WANTED
A FEW MOMENTS OF YOUR TIME...
LOOK FAMILIAR?
I first posted this way back in 2013..
and so many responses overflowed my inbox
as well as the comments on here
and so many responses overflowed my inbox
as well as the comments on here
and those on individual blogs/pages, etc.
This time, I am adding a couple of items
and changing just a couple of questions.
Working with family historians/genealogists daily,
I see the same questions being asked on a regular basis.
I often wonder what has led this or that person
to researching their ancestry.
I see the same questions being asked on a regular basis.
I often wonder what has led this or that person
to researching their ancestry.
No prizes for answering the questions below...
but it could be of interest to all of us who help others
on a regular basis.
but it could be of interest to all of us who help others
on a regular basis.
You may answer on your own blog,
in the comments section below or on my Facebook
page which will have a link to this blog.
Answer as many or as few as you like.
in the comments section below or on my Facebook
page which will have a link to this blog.
Answer as many or as few as you like.
Please let me know if you answer on your own blog,
so I can keep a list for others to follow... no time limit...
so I can keep a list for others to follow... no time limit...
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What is the most important detail you want to find about your ancestors?
2. Do you buy certificates? Have you taken advantage of the added information available now to be able to get a lot of information for
3. What online sites, free or paid, do you visit most often and how have they helped you?
4. What has been your 'best' find?
5. Who is your favourite ancestor and why?
6. What are you looking for on a regular basis?
7. Do you belong to any genealogy group, or family history society?
8. Do you belong to any Facebook or other social media genealogy groups? Would you join if there was one available?
9. Do you help others, in any way.. offering advice, transcribing, helping at functions, encouraging by leaving comments on blogs, sharing a good post/blog/information...any way at all..?
10. What is your personal reason for being involved with genealogy/family history?
11. Do you attend conferences, seminars, presentations?
- what do you like about them...
- what don't you like..
- what would you like to add/change...
12. How much have you progressed in the last five years...
- re discoveries
- new avenues you've explored
- inspired others to be interested
- had more or less time for family history
- most important, spent time with your family and or friends, old and young.. after all, they are each part of living history.
Thank you to all of you for sharing your thoughts...
Ann-Maree Paynter...
1. What is the most important detail you want to find about your ancestors? I want to know who they are, where they lived and how they lived (as best as we can anyway)
2. Do you buy certificates? Have you taken advantage of the added information available now to be able to get a lot of information for free? Yes if I can't get it for free and I am needing to confirm or rule out something, I'll buy it.
3. What online sites, free or paid, do you visit most often and how have they helped you? ancestry, Qld BDM, Vic BDM, Scotlands People, NSW BDM.
4. What has been your 'best' find? When I found that everyone on ancestry had the completely wrong date and location of death (and other details) for a ggg grandfather and I've had a couple of other instances like that. I get really excited when I've been able to "crack the code" that no one else has been able to (that's not a criticism of anyone else by the way). In finding that will, I also was able to solve some other mysteries.
5. Who is your favourite ancestor and why? I can't choose!
6. What are you looking for on a regular basis? Whoever I'm researching that week
7. Do you belong to any genealogy group, or family history society? No
9. Do you help others, in any way.. offering advice, transcribing, helping at functions, encouraging by leaving comments on blogs, sharing a good post/blog/information...any way at all..? I generally read blogs and give them a like when I have time. If a post in a FB group is something I can offer advice on, I do this too but that's it.
10. What is your personal reason for being involved with genealogy/family history? I want to know where I come from, who my ancestors were, where they lived and how they lived. We may never know the specifics and I am learning to be OK with that. When I'm researching them, I try and imagine what they'd have been like - would they have been serious? Smart? Funny? Were they a sweet tooth? Were they patient? I know I get certain traits from my parents, but where did they get those from? I often wonder if the people I'm researching had those same traits that have been carried from generation to generation all the way down to me, and think about how freakin' cool that would be.
11. Do you attend conferences, seminars, presentations? No
what do you like about them...
what don't you like..
what would you like to add/change...
12. How much have you progressed in the last five years...
re discoveries
new avenues you've explored
inspired others to be interested
had more or less time for family history
most important, spent time with your family and or friends, old and young.. after all, they are each part of living history.
Have definitely gotten much better with the research and discerning information. I sometimes come across info I put in my tree several years ago that is very obviously wrong. I must have thought it was correct at the time, but seeing it now, knowing what I now know is like "DUH". I've started my blog too, which is new.
Hope this helps!
Katrina Vincent
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What is the most important detail you want to find about your ancestors? Everything I can! But especially how they lived their lives in the context of the times they lived in.
2. Do you buy certificates? Have you taken advantage of the added information available now to be able to get a lot of information for free?
I have bought certificates in the past for direct line ancestors. Occasionally for siblings if I think it will get me further back.
3. What online sites, free or paid, do you visit most often and how have they helped you? Ancestry, Findmypast, Trove, Irishgenealogy, Clare Library. The newspapers at Trove and Findmypast have been invaluable for social context.
4. What has been your 'best' find? Too hard to define!
5. Who is your favourite ancestor and why? Hmm...that's hard! I have a soft spot for my husband's great great grandmother, because she had a difficult & sad life.
6. What are you looking for on a regular basis? The next step back!
7. Do you belong to any genealogy group, or family history society? Various Facebook Groups.
8. Do you belong to any Facebook or other social media genealogy groups? Would you join if there was one available? see above.
9. Do you help others, in any way.. offering advice, transcribing, helping at functions, encouraging by leaving comments on blogs, sharing a good post/blog/information...any way at all..? Yes to advice, Yes I've done some transcribing, Yes - read & comment on blogs, Sharing information etc.
10. What is your personal reason for being involved with genealogy/family history? Inherited it from my mother.
11. Do you attend conferences, seminars, presentations? Not really.
what do you like about them...
what don't you like..
what would you like to add/change...
12. How much have you progressed in the last five years... Not so much in taking the tree back further, but have learned a lot about known ancestors as people, and am learning to tell their stories through developing my writing. Started my blog as a way of sharing those stories.
re discoveries
new avenues you've explored
inspired others to be interested
had more or less time for family history
most important, spent time with your family and or friends, old and young.. after all, they are each part of living history.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. What is the most important detail you want to find about your ancestors? Who they were, what lives they lived.
2. Do you buy certificates? Have you taken advantage of the added information available now to be able to get a lot of information for
3. What online sites, free or paid, do you visit most often and how have they helped you? So many but these days it's Trove and DNA websites. Usually free but did have a subscription to Ancestry but can't afford that these days.
4. What has been your 'best' find? Discovering the Hobbs Seals in the office of the NSW Public Trustee, then discovering that the lost seal was still in family hands. Meeting and forging friendships with my long lost cousins has also been an amazing experience. Must mention discovering I came from so many convicts too - very proud of my ancestry.
5. Who is your favourite ancestor and why? Has to be Robert Hobbs and Bridget Eslin/Heslin - I am so fascinated with them and their lives.
6. What are you looking for on a regular basis? DNA Matches, trying to crack two brick walls on my Walker line (my paternal great grandfather Thomas Walker) and my Carter/Smith line (my maternal grandfather James Smith or Carter/Manchester England).
7. Do you belong to any genealogy group, or family history society? Hobbs Family Reunion, Family Tree DNA, Geni.
8. Do you belong to any Facebook or other social media genealogy groups? Would you join if there was one available? Hobbs Family Reunion, First Fleet, Second Fleet, Third Fleet, Colo River FH. Yes I usually join if in my line of research.
9. Do you help others, in any way.. offering advice, transcribing, helping at functions, encouraging by leaving comments on blogs, sharing a good post/blog/information...any way at all..? Yes all the time - it's ongoing both on FB and email. I often transcribe for Trove.
10. What is your personal reason for being involved with genealogy/family history? After my parents passed away I realised that I knew very little of their earlier lives or ancestors past my paternal grandparents. I set out to discover that my father had convicts on every branch of his tree and my mother came from free early settlers of the Manning River area. It has been a wonderful journey.
11. Do you attend conferences, seminars, presentations? On occasions but not as much today as I did earlier in my research.
- what do you like about them...discovering ideas of where to look for information.
- what don't you like..no negatives other than some are very expensive.
- what would you like to add/change...nothing.
12. How much have you progressed in the last five years... Not as much as earlier in my research, most lines are complete except two but always still looking for stories to add the flesh to the bones.
- re discoveries - still researching and looking for information on the Hobbs Millions and hoping to discover who my maternal grandfather's family was back in England plus who my paternal great grandfather really was. I somehow think he wasn't who he said he was.
- new avenues you've explored - DNA testing, another new area of research but finding it very complicated and confusing.
- inspired others to be interested - always helping others in our family research. I always encourage people to document their lives even though they claim it's not interesting but when you explain that their story is part of history, then they often do right down something even if brief.
- had more or less time for family history - still find time daily to check information that comes through by email but I don't spend near as much time as I used to earlier in my research.
- most important, spent time with your family and or friends, old and young.. after all, they are each part of living history. I agree, my elderly relatives especially have enjoyed learning about their ancestors, some were not interested initially but soon became keen to help out. Famous last words were "I know nothing about my family history" or "my story is not worth telling" or "I can't remember much of my childhood" only to be inundated with information during conversations.
Hope this is what you are looking for Chris.
Bev Woodman
Please feel free to browse my galleries at
and my new website at www.woodmanphotography.net
Mary
1. The most important detail I have found is the place of origin, that is what I had set out to do.
2. Yes I buy certificates and sometimes sadly I buy the same one twice. I’ve even been known to buy them for others in the hope of solving that all important fact.
And to make up for those errors I have been lucky enough to be be made aware of the possibilities of receiving the answers through other “free” means.
3. The list could be endless, however, Trove is my first go to site, followed by free Bdm sites and now quickly rising through the list irishgenealogy.ie
4. My very best find was a living, previously unknown relative, who travelled for two days to present us with a photo of our convict and his wife.
5. My favourite ancestor is my grandfather Kavanagh. He is not the oldest ancestor, but he is the one I knew and loved deeply. He represents the character that I assume all his ancestors had. Hard working, fun, caring, loving but above all a happy man.
6. I am looking for personal traits, work ethics, humour and love. The character and personality of my ancestors.
7. I did belong to a FH society for 10 years - Volunteering to help others in their quest to find their family story.
8. Many FB and other genie groups and would join many more as they arise.
9. I love to help when I have the knowledge, I guess that isn’t often online.
However at present I am assisting four different and completely unconnected families privately.
10. My personal reason is to feed my addiction. I love the research, the gathering of the story, it’s the writing of that story that eludes me.
11. Yes for ten years I did as many as I could, I couldn’t fault them, I enjoyed them immensely and could not offer any additions or changes. Now my field of interest is too far away.
12. In the last five years I have ...
Complied all the research of one family and published that for over 60 family members.
I am working on the next family.
Discovered living relatives in USA, New Zealand and Ireland who were previously unknown
Explored any new avenues that have come available both on line and in old snail mail.
A lot more time for family history (some say too much)
I organised a family reunion with over 100 attendees, and am proud to say each branch was mostly unknown to the others before my involvement, and it was my husbands family.
I have made numerous trips to meet newly found living relatives over three states of Australia. It is my addiction and I feed it well.
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