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Author
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Topic: Making contact with strangers (Read 1702 times)
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Chui
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 487
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I have written a letter to my mums cousin (admittedly they only exchange christmas cards) to ask about his mother and father and get birth/marriage/death dates etc. This was a couple of months ago now, and have heard nothing!I enclosed a SAE and I offered to give him a copy of the family tree once I had finished it.
As Jaki said, its his loss, but its still very annoying!
I have also (within the last few days) come across a possible cousin of my grandmothers (she didn't know who her parents were and was brought up by who she believed to be her Aunt and Grandparents).
I purchased a book on the village where she grew up, and was surprised to see a photo of my grandmothers 'Grandparents', one that she had treasured all her life, and that I now have in my family history album! I also found out that another 'Aunt' had married the villiage blacksmith, Arthur Davis.
I e-mailed the author of the book, just on the off chance that she might remember who gave her the photo. She e-mailed me back last weekend to say that she didn't remember who gave her the photo, but she knew that Arthur Davis' son and grandson still lived in the village!
All I have to do now is pluck up the courage and drop them a line!
Rebecca
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« Last Edit: Wednesday 02 February 05 13:25 UTC (UK) by Chui »
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 Morgan - Herefordshire, Worcestershire * Bullock - Worcestershire * Taylor - Gloucestershire, Worcestershire * Peverill/all/ell - Middlesex, Brighton, Essex * Knee - Gloucestershire, London area * Brenan - Any area * Steele - Dorset Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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Geoff
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 643
TV, great add for Radio
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Out of about 50 leters sent through the post I have received two replies.
One of these led to a connection with one of my lines.
However, I have received a reply from just about every e-mail i have ever sent in the quest for family history.
This is regardless of a connection or not.
This method has also led to a constant criss cross of communicating with rellies I never knew I had.
Cheers
Geoff
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** Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk ** Somerset:MASTERS, HACKETT,HINTON,WEEKS, BOULTON,WRENTMORE/WRINTMORE Perthshire:CRICHTON,TAYLOR,MOON,IRONS,KIDD Durham:FENWICK,PUNSHON,EDDY,STEVENSON,HENRY Northumberland: BUCHANAN, HODGSON Lincolnshire:MASKEY, BIRD, FISHER, HARLEY, Cambridge:CROSS,FOREMAN,FREEMAN,ONG,SCOTT,FEAST,MOXON Gloucestershire,HILL,COX,NEWELL Sussex:CHAPMAN,STEVENS,DOWNER Surrey:NEWELL, LENEY, WEBB |
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JAP
RootsChat Leaver
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 5079
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My Australian friend was bumbling around a Swiss village looking for connexions to her ancestors who had gone from there to a distant part of Europe centuries earlier before finally coming here to Ozl No, no, no was the constant and consistent reply. Until at one house, just as they were leaving having failed yet again, the lady of the house had second thoughts and called after them that a chap who was up a ladder fixing the electiricity wires out in the street had been around quite a while - yes, you can guess the outcome ...
Keep trying - and trying - and trying,
Judy
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mickgall
RootsChat Senior
Posts: 334
Albert Gall 1897-1951
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Hi all
I always wonder what I should say in the first few sentences in a letter to sort of break the ice. Anyone got any ideas?
I presume Wotcha Cousin is a bit informal 
Mick
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Census Information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk GALL-Norfolk,Cardiff,LondonTHOMAS-London,Herts, PRIOR-N.Ireland,WOODS-N.Ieland, DAWKES-Warks,DAVIS-Warkes'Wales, JENNINGS-Surrey,Warks,London,SHELDRAKE-Essex,London, BRITTON-Berks,BLAKELEY-Dewsbury W.Yorks |
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possum_pie
RootsChat Member
Posts: 128
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I've contacted lots of distant rellies through www.genesreunited.co.uk and most of them have been really helpful! Dug up a cousin of my mothers she didn't even know existed - given up for adoption!! Also contacted a third cousin of my partners through the same site who was really shocked to hear of him as he was linked via an affair a resulting illegitimacy!!
Most disappointing was contact with a third cousin of mine who swore to get back in touch with me and clearly had info I really needed but never got back to me. Not sure people understand until they get 'the treeing bug' how important these tiny pieces of info are to us!!
Also sent some letters to potential relatives but disappointingly got no response at all - even a 'get knotted' would have been nice.
Possum_pie
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WADE, WALSHAW, CAFFREY, HALEY, HEALEY, TYAS, CROPPER, REDFORD, MCCOLL, FRASER, FRAZER
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DebbieDee
RootsChat Veteran
Posts: 704
Hepzibah Annie Burge 1887-1969
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Like many of you, I didn't take this up as a serious hobby until I had access to the internet. The funny thing is one of my initial motivations was to find out about my Nan's family as they had such an interesting surname: Assender. I was also very proud of this Welsh heritage, my Dad having been born in the Assender family home in Abertillery.
Well practically the first thing I did was google 'Assender', came up with a New Zealand family historysite and sent an email to someone researching the same name. It turned out he was in Wales! He had originally gone through the phonebook and written to people with the same name and found someone straightaway who had already researched the family right back to 1600s 
This chap and I are descended from two brothers in the mid 19th century so not that distantly related. He sent me a copy of the tree and while very grateful for all the hard work saved, I was gutted 
The family had wandered over to Wales from Birmingham via Herefordshire in the fairly recent past
So all my 'Welsh blood' gone out the window from one email!! Oh well..
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Price, Morgans: BRE; Assender: HEF & MON; Assinder, Brooks, Greatrex: WAR; Brister, Brown, Burge, Coles, Corfield, Curry, Edmonds, Hooper, Hurst, Jones, Lapthorne, North, Pratlett, Snook, Stabbins, Stevens, Taylor, Twose : SOM; Clapp: DEV; Close, Dones, Jobbins, Phelps: GLS; Rees: GLA & MON; Rendall : DEV & SOM Dunning, Durrant, Tyne: LON Weston-super-Mare FHS http://www.wsmfhs.org.uk/Any lookups are Crown Copyright www.nationalarchives.gov.uk |
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Pages: 1 [2] 3
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maybe he isn't one for digging up the past. 
