Anyone into that? I've been doing it for years even before the internet and found it fascinating to see the old documents and the handwriting.

Noticed a will of an ancestor on my husband's side has the name spelled differently 4 times on the same sheet. Also found a lot of skeletons in the closets. Unbelievable stuff.

Found a missing grandfather who changed his name before he married my grandmother and then disappeared. Suspect that he may have changed his name again.

Good idea for a thread, Packy.

I did dabble a few years ago. My parents emigrated from UK to Australia and then NZ, starting when I just turned 8. So I lost touch with all current family as well as past. It took a lot to just fill in current family tree. I did try and research back.. joined Genealogy sites etc... even applied for an old birth certificate form UK. It was a lot of work... but fun. Unfortunately I hit a complete brick wall at my Great grandfather. I traced back from there several possibilities, but really with no link back from GGF.. it could all have been totally the wrong people.
I did abandon efforts.

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Do not go gentle into that good night.
__________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Oh those brick walls. I have run into them on both sides. My mom's grandparents and my dad's mother's parents were all from Denmark and I could get pretty far back with those families. But one grandparent was from Irish ancestry and I can't get past this country (U S) for their information. Although I do have access to all of Ancestry's resources so I may find they updated some. I was able to get some censuses from the UK too if you need any look ups.

My GGF was absent during the Census... around 1900 I think???

I thought I was on to something when I found census details of who was in the Hanbury Arms that night (Historical pub near where the family lived)... but he wasn't in there or on any census... but he did live nearby.. (as did my GF and family including my Dad). I did track down his niece (then elderly) and she sent a photo of him (GGF). She had no other documents and sadly she died not long after we made contact. Nobody else from that generation anywhere to be found.

I don't want to start up again... but it was fun doing it for a while.

_________________
Do not go gentle into that good night.
__________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Yes...and no. It's a little more complicated for me. I'm adopted and have very limited information to go on. (I know my biological mother's name, the state she was from and her age. She was divorced, so I'm not sure if I have her maiden name or her married name.) A few years ago I signed up for a free trial at Ancestry.com. There were several people with her name in her state and I wasn't sure if I was researching the correct one. I abandoned my efforts also.

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Oh too bad it didn't go anywhere for you, Mal. We found my cousin was adopted and she found her family by finding the petition for adoption that was filed around her date of birth. It had a name of the people giving up the baby but not the baby's name.