RootsChat.Com
Beginners => How to Use RootsChat (Please don't post requests here) => Topic started by: Berlin-Bob on Saturday 25 March 06 07:40 GMT (UK)
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Searching for living relatives and Rootschat
Rootschat is a forum where we can all learn and help each other understand the many different resources to trace our family trees.
In general we work backwards from ourselves to the past and most of us can get back a hundred years just by speaking to our families.
Not everyone is so fortunate and every user of Rootschat will understand how hard it is to get started when you do not know your near family. We all empathise with the difficulties and emotions searching for your family can bring.
With this type of research we have to be especially careful for a number of reasons.
Firstly, anything posted on the internet is in the public domain. Anybody can see this information - including unscrupulous types. To protect people and their identities we do not encourage the posting of information about people who are or maybe still living.
Even with permission from the subject of a post we would seriously advise against giving too much information as to betray their identity.
The Rootschat moderators reserve the right to delete or edit posts that we believe may contain information that could be misused to the detriment of the subject.
Secondly, if information is given about living people or of the recently deceased and this is found by them or their close relatives there is a risk of upset and trauma.
So please be prudent in the information you post.
There are many ways to trace living relatives using publicly available telephone directories, "friends" websites (e.g. alumni sites, school sites etc), local newspapers and electoral registers.
If you are searching for long lost relatives it is recommended to use a support service who are trained intermediaries.
One such service provided in the UK is by the Salvation Army.
LINK: Salvation Army Tracing Service (http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-dynamic-arrays/79FF668A8768F77480256F19005BE0C0?opendocument)
LINK: Tracing birth parents (http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/uki/www_uki.nsf/vw-dynamic-index/29ACA212069AFC2780256F5D00571BD2?Opendocument)
We wish you the best of luck in your searches.
The RootsChat Team
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[...] another site set up for tracing people in the U.K. is www.missing-you.net
Bodger, Co. Cavan
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Hi,
I feel I would like to add a comment here as this has recently happened in my family. Three relatives have recently been contacted from someone researching our family, a cousin four times removed that none of us knew about. This person asked some very upsetting questions regarding recently deceased people and I was asked to reply to them as I am the one interested in the family tree. Only problem was that more questions were asked of me with regard to living relatives details despite my having told them that other relatives did not want involving. After much discussion it transpired that my brothers mother-in-law has posted details of my family, my parents and grandparents without our consent on a website. It was from this that the would be researcher tracked us down.
Heather
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A further recommendation from Rootschat user Wynn Rawson
I wanted to find my cousin, I knew her married name and had an idea where she lived so I looked up www.ukphonebook.com found four people of the same name, I wrote a letter to all of them and back came my cousins reply.
The letter was full of family details and photos.
I am in Australia and that was done in 14 days.
Note: appears to be free. Registration required.
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There are a number of useful ideas and links for tracing living persons on the British Library website:
http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/offpubs/electreg/traceliv/tracinglivingpeople.pdf
Casalguidi
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The Salvation Army can help you find your relative :)
http://www1.salvationarmy.org.uk/familytracing
You can also use the 192.com website to look at Electoral Registers.
http://www.192.com/search/people.cfm
The DFES website gives information too.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Hl1/Help/DG_10020545
Best of luck.