Who Do You a Think You Are, event

[Dorothy rouse]

I know some of you are interested in a Family History stuff, and wondered if any one has attended one of the above events. I 'm going to Olympia on Saturday, haven't been before, so wondered if any advice, there are workshops, talks etc, want to get the most out of it.

[mothhawk]

I would be interested in family history, but my surname is Smith. 'Nuff said!

[Nicos]

I have a very unusual maiden name.
Needless to say I have seem more than 20 versions of mis-transcribed versions of that name!

I'd like to see a stand where people can easily find where to contact to volunteer to transcribe local graves, bmd, archived local library... info all for free.

I started doing mine 10 yrs ago and can see the decline in freebie info. If I still lived in the UK I most certainly would have transcribed local grave stones for free access.
Personal history should not be just for those with big wallets/purses!

[Dorothy rouse]

I would be interested in family history, but my surname is Smith. 'Nuff said!

Would be 'a challenge', even with not so common surnames it's a challenge.

[Alison]

I would be interested in family history, but my surname is Smith. 'Nuff said!

I did quite a bit of successful searching up a 'Jones' line but was helped by a few birth, marriage and death certs and speaking to elderly relatives.


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[Sheneval]

I have a very unusual maiden name.
Needless to say I have seem more than 20 versions of mis-transcribed versions of that name!

I'd like to see a stand where people can easily find where to contact to volunteer to transcribe local graves, bmd, archived local library... info all for free.

I started doing mine 10 yrs ago and can see the decline in freebie info. If I still lived in the UK I most certainly would have transcribed local grave stones for free access.
Personal history should not be just for those with big wallets/purses!

Nicos - Local Family History Societies welcome volunteers to do this work but they do charge for the end result as that is the money that keeps them going to produce the books and CDs - At Troon I suspect our books are the cheapest in the country as we produce the publications ourselves thus keeping costs to a minimum.

Personally I transcribed or checked 9 of the Ayrshire 1841 & 1851 censuses you will find on Freecens and this type of work was done not only in Scotland and the rest of the UK but in the USA, Canada, Australia etc. etc.

Unfortunately, this work was not extended beyond the 1841 & 1851 but locally I have done the complete 1901 Census and some of 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1911.

[Nicos]

Shen......hats off to you!...well done, I wish there were more peeps like you around!!

[noviceveggrower]

Hi.
My dad has done his family tree and part of my moms. He has used the on line sites but mainly gone to libraries and there is a web site with a forum on so you can double check your info with other people who are researching the same line. I bet he would of liked to of gone to the Olympia event.
I know we sometimes complain about our jobs but he discovered being where we are in the West Midlands a lot of my moms family were employed in needle making. One family spent their whole working life sharpening the needles and another lot made the paper envelopes the needles were put in.
Fancy doing that 6 days a week.
On my dads side there are shire horse breeders and mill workers.
Once you start looking its amazing what you find. Haven't found anyone in Australia yet though

[Dorothy rouse]

Think I've learnt more about 'history', in the last year, through the research involved. What life was like, the Industrial changes, the Workhouse, WW1, the Boar war, etc and general how tough life was.

Actually getting copies of certificates and finding them signed with a X, just makes you realise, how times have changed .
Shen, have you been to one of these Ancestry events? I have been to a local Family History Fair, but not a big event.

[Sheneval]

Think I've learnt more about 'history', in the last year, through the research involved. What life was like, the Industrial changes, the Workhouse, WW1, the Boar war, etc and general how tough life was.

Actually getting copies of certificates and finding them signed with a X, just makes you realise, how times have changed .
Shen, have you been to one of these Ancestry events? I have been to a local Family History Fair, but not a big event.

Dotty,

I haven't attended the WDYTYR event in London but it is scheduled to come to Glasgow in August as part of Homecoming event and I will certainly go then - first time ever as far as I know that it will be held outside London - however I have found things in the local archives that I would never have found anywhere else such as my 5xggfather, one of the Freemen of Prestwick, suing the Freemen of Newton for stealing his seawrack.

They didn't do this by stealth but marched in with Fife and Drum as they had done when marching into battle - the Freemen are supposed to have been given their Freedoms by Bruce after fighting at Bannockburn which they most certainly did as Walter the High Steward was their overlord back then and his daughter became the mother of the future line of Stewart/Stuart Kings.

I also found in the local paper in 1841 my 3xggmother being gored to death by a bull and that my 2x ggfather and uncle were skips in local curling matches back in the 1800s and this uncle, (my 2xggmother's brother), was also a ploughing champion as were all three of his brothers, whereas their father and uncle were on the Ayrshire Farming Committee, the latter winning many prizes for his cattle.

Very valuable asset - old newspapers.

[noviceveggrower]

Hi again,
My dad uses mainly libraries to get his info. He find that with the websites if you do a free trial you can only get back a certain distance. He is trying to get to Birmingham library to double check some info but id having to wait because its had a major refirb so you have to book well in advance to get in.
We have a relative that keeps changing his date of birth. lives in the same house but alters date of birth and place of birth for some reason.
Also he has to check on my nans grandfather who we believe to be a German Jew who came over to the UK in the 1900's. He gave up his faith for a non Jew.
Then my dads granddad was a pacifist but still went to be a stretcher bearer in the 1st world war. Got gassed several times and hit by shrapnel several times.
We don't have any X's but do believe we have gypsies but they don't keep many records.

[Dorothy rouse]

You can access some 'free info' I did for a while, so it might be worth checking out these, think there comes a point when you need to 'sign up', I sit and look thru records whilst there us stuff on TV that I'm not interested in!

[Dorothy rouse]

Because way back in the 1800's, not everyone could read & write spellings of names and dates all got confused and misspelt, just adds to the confusion, one of mine, married for a second time and because second husband was few years younger, lied about her age on marriage cert, and he did also, saying he was couple years older, so the 'age gap' was much reduced! ( I know cos I have the birth Certs)

[Sheneval]

Because way back in the 1800's, not everyone could read & write spellings of names and dates all got confused and misspelt, just adds to the confusion, one of mine, married for a second time and because second husband was few years younger, lied about her age on marriage cert, and he did also, saying he was couple years older, so the 'age gap' was much reduced! ( I know cos I have the birth Certs)

Yes quite common that - my great grandmother lost 20 years on the census over 30-40 - she must have retained her youthful looks to get away with that one - either that or she filled in the census form

[Vince G]

I had an ancestor who was transported to Oz for stealing meat from a ship in the dock in Ipswich. Thing is, his dad had a butchers up the road, so suspect he was nicking meat for his dad to flog in the shop. Went on a ship called Surry, no idea if he made it or not, haven't been able to find out.

Didn't know WDYTYR did events - might try and get to one as I have a bit of a mystery on my dad's side as his mum was born in a workhouse in Ipswich and never knew who her father was, so there is a big blank section of the tree. Her mum lived in Basingstoke, so I suspect when she got pregnant at 17 she was sent away in disgrace. Harsh times!

I have tried everything I can think of in terms of publicly available information to find gran's father, so talking to WDYTYR might be a last resort. I even wrote to the RAF and USAF as my dad said she always suspected her mum had had some sort of daliance with an airman! My dad is 72 tomorrow and I know he would love to find out for his mum as they were very close.