Surprises in family history


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People say that when you research your family tree unexpected things can pop up, and I have found one.  Helping my aunt's brother in law I came across details of her wedding and saw she was born in 1920 - but she has always said 1922, I shall check and if she is wrong I have another 100 birthday to organise.  You couldn't make it up anyone else come across anything odd when going through their family tree.

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Are you sure it's not Mr Pastry?

In an age when people were not constantly being asked for their date of birth, proof of identity, etc, they often became forgetful of how old they really were. My grandfather thought he was 2 years ol

Don't  think I'd  know where to start, searching my ancestry. I realise there are search sites but don't  they cost money? You see the on tv, the advert for Ancestry.com, just enter a name. It ai

In an age when people were not constantly being asked for their date of birth, proof of identity, etc, they often became forgetful of how old they really were. My grandfather thought he was 2 years older than he actually was. Until I started sticking my nose into my ancestors' business, no one realised the fact.

 

Grandad, by the way, liked Garibaldi biscuits and treated me every pension day to a bag of dolly mixtures and an orange!

 

He also taught me to read and write, thereby awakening in me at a very young age the enquiring mind that would later start poking its nose into his family secrets.  He probably wants his dolly mixtures back! :wacko:

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Don't  think I'd  know where to start, searching my ancestry. I realise there are search sites but don't  they cost money?

You see the on tv, the advert for Ancestry.com, just enter a name. It ain't  so simple as that.

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As an aside about age, I was told about a number of Polish women who came here after the war who took a few years off their ages when they went through the process of registering as “aliens” then later taking citizenship.

 

Their only problem was that when they got to the (real) age when they should have started to draw their pension, they found they still had a few years to go!

 

 

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9 hours ago, Beekay said:

Don't  think I'd  know where to start, searching my ancestry. I realise there are search sites but don't  they cost money?

You see the on tv, the advert for Ancestry.com, just enter a name. It ain't  so simple as that.

 

Keep your eye out for Ancestry offers Beekay, every so often  they offer two weeks free to tempt you. Yes it does cost if you join, but some Hobbies would anyway. I have the basic, which cost me £100ish a year and I have so much enjoyment from it.

 

We have recently travelled to Arnold to meet up at 'The Robin Hood and Little John Pub' with people who have my Gt Gt Grandparents in their tree, and a Gt Gt Aunt. Very distant, I know, but we had a lovely couple of hours amongst these very distant relatives of mine. No likenesses about any of us, but fun anyway. The lady who arranged it, went back to Canada with a camera full off photos and memories of a good reunion.

 

If you get tempted, try the freebie when it comes up, no need to join and nothing to lose.

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Gt. Gt. Grandparents in a tree eh! Why didn't  they bury em like anybody else? (Sorry Carnie, couldn't  resist it).

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12 hours ago, Gem said:

her wedding and saw she was born in 1920 - but she has always said 1922, 

Could have been forgetful but a similar thing happened in my wife's family . Her ancestor added a couple of years to her age on the wedding cert .

This made her "of full age" or over 21 and presume could marry without parents consent. 

She lived to be almost 100 but was always coy about saying her age .

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2 hours ago, carni said:

We have recently travelled to Arnold to meet up at 'The Robin Hood and Little John Pub'

Arnold or Lambley? My great great grandfather kept the pub of this name at Lambley around 1900.

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Beekay, you have just cracked us up laughing. I can't stop visualising a tree full of GtGt Grandparents.:biggrin:

 

The reunion was at Arnold Jill, the lady had booked 'The Stables' for the meeting. By the way, not used for horses for a very long time.

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Bless you Carni, glad I  was able to make you smile. If I  can bring a little sunshine into peoples lives, then my work here is done !  Didn't  mean any disrespect, but when I  read your post re relatives in trees, I  immediately had this image. What a way to go, when it's  your time they just hang you up in a tree. Not like Eastbourne, here they just stick a bingo card in your hand and lean you up against a bus stop. Regards to you and yours, B.

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Beekay, the easiest way to start your tree is to go and talk to your oldest living relative and ask them what they know.

Otherwise they sometimes inconsiderately go and die and then all that knowledge they had is gone forever.

Get your own birth certificate.  That will tell you your parent's names and mum's maiden name.  Find their wedding certificate for their parents' names.  That's a good start.

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Bing, thank you for your post but I  have absolutely no interest in my family history. We've  never been a close family even though large. My understanding is that there is some doubt who my biological dad is anyway. Think me mam had a bike!

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1 hour ago, Bing said:

the easiest way to start your tree is to go and talk to your oldest living relative and ask them what they know.

Or, if you're anything like me, you take along a recording device, a sharp stick, a coil of rope with which to tie the relative to a chair and shine a bright light in their eyes! You vill talk!!

 

Surprising what information comes out of these sessions...much of it incorrect because said relative has been fed a pack of lies by earlier generations...but a starting point for those who, like myself, are incurably inquisitive.

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2 hours ago, Bing said:

Beekay, the easiest way to start your tree is to go and talk to your oldest living relative and ask them what they know.

 

That's not too easy in many cases.

 

I am my oldest living relative. I'm not aware of any living relatives who are significantly older than me; at the most maybe a couple of years. I did the bulk of my family history research around 9 -10 years ago and even then there was no-one around who I could ask about anything I wanted to know. The people with the answers had all disappeared by then.

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1 hour ago, philmayfield said:

There’s always the illegitimate offspring of a Lord a few generations back. I’m related to Lord Melton of Mowbray.

we had some interesting finds in our tree  as well  florence nightingale  or should i say shore  sir harry verney  the weightman family  got some really  funny moments as well like  children  born within two months of  marriage  ..who would have thought  all good fun 

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1 hour ago, Cliff Ton said:

did the bulk of my family history research around 9 -10 years ago and even then there was no-one around who I could ask about anything I wanted to know. The people with the answers had all disappeared by then.

You need to start much earlier than that, CT. I started as soon as I could speak. I was never welcome round at older relatives' houses because I asked too many questions, demanded to see photo albums and documents, etc. Emily at Garden Street was a particularly hard case when it came to getting information. 

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