what made you search for your roots?

[Jo New]

what made you decide you wanted to trace your family tree?

mine was that my in laws handed me a family tree that someone unknown to them had sent them through the post, that was the day i got the bug and decided to research on my side ( and a bit more of theres)

joanne

[Amy K]

I think the fact that I like mysteries and puzzles and am a bit nosy might have had soemthing to do with it!!

I liked doing the standard "family tree" drawings when I was little, and curiosity just got the better of me I suppose...

[Matty]

Hi Joanne, 

Years ago my then nine year old daughter had a lot of information given to her by my Mother-in-law.  The interest in the "family" died a death (excuse the pun) until my Daughter-in-law asked me to trace the family as it is"my boys inheritance".  So I can only blame my daughter & daughter-in-law. Now I bore people to death on the subject.

[Patches]

Hi

Mine started with my daughters (age 10) school homework which lead me to contact my uncle to get copies of the tree he had started, when the homework got handed in I carried on with my own 'little' project.

I also wanted to be able to get something off the internet that was of some use, its ok downloading silly games but I actually wanted to get something that was more meaningful.   It also gave me a good excuse to get the internet at home rather that borrow others. 

'Doing' my tree on pc also means that my pc is more than just a expensive games console, much to my daughters annoyance, although she did say the other day that the more dead people I find the less she'll have to look for later when she's old, I think detected a  hint of relief in her voice when she said it. 

Patches



 

[Grandad james]

My Interest started when I discovered , after having been married for more than several years, that my wife's Grandmother had been born in New York .USA.
and that her biological (Political correct) Grandfather was an Australian Soldier over in UK for WW1. They did not marry . So again my Mother in law is ...no I am not going to go there. 

The urge to research seriously came  when Sister in Law ( the favourite daughter) said " We dont talk about them and anyway you will never find out anything anyway"

We all know about family dynamics and she gets most upset when I drop the fact that "cousin" Jane in NSW has just written again....and.. A very kind lady in New York has just sent the full report on Great grandads death in a fire at work... the reason family came back to UK,including the reports in NY Times. Oh and we have grannies birth cert from New York.

I find it all so fascinating ,the research a challenge , and I am glad I decided to start.

Now all I want are some 72 hour days....

Gj

[BarryBear]

Good question Joanne.
For me it started when I looked at Friends Reunited and saw the link to Genes Connected/Reunited. Had a look and thought, it's not much money, It might be a grin
Within a few hours had found a cousin in New Zealand!
I really knew so little about my family. Just my parents names, brothers and sister's names and an Uncle. Found out grandparents names and that was it! Mum died when I was little so never knew much about her side and my Dad's Dad died when he was little and his Mum died before I was born so memories were stretched a lot. Now got a brother and my sister interested and they've added a few leaves to the tree. The cousin in NZ had done a fair bit and I found out about Aunties and Uncles I never had a clue about before. Hit the 400 name mark the other night and only been (disorganisedly) at it since this spring. Met two cousins for the first time this week and the buzz of that is what is gonna keep me going through the 'Walls'. There must be so many of them out there with stories to tell and I wanna find them, even just for a cuppa. Sorry to ramble, back to normal again now

[EmPers]

Grandmother on one side had been doing hers and grandads, and said something about how we should find out all the information from the grandparents on the other side because they no a lot and it would be a shame to waste it. So that got me to research mums side of the family,

[Ticker]

My cousin had researched my mother's side of the family and told me about his progress on a regular basis.  That got me interested.  Having an uncommon name (Tymon) and having ancestors who've lived in the same place as I do now (Scarborough) since 1840 meant I made quite quick progress initially which kept my enthusiasm going.  Having said that it took me nearly 15 years to get back from 1840 to 1790!

[Geoff]

Hi All,

 My interest in my family started with a trip to Tasmania.

I spent 2 days at the penal settlement of Port Arthur & after hearing all the stories about the plight of the convicts in this hell hole,
I was struck with, how did my family come to be in a new country, what were the circumstances that brought them halfway around the world.

A cousin gave me a bit of info for a starting point & it's been a daily hobby ever since.
It has given me contact with rellies all over the world, and thanks to the internet we are in touch constantly.

I know I bore everyone to tears with my findings, but in years to come someone will say, thank you for your persistance.

When I started I also decided to keep a yearly journal. In this I write my observations & thoughts for each day.
I now have 12 of those as well as a tree that contains not only dates & places, but stories of the persons listed.

 It is a disease, isn't it!

Cheers
Geoff