had and how they earned a living. She loved learning of the ubiquitous Ag labs and some who made it to Market Gardeners and a Worcester family of Master Builders.

Few showed any interest in taking a DNA test, although one Cousin (adopted as it happens) and his wife were so persuaded (and I enjoyed managing their Tree and learning of the wife's 'Gypsy' line). So apart from myself, and my wife , and of course my daughter (my gift), DNA overtures to the others has fallen on deaf ears. If they want to know anything (and occasionally when an offspring needs knowledge of family history for a school project) they only have to ask Bob - Uncle, Grand Uncle , Grandfather, Brother - and it is forthcoming.

How do other's fare with family interest in family interest?

 

[Susan48]

When I tell friends that my lockdown project has been working on my family tree, the usual response is How far back have you got? This always takes me by surprise because I've been up to my ears in investigating the collateral lines, which has been in many ways more interesting than going back as far as possible. The extended family gives you a much broader overall picture of where your ancestors lived and moved to, and patterns start to emerge, which I find fascinating.

Very few of my family are as hooked on family history as I am and, as Bob says, with the grandchildren they usually ask if they have a school project. It is, however, both fun and rewarding to collaborate with cousins, and I'm lucky to have one maternal and one paternal cousin who shares the enthusiasm.

 

[Bob Spiers]

When I tell friends that my lockdown project has been working on my family tree, the usual response is How far back have you got? This always takes me by surprise because I've been up to my ears in investigating the collateral lines, which has been in many ways more interesting than going back as far as possible. The extended family gives you a much broader overall picture of where your ancestors lived and moved to, and patterns start to emerge, which I find fascinating.

Couldn't agree more Susan it is indeed the collateral line investigations that reward the most (the thrill of the chase if you like) and that was - and remains - the raison d'etre for my family research. Other family members -with the exception of the few already mentioned - regard 'Family' as immediate Parents and Grandparents (very often convoluted with multiple marriages and divorces) and the same with their own progeny and offspring. (Nothing wrong with any of that of course and they enjoy posting photos and stuff on Social Media). But unless they have some specific reason for wanting to know about (say) a black sheep family member, everything else is best left to odd-bods like me.

But am I downhearted? Not a bit. I have lost count of the help given, and research offered, to friends, some remote family members and most of all distant cousins (mainly found during the course of my research) who exude enthusiasm for researching their family. So helping them research their Tree with or without DNA associations, keeps me out of mischief..and of course posting on the Forum to other odd bods.

 

[At home in NZ]

and of course posting on the Forum to other odd bods.

I too enjoy posting in the Forum and have been pondering this discussion for a couple of days, asking myself what was my aim when I started my family history.

I grew up not knowing who my paternal grandparents were because they had died before my parents married. When my dad died in 1988 I started to question my mum about the family and she told me she didn't know anything about my dad's parents because he never talked about them, even when she asked him. That was when I decided I would do a family tree and try to find out as much as I could about my great aunts and uncle, whom I had known while growing up. Also, to find out as much as I could about my grandparents and their ancestors.
Sitting here in NZ I found it difficult at first because the great aunts and uncle were deceased by then, so I thought I had nobody to ask.
However, on a visit to England I reconnected with my paternal cousins and met one of my dad's cousins who I hadn't known while growing up. Must explain, I lived in the south of England but paternal relatives were up north and family gatherings didn't happen too often.
Dad's cousin is still alive and has been a wealth of information for me but memory is fading with age, about 89, although I feel as though I have everything they can give.

I knew dad's father was of Irish descent and I became determined to get as far back as I could because of the Irish history aspect. Did my ancestors suffer in the famine? When did my ancestors arrive in England? Did their siblings leave Ireland too?
Yes, they lived through the famine and yes, one sibling went to England and several went to USA where I can find hundreds of cousins of varying degree.

I think I know why dad wouldn't talk about his mother, I've found a few things that I'm reasonably sure he would no have approved of.

When I started looking at dad's mother's ancestry I came upon a brick wall that is unlikely to be broken, because my second great grandfather was born in Dublin in 1809, that is all the info I have and his name is quite common.

I got well and truly hooked by genealogy and found myself wondering all sorts of things about my ancestors, it made me want to find as many people as I can and as much about each person as I can.

I found that most of my maternal grandmother's ancestors were ag labs in Suffolk and I got excited when I found a couple of brothers were transported to Tasmania, where I can also find hundreds of cousins of varying degree. Finding the records of transportation and reading about the lives they had in the ships and then when they arrived was fascinating.
I (and partner) had a holiday in Tasmania a few years ago and as it was an organised tour I was unable to 'get off and look for graves' but we did tour Port Arthur where the convicts were placed when they arrived in 1842.

I haven't 'met' any cousins through Lost Cousins except for one, we couldn't help each other as we had done identical research. I have met a second cousin I didn't know existed through looking for their mother's name in Google.
I have met third cousins through Ancestry and one in particular in USA has become a friend.

I could go on for ever about my passion but I won't.

 

[Bob Spiers]

when I found a couple of brothers were transported to Tasmania, where I can also find hundreds of cousins of varying degree

) had a holiday in Tasmania a few years ago and as it was an organised tour I was unable to 'get off and look for graves' but we did tour Port Arthur where the convicts were placed when they arrived in 1842.

Very interesting AHiNZ and I notice we share Irish ancestry and two brothers sentenced to transportation in Tasmania. Also, like you when visiting my sister and brother-in-law in Australia at the start of the Millenium, my wife and I also took in Tasmania and of course visited Port Arthur.

Sadly, at that time my research -particularly on the convict brothers (transported two years apart 1842/1844) and destined never to meet up- was very limited. I later learned the fate of both, one continued to be a 'bad egg' after release and disappeared off the horizon, while the other prospered and raised a large family; mainly in Victoria. In time an Australian researcher found my Ancestry Tree and got in touch. He turned out to be the 4th great grandson of the 'good' brother. He has added enormously to my knowledge of the brothers and my Australian cousins and we keep in touch.

This is the sort of thing that fans the flame of research into my family(and of others), and I have many similar tales to tell, but like you will leave it there.

 

[peter]

I don't expect relatives to take any interest in my research, though a few do, especially if it involves people they knew, or who were talked about within their family when they were younger.

But I don't do my research for the relatives who aren't interested, I do it for myself, for those cousins who are so interested that they're also researching their own family tree, and for future generations.

 

[Helen7]

But am I downhearted? Not a bit. I have lost count of the help given, and research offered, to friends, some remote family members and most of all distant cousins (mainly found during the course of my research) who exude enthusiasm for researching their family. So helping them research their Tree with or without DNA associations, keeps me out of mischief..and of course posting on the Forum to other odd bods.

As one of those odd bods, I couldn't agree more, Bob. My immediate family have shown minimal interest in my research, but it's always been a pleasure to share research with more distant relatives and indeed help unrelated friends with their research.

I started delving into my family history hoping to find out more about my grandparents - all of whom had died before my parents met, and about whom my parents had offered limited information - and I quickly found it an engrossing hobby. As an only child of two only children, and only knowing a few of my parents' cousins as I was growing up, making contact with my more distant relatives has been brilliant and some compensation for my lack of close relatives. It has been especially satisfying to find out about my maternal grandmother, as my mother never knew her (she died when my mum was born) and it turns out that her parents were both from very large families and I have more cousins on that line than any of my other branches.

So whilst I've enjoyed going back through the centuries tracing direct ancestors, pursuing collateral lines has proved equally rewarding, even if it hasn't broken down many brick walls for me so far.

 

[Margery]

ancestors were ag labs in Suffolk

Same as my father's family. Mainly from Dennington and Parham with the names of Meadows, Godbold and Fisk. I suppose it would be too much to expect a connection?

 

[At home in NZ]

I suppose it would be too much to expect a connection?

You are so right! Mine were mostly from the Cosford Registration District, pretty little villages with the names of Monks Eleigh, Milden, Lindsey, Semer etc.

 

[lindy]

I started my research eagerly going back through the generations and have just about a complete set on one side back to 4GGrandparents, and even beyond. Helped considerably by Dorset and Kent yeomen who left wills, and obligingly listed their large families including married daughter's names and offspring. But after a while I became much more interested in the 'large families' (they left wills too!). I couldn't really identify with the multitude of names that 6+ generations produce. And I find I have much more interest when ancestors have census entries, giving their location (especially if I know it) and their children, in-laws, grandchildren etc. And if they share a surname with one of my grandparents all the better.

I have clear memories of both my maternal great grandmothers and I'm sometimes afraid my attempts to pass the memories on become a little obsessive!

 

[cfbandit]

How do other's fare with family interest in family interest?

I bounce back and forth. My personal goals are related to getting far back and connecting to the genetic science. But others I know are much more motivated by stories, pictures, etc. So I work with the farther off cousins on my personal goals, whilst working on the DNA connections for the more recent family. With the work to reunite so many who have been adopted back into the family, they're never tired of hearing the old stories because they have not heard them before, ha ha.

I suppose someday I should do some sort of publishing so all the work I've done to correct the past is around for future people to find as well.