Author Topic: World's biggest family tree?  (Read 9930 times)

Offline StanleysChesterton

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #18 on: Tuesday 08 September 15 16:27 BST (UK) »
I have one fully researched tree 'gifted' to my by an aunt - containing hundreds/thousands - each personally researched, parish records consulted, everywhere visited in person, over 30 years.  Most of it inaccessible to anybody who wasn't local and in two languages/three countries.  It goes back to the 1300/1400s.  Proper job.

Mine, that I've done "for free" contains about 150 people.  But I'm 100% sure that 99% of it is spot on. But that just contains those I could find, not those I had to really 'research' as such.  Oldest ones in there were born in about 1790-1800.  Lazy bones effort :)

I'm stuck at finding out where these people who just "turned up and got married one day" came from, without father's names in PRs there's no clue.  I went through an entire PR this morning, trying to tie them all together to try to nail any connection between anybody with the same name .... and ended up with a big chart of people who "just died there, without any other note", or "just married there, without any other note".  My family are the main backbone of that parish record - having married there, they stayed and produced children there, who were baptised (allbeit with 3 spellings of their last name) and kept marrying/living there.... but where the first couple materialised from is still a mystery to be uncovered.

The tree goes back to my GGG-grandparents.  At that point the man's upline stops.  The female upline is still traceable back some more generations (quite easily).

So, overall, I grind to a halt about 1800 in most branches.

I'm sure when I do work it out I'll discover he's the son of William ..... because everybody else seems to be called William, or have married William ..... and called their sons William....
Related to: Lots of people!
:)
Mostly Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, some Kent and Dorset.
 
Elizabeth Long/Elizabeth Wilson/Elizabeth Long Wilson, b 1889 Caxton - where are you?
- -
Seeking: death year/location of Albert Edward Morgan, born Cambridge 1885/86 to Hannah & Edward Morgan of 33 Cambridge Place.
WW1 soldier, service number 8624, 2nd battalion, Highland Light Infantry.

Offline Janelle

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #19 on: Saturday 01 July 17 14:25 BST (UK) »
"Size isn't everything"!
But I think it must be ...
Today I found a tree on anc* with 70,712 people  :o

Amazing ... staggering

https://www.ancestry.com.au/connect/Profile/00cecb74-0001-0000-0000-000000000000

92,866 records
45,770 records

With a Smith pedigree reaching back to Thomas Smith Lord of Wellbourne d about 1541 Fenton Lincolnshire.  ::)

The family in common with my research had 11 children living in 1911, the Godwins in Islington.  ;D


Offline Chilternbirder

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #20 on: Saturday 01 July 17 15:50 BST (UK) »
I never counted mine!
Same here. I put in all children of marriages and their own spouses where identifiable. That did tell me that my grandfather and his sister married siblings. So far I haven't found any inter-marriage and I have hit brick walls with just about every line now. Most lines stick in the late 18th century. I may be able to take one or two further back but it will mean old school searching at multiple record offices with no guarantee of results.

Recently I have been working on SWMBOs trees but again things stick in the 18th century. As farmers rather than labourers I could get one line back an extra generation but that was all. I have established that we have no common ancestors from the last 200 years.

Tracing collateral lines can be valuable. I only found reliable information on one ggg grandfather (died pre 1841) as his widow eventually moved out of the area to live with her daughter and son-in-law. If I hadn't had his surname in the tree I couldn't have matched the Scottish death certificate including his details to her.
Crabb from Laurencekirk / Fordoun and Scurry from mid Essex

Offline Janelle

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #21 on: Sunday 02 July 17 10:05 BST (UK) »
"Size isn't everything"!
But I think it must be ...
Today I found a tree on anc* with 70,712 people  :o

Amazing ... staggering
>>>

92,866 records
45,770 records
>>>

The family in common with my research had 11 children living in 1911, the Godwins in Islington.  ;D
And guess what ... drum roll ...
This tree has got my Godwin gal WRONG  ;D

Best ever  8)


Offline ThrelfallYorky

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #22 on: Sunday 02 July 17 17:39 BST (UK) »
How surprising!
Threlfall (Southport), Isherwood (lancs & Canada), Newbould + Topliss(Derby), Keating & Cummins (Ireland + lancs), Fisher, Strong& Casson (all Cumberland) & Downie & Bowie, Linlithgow area Scotland . Also interested in Leigh& Burrows,(Lancashire) Griffiths (Shropshire & lancs), Leaver (Lancs/Yorks) & Anderson(Cumberland and very elusive)

Offline StevieSteve

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #23 on: Sunday 02 July 17 19:38 BST (UK) »

And guess what ... drum roll ...
This tree has got my Godwin gal WRONG  ;D



Or you have?
Middlesex: KING,  MUMFORD, COOK, ROUSE, GOODALL, BROWN
Oxford: MATTHEWS, MOSS
Kent: SPOONER, THOMAS, KILLICK, COLLINS
Cambs: PRIGG, LEACH
Hants: FOSTER
Montgomery: BREES
Surrey: REEVE

Offline Aulus

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #24 on: Sunday 09 July 17 21:35 BST (UK) »
It was many years ago that I'd realised that I'd gone about as far back as I'm ever likely to go with my direct ancestors, either because they're back to the late 16th century or have fizzled out in the late 18th/early 19th centuries due to such common names, and moving around the country.

So - not wishing to give up the joy of the chase! - for almost the past 10 years, I've been following the descendants of my direct ancestors' siblings, ending up mainly with 3rd, 4th, 5th, though with better documented - which usually means better off - families that have gripped my interest, even as far as 10th cousins.  It amuses me in my sad little existence that I can remind my 2nd cousin on my dad's side, who lives in Wimborne, that on my mum's side, I'm related to Lord Wimborne. :) 

The upshot of this is that my tree currently has over 17500 individuals in it.  All properly resourced and sourced.

One upshot of this, is making contact with 3rd, 4th, 5th cousins (mainly through Ancestry), who can then fill in more details about common ancestors, as many I've come across have been better record keepers and photograph keepers than my direct lines.  Sometimes, it's also helped fill in those odd snippets of confused memory retailed by grandparents ("one of them went to Australia" sort of thing).
Lancashire: Stevenson, Wild, Holden, Jepson
Worcs/Staffs: Steventon, Smith
East London & Suffolk: Guest, Scrutton
East London: Palfreman (prev Tyneside), Bissell, Collis, Dearlove, Ettridge
Herts: Camac, Collis, Mason, Dorrington, Siggens
Marylebone & Sussex: Cole
London & Huntingdonshire: Freeman
Bowland: Marsden, Noble
Shropshire: Guest

Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Offline Josephine

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #25 on: Wednesday 12 July 17 15:17 BST (UK) »
Recently I have been working on SWMBOs trees but again things stick in the 18th century.

A glimpse into the mind of a genealogy geek: I'm trying to work out what SWMBOs means and my best bet is son's wife's mother's brother's others.

 ;D ;D ;D

(Okay, now I'll Google it, and find out what it really stands for.)

Regards,
Josephine
England: Barnett; Beaumont; Christy; George; Holland; Parker; Pope; Salisbury
Scotland: Currie; Curror; Dobson; Muir; Oliver; Pryde; Turnbull; Wilson
Ireland: Carson; Colbert; Coy; Craig; McGlinchey; Riley; Rooney; Trotter; Waters/Watters

Offline Aulus

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Re: World's biggest family tree?
« Reply #26 on: Wednesday 12 July 17 15:21 BST (UK) »
Recently I have been working on SWMBOs trees but again things stick in the 18th century.

A glimpse into the mind of a genealogy geek: I'm trying to work out what SWMBOs means and my best bet is son's wife's mother's brother's others.

 ;D ;D ;D

(Okay, now I'll Google it, and find out what it really stands for.)

Regards,
Josephine
Clue: think "Rumpole"
Lancashire: Stevenson, Wild, Holden, Jepson
Worcs/Staffs: Steventon, Smith
East London & Suffolk: Guest, Scrutton
East London: Palfreman (prev Tyneside), Bissell, Collis, Dearlove, Ettridge
Herts: Camac, Collis, Mason, Dorrington, Siggens
Marylebone & Sussex: Cole
London & Huntingdonshire: Freeman
Bowland: Marsden, Noble
Shropshire: Guest

Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk