PDA

View Full Version : Family Tree/History........


butterflymum
09-01-2005, 12:35 PM
....I'm addicted to this hobby (hence reason for not being on site much over past few months) ;) .

Have dabbled in it for over a year or so but it all took off a few months back when I had a run of good success (my interest being triggered again by hubby interrupting me on computer one night to say he was watching a really good programme on BBC2 about Family Trees of celebrities....Who Do You Think You Are?....and just wondered what I had found on our own trees of late...needless to say I too started sitting in front of TV every Tuesday at 9pm to watch same) and my tree/history started expanding fairly rapidly. It is a fascinating pastime and involves a great deal of 'detective' work which appeals to me and adds to the enjoyment. There can be periods where you find out little then other times when you get so much it is hard to keep up with. The history side of it all especially interests me and I love trying to track down info about places our ancestors lived, living/working conditions etc. At the moment, I am in the process of gathering old photos and trying to tie them into my research and eventually copy and edit parts of them for use in the family website I am (slowly) putting together (I also enjoy photography, so this is an added bonus that I can combine it with this hobby). Some people concentrate on one family name only, but I am trying my best to cover maternal/paternal sides of mine and hubby's families, so there are loads of branches and even more twigs (at moment I have over 250 names and 70 surnames...with loads more still to find/add.......oldest so far goes back to late 1600's)! It is also great making contac with others also researching names in your tree as they are often able to share info and vice/versa (not to mention, of course, they are usually a distant cousin or other relative that you have previously not known or lost contact with....my best connection to-date has been with a lovely woman in Switzerland who shares a great,great, grandfather with me and we have since been keeping in touch by email).

So, that's a bit about my hobby (albeit a very small bit).

Look forward to hearing about everyone else's hobbies/crafts on other posts (and would love to know how you keep them going as well as spending so much time on computer...lol).

:D

Ravenfire
09-01-2005, 01:02 PM
My hubby is also addicted to it since watching the same programme..lol. He's done really well so far tracing back his family and I keep thinking I must sit down sometime and try and do mine!

Netty
09-01-2005, 02:08 PM
My FIL has done a lot of work on their family tree and has now started on my side!

May not be of much use to you, Butterfly, but for England and Wales this site can be of help

Freebmd (http://www.freebmd.org.uk/)

Does anyone else know of good sites?

Girlzmum
09-01-2005, 07:18 PM
My dh traced his family tree back to his great, great, great grandfather as a school project and really enjoyed it. He has tried to get me to do it as well but... well my family all seemed to start having kids fairly young and then live to a ripe age so I know a lot about my family anyway (my great granny died 5 years ago, she had 4 great great grandchildren!). That and the fact that, because of the problems here, there is some history that's better left buried iykwim, so keep having to tell him to leave it alone!

jimblies
09-01-2005, 09:13 PM
I've been using genes reunited - from the makers of friends reunited!! I've been doing a bit at a time - just waiting for mum to get back to me with the bits Dad did before he died. I know my husbands fathers tree has been done quite far back - will get a copy some day!

mariesmummy
12-01-2005, 07:59 PM
DH's family have traced their tree back and the surname has evolved quite abit - they started off in the middle east and ended up on the opposite side of greece (kefalonia, where my FIL lives), and then africa, austrialia etc.

DH's brothers live in Greece, england, scotland and currently canada.


MIL was born in south africa, so she has relatives all over africe, australia and far east.

My family spread as far as norfolk lol.

kat
12-01-2005, 08:20 PM
I'd love to know my family tree think someone on my mums side of the family has got quite far researching that but id love to know my dad's side too.

Im sure some of my distant relatives are from italy or somewhere like that be cool to know.

lisa1980
14-01-2005, 11:40 AM
id love to do this my mums side of the family come from scotland so id lile to know more about that i always imagine im related to some royal or someone who made a fourtune i dont know about i can dream lol!! :D

Ninsi
25-06-2005, 11:56 AM
I'd love to trace my family tree, but it's a bit hard, as it is partly from france and I'm not good at speaking or reading french. Or at tracing familytrees in general ;)

angelicauk
22-02-2007, 08:55 PM
I've been tracing my family tree for a few years now and its been made so much easier since the internet came along!!

I have found out that I have ancestors from Scotland but mainly my relatives are from London, Essex or Surrey. Not a very adventurous lot when it came to travelling!!

I mainly used the genesreunited and Ancestry websites to help me and fortunately for me, my ancestors lived in the same houses for years so it was easier for me to find them on the census returns. I haven't researched everyone in my tree, mainly my grandparents, great grandparents, gg grandparents etc but I am still struggling to find details of my g grandmother's birth even though I know where she was born roughly and her parents names! Maybe they never registered her birth?!

So far I have 798 people in my tree and 147 surnames but I am sure there are lots more that I need to add!!

This is certainly an addictive hobby and its great when you find someone who is related to you who can share their info with you.

Happy hunting if you are doing your research!

x