Welcome to rootschat!
What about trying the British Newspaper Archive? I’ve found all sorts of interesting things by searching for my ancestors names (appearances in court/appearances on stage/sad family events/local politics/suicide/victims of crimes etc). I would also look at researching occupations and places where ancestors lived. I would recommend these websites for some inspiration.
http://www.partletontree.com/InTheirShoes.htm
http://auntiemabel.org/blog/
With regard to the dna testing have you done anything with your results? I would start grouping the higher matches so you can start to narrow down where the illegitimate matches come in. I started looking at my Dad’s results in May and have been able to find out that his Great Grandfather had two illegitimate children before he got married.
Thanks Meelystar. That sounds good. I wanted to prioritise this broken link I have but sometimes it can get a bit daunting so having the 'fun' side of it to fall back on is handy too.
That story is unbelievable! The family story re my Grandad Ernest Parker (who was born illegitimately) was that his mother (Asenath) spent time working at Shugborough Hall which was owned and operated by the Bishops of Lichfield and that there was a potential link to Ernest and the upper-echelons at Shugborough, however nothing has confirmed that yet.
In addition, with regard to DNA, if you are hoping to find connections with whom you share DNA from a few generations back, you will need to have a wider tree - ie you need to follow through the siblings of your ancestors, together with their children through to the modern day.
I write from experience - when I did my DNA, I expected to find familiar names within the trees of my DNA matches. And that has proved, even with those who have large trees, not to be the case.
In nearly every case I've had to do more broadening research to find where the links actually are.
But I also agree with Meelystar that there is great enjoyment to be had from following up the social history (street and area names, occupations, newspaper reports) associated with your ancestors.
I did quite a bit of research around cholera in the 1840's in London which affected some of my ancestors in South London. And typhoid also hit my family much later in Maidstone. Let alone TB whose prevalence led to my mother's frequent trips to the country from East London as a 'deserving' child to help her health with fresh country air.
Added - and if you're fed up with 'your lot' and need a rest, why not read through some of the threads here and join the investigators helping other people. That's good fun!!
Welcome to Rootschatters!
That's great advice re building the tree. I have 689 people in the tree which I thought was a lot but I'm seeing others with 7000+ so I have a long way to go yet. Broadening research sounds like the way to go.
It would be great to help others as well so I'll get involved - thanks both.