Why are the dead so interesting?

[Rena]

Whip that crack away.

Suggest you give some mortar to that mason who'll fix that crack for you 

[Flattybasher9]

It was a mortar which caused the crack in the first place 

Malky

[coombs]

And it is surprising how we underestimate how people moved around. Of course not as much as today but often our ancestors did move around, they went where the work was. If you find for instance a Lancashire surname in 1700s Suffolk then it may mean they moved there. Maybe a Lancs soldier was in the army, left and settled in Suffolk, or was a fisherman on the Suffolk coast and settled there. Or they were the son or grandson/daughter of a vicar who was transferred to Suffolk.

Definitely some names give a clue - my 18th century family soldier brought a bride with a southern given name back up north with him.   I'd like to extend on your thoughts coombs but this time on movement of single girls.  It's on such puzzling occasions that I mentally thank my primary school teacher for persisting in teaching us youngsters how to work out and solve those awful maths "Problems".  It's understandable that men moved around but how and why would a young working girl move away from home. I use the surroundings such as those described on Genuki for clues.  I have one such girl married in London away from her family in Yorkshire in the late 1700s but dead before the first census.  The answer was that she worked in the "big house" for the local estate owner and travelled down to London with the rest of the household whenever the master & mistress moved between their houses.On one occasion she met & married a 'servant' coachman.  I've found other young girls moved away from their home town across county borders and discovered that there was usually a familial connection that caused  their movement, such as an extended family member with a different surname had recommended a teaching job, or a domestic servant position.

In 1765 my ancestor William Inkpen married in Oxford city. He was a servant of St Peter In The East. Prior to 1765 there has been no known occurrence of the surname Inkpen in Oxfordshire and most were from Dorset or Sussex/Kent. He died in 1769, no age given in his burial but he was said to be "over 21" when he married in 1765. Wed by licence. Witnesses were from the wife's side. I have a feeling William was not from Oxfordshire.

In 1759 my husbandman ancestor William Balaam wed Sarah Muncaster in Weeley, Essex. Muncaster is certainly not an Essex name. it is found up North mainly. Again she could have been a servant whose boss had property in Essex and she settled there and left service once she wed.

[BumbleB]

I've said this before - apologies! 

I was told many years ago, that gentry, landowners, etc. deliberately engaged staff from outside the local area - in that way, the staff could not "go home to Mum" if things got a bit tough! 

[pharmaT]

My ancestors came together to make me who I am today.  I partly got started researching my tree to try and find out If I belonged anywhere. I grew up being told I was an interlouper and not welcome.  I became addicted.  It's partly the thrill of the hunt for information, it's fascinating discovering how historical events influenced my ancestors lives and how (sometimes) they were involved in historical events.

I have made friends through researching my family history do it is not to the exclusion of the living.

[marcie dean]

my grans sister answered a post to become a bride in the Yukon where they were mining for gold.
she married the man but was not happy, a shortage of women placed her in geat jeopardy both her husband and his brother were fighting over her, eventually she had had enough, so she contacted the red cross to take her back home, by this time she was pregnant again,  one in her arms not yet a year old and the other was 2-3 yrs old.
she managed to get everyone packed up and sneaked away one early morning to meet the red cross person who took her and her children to the boat to bring them home,
what she did not know was that she had hidden, a gold nugget in her babies shawl, but so had her eldest daughter hidden a nugget in amongst her own clothes and in the babies clothes.
 when they returned she was able to buy a house, just close to the hill that goes up to the house with the large gardeb thats open to the public whose name i cant remember, she lived there for years, my mums cousins names were Genevieve, Virginia and David.she was a manageress for poole pottery in the shop they had in Poole.

[marcie dean]

virginia became an architect Genevieve became a fun loving girl who popped out of a cake in an inaugural party of a mayor of poole's party. dont know about david

[andrewalston]

I think they are interesting because so many of them did things which we never could.

Some made their living by sheer physical work. Some had trades which have died out. Some moved to completely different countries. Others never left their small village. Some even did naughty things.

All things "different" are more interesting. If you work in a supermarket you are not likely to be interested in how other supermarket workers live their lives - you already know. Far more interesting to find out about someone who joined the army and fought in a battle, or went to India and became a tea planter.

[coombs]

Well as I may have a lead on James Smith I wonder if there is some truth in the family story of Irish ancestors, maybe via London then to Oxford. Family stories can be passed down through several generations.