What are you really looking for in your family history search?

[Macushla]

Hello, all.

This question has been running around my head for a while now. It's similar to the very enlightening 'Why are the dead so interesting?' threadhttp://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=789138.0 thread started by coombs, but with a different slant.

Part of my drive in learning about my family is to try to make sense of who I am and how I am. I'm interested in seeing if I can find similar people to me, to explain where some of my personality traits have come from, if I have shared interests or talents, perhaps, with my ancestors.

I have always felt a little different from most of my family and I have often wondered where and how I fit in. I wonder if I might find a sense of place from my research, perhaps visit an area previously unknown and feel a sense of home, or belonging.

Like many have mentioned in coombs's thread, studying family history opens up so much in terms of history, geography, medical history and other areas, but I'm speaking of more personal things here, I guess.

I think that this drives my interest in doing the DNA testing, too. There must be Italian lineage somewhere! I've been obsessed with Italy since very little. Perhaps I saw Three Coins in a Fountain at a very impressionable age!

I'd love to know what others feel about this. Are you looking for something, as well as someone?

[pinefamily]

I can't say that I am consciously looking for something; I started out in family history research inspired by Alex Haley's Roots. However, I will say I do get excited to find quite a few ancestors that seemed to be of a similar world view to myself. Previously, I had thought that the reason I, and a lot of my paternal side, had a certain world view was from our fathers and grandfather. There seems to be quite a few ancestors that dared to question the status quo.

[StanleysChesterton]

I started out to find my maternal grandfather; I've got his entire family tree back a couple of hundred years, but for him I've still not found a death (common name, no clue as to location/year) .... and from there I kept filling in everybody in my maternal tree .... hoping to find "somebody interesting, somebody unusual, something well documented" - which I've not found to date.  So I've a massive set of trees stretching back 200+ years, high and wide.... and not a lot more than birth/marriage/deaths and a few smatterings of minor court cases.

My elusive grandfather's tree has thrown up the most unusual items though, found from court reports.  His wife wanted a separation for cruelty, she then went on to present herself as a widow and was dragged into court for bigamy, which provided me with the proof/evidence of the story I'd grown up with that he'd gone abroad.  A recent new newspaper gave a tiny bit more detail, which is that he ran away as people were after him for money - and the final straw on that camel's back dovetails with my granny taking him to court for maintenance and then a month later back in court for him not having paid ....

Court cases are the usual minor poaching, riding bikes without lights and not sending a couple of kids to school in the main.

On my paternal side there's my GG-gf who abandoned his wife/child to the workhouse and ran off with his fancy bit ... and was then arrested and put into jail.  I'm part of the downline of him and the fancy bit.

I just like those glimpses into their lives you find in the newspapers.  Like my GGG-gf who was a tailor, said he'd make a suit for somebody and ran off with the material provided, saying it was a joke/prank - and you think "what on earth was that all about??". 

I'm still hoping to discover a link to somebody "very interesting", or "very well documented", but nothing so far.

[River Tyne Lass]

This is a very good question.

I want to find out about the stories connected with my ancestors.  I think it is the background stories which really bring these people to life.  My ancestors appeared in the newspapers a lot so fortunately I now feel I know some of them as well as present day relatives.

I also want to try to discover the metaphorical roads that led from where they were to where I/we are in the Family today.

Incidently, I read once that if you like or dislike coriander this is mapped somewhere in your DNA.

One of my favourite games as a child was to pretend I was a gypsy travelling in a caravan.  Coincidentally, I have found going back a few generations  my ancestors on one branch were Irish travellers. 

[KGarrad]

Both my grandfathers died before I was born.
So I am simply looking for ancestors; in order to find out "who I am".

There are few living relatives - the only nieces I have are my brother's.
No cousins.
Aunt and Uncle died without issue.

[Mart 'n' Al]

When my grandmother died in 1967, when I was about 10 years old I discovered that her late husband had the middle name Sedcole. It fascinated me for many years. 3 years ago I met somebody who was doing a lot of research into her family. I thought I'd give it a try, and mentioned the name of my grandparents on my website. Several months later somebody contacted me from the other side of the world, telling me that they were her grandparents as well. It turned out that the lady who I thought was my aunt was actually my grandmother and the lady I thought was my grandmother was my great grandmother and on finding this out I just got totally engrossed to see what other skeletons were in the cupboard. It now seems obvious that in 1928 a young girl got married, gave birth less than 9 months later, her mother brought up the Child Who Was My Father and instead of being a bit more careful about future pregnancies she had two more, in the next ten years which the family never ever knew about until the internet gave access to all these records. It was just so addictive. Plus I love history.

Martin

[radstockjeff]

The internet has opened up so many new avenues for exploring the family history.
My own family were from Stalbridge Dorset (paternal) and even more locally, Clutton  Somerset (maternal). So I am still living in my "loca" area(l). Looking at my OH background she knew about her South Shields and Sunderland connections but not that the journey there had taken her ancestors from Norfolk and East Yorkshire.
The mid nineteenth century must have been a time of massive movements particularly from the agricultural East Anglia to the areas where work was much more plentiful.
It is the question of family mobility which I find so fascinating. That only recently on one of our trips to Oz I met a cousin (now 94 yrs old), born there because her father needed a warmer climate because of health problems back in the early 1920s.
It is the challenge of the chase, seeking to overthrow the brick walls which makes the chase that much more interesting, rather than adding up the number of rellies you can gather in the process.

[BillyF]

My interest started with not knowing anything about my paternal grandparents, even after 20 odd years still haven`t found anyyone other than upto gt grandparent.The problem is common names and so far nothing found in parish records.

However, my maternal line is more easily found. The interesting ones are my Scottish roots. My gt grandmother was born in Peebleshire and my gt grandfather in Berwickshire. Her family were weavers and his were ag lab. Tracking their movements across the Borders in the 1800s as both families moved for work, hardly ever in the same place for each census I have been able to pin down how they both arrived in the same town and got married.
Both my gt grandfather and " his " father left their wives, both wives were left in poverty but thankfully their children cared for them.

[iluleah]

Yes I think much the same way, who am I, who do I take after, where do I fit in.
An only child, my father died when I was young and he was an only child, his father died when I was 5yrs old and his mother I never knew ( she died when my dad was 4yrs old) my mother has one brother and I have 2 cousins ( who I am not like at all).

When I started to research my mothers comment was 'let sleeping dogs lie' would tell me nothing and refused to allow me to see any records she already had and just said 'she didn't know' regardless of any question I asked.
My grandmother was the only one who ( I thought) would answer questions and help me. I now know she told me many 'untruths' which she would have known were untruths. I never 'felt' connected to any of them.

So I did begin to wonder before I researched if I was adopted, but I am clearly by looks my parents child.

One thing my mother always took credit for each and every time was if I was ever praised such as in art class at school or someone saw me make something or if I entered/won a competition...it was ALWAYS, genetically acquired from her and maybe it was as she is a competent artist, embroider and outstanding gardener.

As a professional textile designer/maker for many years even that I was never allowed to take any credit for, it was because of her she told me and everyone..... only to later find my paternal grandmother was a well known professional and highly talented tailor and many of her side of the family going back were incredibly talented people whose businesses produced textile related goods and/or were artistic...from an architect who designed the city town hall and fountains as well as many beautiful London buildings still standing today.
Funny as I used to sit daily to eat my lunch at that same fountain totally unaware it had anything at all to do with 'my family' and it was the starting point and focus for my art dissertation on 'street furniture' well before I researched....to a saddler who built his business and name, made some fabulous saddles, still today these are highly sort after, top quality material, stitching and design, again I never knew and saved up for over a year to purchase one and the paternal family is full of glove makers, lace makers, weavers/FWK and shoe makers...... even when I shopped as a teenager for shoes in the local High St, I never realised that I was purchasing from shops set up by direct ancestors and some of those same businesses are still operating today....... so I know now I have a rich paternal ancestry of true professional craft people.........

Oh and my mother still doesn't know and continues to blow her own trumpet about how my 'talent' comes from her