[Misc] Anyone done a history of their family investigation?

[cloud]

Quick question for anyone who has used ancestry.com
I have started the 14 day trial and so far whizzed through a good one side of the family to 1800 and then there are no more hints or help beyond that.
Is this a kind of selective process, that if I actually pay a subscription, suddenly those hints will open up, is it worth it, is what I’m basically asking ?

The hints update overnight, so give it a day or so and they may be there.
However the hints are often not right, they are what other people have selected. For example, check that all brothers and sisters were born in the same town, that births happened at childbearing age, that place names are not mixed up with the same place names in the USA etc.
You can only match against historical records if you have the paid subscription.

 

[Rogero]

My wifes side goes back to 1380 with the name of Gellibrand. Google it as it is famous!!

 

[Worthing exile]

My wife does family trees for a living and is very good and extremely cheap compared to the 'experts'. If you want someone to do it for you, pm me for her website.

 

[Super Steve Earle]

Last week I ventured out to Sainsburys in Portslade to get my first petrol since lockdown started. As I pulled in, a massive red truck pulled out and it had my mother's unusual maiden name on the side. Naturally I googled it to find the company was founded in Oxford by my maternal grandfather's brother and carried on through the paternal line to the present day. My grandfather died before I was born and the company website has a potted history and photos of his brother and family. My sister is digging back through Ancestry.com and this all added a bit of flesh to the bones on my mother's side.

 

[Hampster Gull]

Please forgive me for asking, do you do this through the internet? if so, Is it easy for someone who is older who lacks internet experience?

This was actually done before the invention of the internet. It was done in the 70’s by a relative who worked in the govt records dept and who had good international contacts. My mothers one we have done using the internet, and we have got back to 1830s. Mainly FamilySearch which is good and free, and also a little on FreeBMD. They are straightforward but you need some initial info to dig and you need to be inquisitive. But you will find stuff.

 

[Hampster Gull]

The hints update overnight, so give it a day or so and they may be there.
However the hints are often not right, they are what other people have selected. For example, check that all brothers and sisters were born in the same town, that births happened at childbearing age, that place names are not mixed up with the same place names in the USA etc.
You can only match against historical records if you have the paid subscription.

Great point, the cross referencing to make sure it’s not a false lead is key

 

[AlbionBro]

This was actually done before the invention of the internet. It was done in the 70’s by a relative who worked in the govt records dept and who had good international contacts. My mothers one we have done using the internet, and we have got back to 1830s. Mainly FamilySearch which is good and free, and also a little on FreeBMD. They are straightforward but you need some initial info to dig and you need to be inquisitive. But you will find stuff.

Thank you for your advice I may have a go at this and see what I can find.

 

[Mr Bridger]

Have gone right back on my family tree and my wife’s.
On mine , my fathers side turned out to be prominent smugglers for the Dorset area called Northover and my mother’s side mostly came from the Ironbridge area and West Midlands.
One surprise that popped up in the tree on my fathers side was Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet of Greys Inn who went on to be the speaker of the House of Commons in 1680. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_William_Williams,_1st_Baronet,_of_Gray's_Inn

On my wife’s side we tracked her real father and half siblings through DNA testing and found them in Australia. Her father is still alive and she has recently had her first zoom call with one of the sisters. We are hopefully looking to go out to Australia next year to meet up.

 

[Gwylan]

I've done a bit and got back to 1796 on my dad's side - they were all based in Sussex. It's easy enough to do as I have such an unusual surname and when I have a bit of time on my hands, I aim to nose around parish records.

My mum's side is more of a problem as they're Welsh, and her grandfather was called David Thomas. It's hard to trace further back than him as there are literally hundreds of David Thomases in Wales.

Mrs Gwylan's was more exciting as I went back to the 18th century and found a Jeremiah O'Donovan her Gx5 Gfather - somewhere along the way, he dropped the O and the catholicism. She wants to go back to Cork and trace further members

One mystery that's not been solved is where I can get my complexion from. I'm dark enough to have been mistaken for Pakistani and Turkish in the past but I'm British for at least four generations on my mother's side and at least seven on my dad's. I'd like to get to the bottom of that

 

[Tokyohands]

My mum has done a lot of research and found that an ancestor is John Bradshaw, one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles 1st. He died before he could be tried as a regicide but they dug up his remains and desecrated them at Tyburn after the restoration.

In the 1800s there was a lawyer in Ireland, a well known London tailor who made the uniforms for the met police and there was a dressmaker to the royals.

 

[Gwylan]

My mum has done a lot of research and found that an ancestor is John Bradshaw, one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles 1st. He died before he could be tried as a regicide but they dug up his remains and desecrated them at Tyburn after the restoration.
.

Now that's a well-known ancestor. He wasn't just one of the regicides, he was the President of the Court of Justice who presided over the trial and was the first man to sign the death warrant. That's why he was one of the three dead regicides to be disinterred and hanged. Your mum's family history must be fascinating

 

[Southern Scouse]

A cousin of mine spent years doing ours. It seems we have strong family ties to Sir Walter Scott, The Earl of Kilmarnock who killed a king (James 1 or 2) whilst showing him how cannons worked. We also have the freedom of the New Forest as an ancestor retrieved the body of Rufus, William the conquerers murdered brother to the king.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

We're a long line of farmers and butchers in Sussex, Banks' of Bohemia, Hastings with Adam's Farm on the Bexhill Hastings loop. Ended at Billingshurst 1700 a dead end, so to speak.

 

[jamie (not that one)]

How is everyone finding this level of detail? It's certainly very interesting and would be happy to tell my sister to do it.

 

[essbee1]

A cousin of mine spent years doing ours. It seems we have strong family ties to Sir Walter Scott, The Earl of Kilmarnock who killed a king (James 1 or 2) whilst showing him how cannons worked. We also have the freedom of the New Forest as an ancestor retrieved the body of Rufus, William the conquerers murdered brother to the king.

That's interesting. How can you use the freedom of the New Forest?

 

[Gwylan]

That's interesting. How can you use the freedom of the New Forest?

Free admission to Plucky's ground?

(BTW, Southern Scouse, Rufus wasn't William's brother but his son and there's a lot of dispute about his death as to whether it was murder or an accident)

 

[Southern Scouse]

Free admission to Plucky's ground?

(BTW, Southern Scouse, Rufus wasn't William's brother but his son and there's a lot of dispute about his death as to whether it was murder or an accident)

Yes your right about Rufus being the son. A hunting accident or murdered who knows... long time ago

 

[BLOCK F]

My DNA was a mixture of Scottish, mainly from the Outer Hebrides and the Highlands, English and Northern European with a small dash of Scandinavian thrown in for good measure.
Have traced my father's side back to about 1750 and my mothers only back to about 1870.
Paternal ancestors were mainly from the Isle of Lewis and Lanarkshire. Mainly crofters, fishermen, agricultural workers and maid servants, accompanied by a bit of illegitimacy and illiteracy along the way. I also found a gamekeeper and cooper. Fortunes changed when my great grandfather , a general merchant in the Isle of Lewis, sent all his 8 children to Glasgow for an education. My g'pa became an engineer and his sons, my dad and his brother became a doctor and surgeon. My father's maternal side seem to have a lot of connections with the coal mining industry, and as an aside, my great great grandfather fought in the first Afghan War in 1842, was wounded and discharged from the army and was at one time a Chelsea Pensioner. I have his war medal and copies of his discharge papers. Mother's side came from humble stock and her father was a corn merchant's labourer. I've got more work to do on her side, but she did have a relative who was a Labour MP back in the day.

 

[origigull]

My mum has done a lot of research and found that an ancestor is John Bradshaw, one of the regicides who signed the death warrant of Charles 1st. He died before he could be tried as a regicide but they dug up his remains and desecrated them at Tyburn after the restoration.

On my mother's side a certain sea captain took the escaping Charles (later Charles II) to France from Shoreham. When Charles became king my ancestor was named high constable (??) of Brighton and owned the ship hotel on the seafront. A portrait of him still hangs in one of the lounges - well 15 years ago it was.

 

[sydney]

My sister did my dads side of the family a few years back,

Oh, the shame

is there a video..