If it was possible to visit one ancestor tomorrow - would it be an easy choice?

[MacGrigor]

Similarly to jaybelnz, I would meet one of my ancestors which I have little information on. Probably in Scotland, as the region my family came from is very remote and records aren't well-kept.

[gaffy]

Wouldn't it be great to be able to do this? 

In many families at certain points down the ages there have been individuals who have become the authority on the family history, guardians of the family lore if you like, maintaining that extensive information in their heads about the family going back many generations... until they die, whereupon large chunks of the unwritten information die with them. 

I don't know who they were in my family, but I would like to choose either my father's or mother's side (I'd toss a coin), go back to the early-mid 1800s, and talk to whoever was that keeper of the family ancestry in that era. Yes, I know that family lore can be inaccurate, but it would still be a fascinating visit.

[MacGrigor]

In a slightly different light, wouldn't it be interesting to observe the courting process between two ancestors - as a 'fly on the wall'? I think this would be extremely interesting. Although obviously many would have been pressured into marriage by parents etc, it'd be nice to see a true love story.

[River Tyne Lass]

Added: Only saw last post after posting this one below.  Yes, I think it would be wonderful to watch a true love story develop.  I once asked my Mother how she came to meet my Father - however, for some reason she went off on a tangent and talked about previous boyfriends instead. I never resumed this topic and now as they are both dead I will never know.  They may have met in a bike club as I know they used to cycle all over together apparently, in the early years, according to family stories. 

I do think this would be great if only it was possible.

It certainly wouldn't be an easy choice for me.  If forced to decide I think I would choose my Great Grandmother to ask about unknown Great Grandfather.  I would also ask her where she went in the years before she married and had more children.  I would also like to know if she ever told this new family the truth and if so did they collude in pretending my Grandmother was her sister and not her daughter.

I am convinced in my own mind that my 2 x Great Grandparents did not commit the murder they were charged with so perhaps it would be a waste to ask them when I believe I already know the answer. 

Oh! if only time travel holidays were possible!  Think of the fun we would all have!

[Flattybasher9]

"Oh! if only time travel holidays were possible!  Think of the fun we would all have!"

and the misery that we would encounter. 

Malky

[ThrelfallYorky]

Most of my direct ancestors on both sides seem to have been fairly boring people, so I think I'd opt for my brickwalls, most of which are (of course) Irish, but I'd love to know the parentage of :Thomas Ross, 1814 (Dumfries area), for at least part of his life a publican ( and NOT a bookbinder, as some trees have him, confused with another lad of the same name) - somewhere between 1871 and 1881), and also
Andrew Keating, a "bread baker" born c 1826 Ireland, who came to England, and died in Fleetwood Lancs in 1933 - he may have even married again after his wife died in Southport, earlier in the century.
Also the Elusive Mr Thomas Cummins, b 1818 probably Wexford, a grocer and licensed victualler, who may have married a Mary Carney/Kierney in Ireland before coming to England, and died in Southport, although I don't know when.
I've chased this trio for years, with little proveable success, and if I could only corner them for an hour or two, over a drink for the first, a bun for the second, and possibly chew a carrot with the third, I might have quite a lot more to go on! And I'd have been fed physically , if not intellectually.
TY

[Siamese Girl]

I'd like to go back to West Bergholt in Essex circa 1600 and just observe/take part in the daily lives of the Gibson family who were all millers and watch them grind corn and full cloth, generally go about  their daily lives and see their interaction with the families they married into - the Potters and Richardsons. It would be a bit like taking part in 'Tudor Monastery Farm' which I'm currently watching again on BBC2. I actually think that they probably had quite good lives.

Carole

[Ayashi]

It would be tempting to go back in time and see if anyone would fess up to knowing who the father of my 2xgt grandfather was, or to ask "Margaret the Widow" what her surname was.

Can you imagine going back and having your ancestor proudly show you their newest baby, or show you their children and see their faces, and you privately thinking "that one dies... that one dies..." or knowing that a year later someone is going to be widowed and destitute?

[MacGrigor]

Another great idea for any descendant of immigrants - like in Back To The Future 3 - would to be to see your first ancestor to be born in your home country, knowing that generations would follow from this one event.