How far back have you got in your research?

odds_on

Hermy wrote: »

We have a winner.:D

Seriously though, that is an amazing amount of work.
Well done odds on!

Not a winner - just someone who plods on over the years, I actually started in the late 80s (when computers were running on DOS) with some information that an aunt had recorded in the 1940s from her research. If and when you can connect a part of the family into landed gentry and especially royalty, there are many records available.

However, with so many people in the database, and especially direct ancestors, if I had to buy birth, marriage and death certs for them all, I would be a very poor man by now.

njs030

I have....
4/4 grandparents
8/8 g grandparents
14/16 gg grandparents
10/32 ggg grandparents
2/64 gggg grandparents
2/128 ggggg grandparents
2/256 gggggg grandparents

Not great but I have loads of the siblings and their children too. The earliest I have is 1710

markomuscle

Furthest is a birth in 1814 of a farmer a 15 minutes drive from where I live and a fisherman a 5 minute walk away.

In terms of surnames of lines of relatives;

O'Neill x3, McWilliams, Mallon, Hunter, McNicholl, McElhone, McNeill, Bateson, Holmes, McGlade

Don't think i've found any Viking in me yet

All are from counties Antrim, Derry, Derry/Tyrone border and Mayo.

Miss Mayhem

I've recently started working on mine. So far I have...

My mother's mother's family back as far as 1867

My mother's father's family back as far as 1854

My father's mother's family back as far as 1862

I'm having no luck tracing my father's father's family. My grandfather was adopted twice so it's awkward trying to find out details. My biological great-grandmother's name was Isabelle (not sure of the correct spelling for the name) Curry, she was from Laois or Queen's County as it was called back then and she was a teenager at the time of his birth (not sure of her age - probably aged between 14 to 18 so that would give her birth sometime between 1910 - 1914). This information is from the records of the Magdalene laundry she gave birth in. I haven't been able to trace her exact D.O.B. on any website so far. Anyone know if its possible to see the census from 1926 anywhere?

Waitsian

Miss Mayhem wrote: »

Anyone know if its possible to see the census from 1926 anywhere?

Can of worms that...

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/irish-roots-is-the-1926-census-out-of-reach-1.1429138

mickmackey1

notjustsweet wrote: »

I have....
4/4 grandparents
8/8 g grandparents
14/16 gg grandparents
10/32 ggg grandparents
2/64 gggg grandparents
2/128 ggggg grandparents
2/256 gggggg grandparents

You can't just keep multiplying to find out how many ancestors you have. Some of your '256' gggggg grandparents could well be the same person!

njs030

mickmackey1 wrote: »

You can't just keep multiplying to find out how many ancestors you have. Some of your '256' gggggg grandparents could well be the same person!

Each person has to have 2 parents at conception. Therefore 256 names need to be be entered, there might be duplication on occasion but maths is maths :-)

I get what you mean but the research still has to be done. I'm not sure exactly how you suggest I and others should have written it?

odds_on

mickmackey1 wrote: »

You can't just keep multiplying to find out how many ancestors you have. Some of your '256' gggggg grandparents could well be the same person!

Originally Posted by notjustsweet
I have....
4/4 grandparents
8/8 g grandparents
14/16 gg grandparents
10/32 ggg grandparents
2/64 gggg grandparents
2/128 ggggg grandparents
2/256 gggggg grandparents

But notjustsweet has only found two of his '256' gggggg grandparents, so I am sure he would know if they were related or figured twice in his tree.

In my own tree, going back to the 1200/1300/1400s, I certainly have numerous ancestors who figure multiple times and not always in the same generation. However, without any one of them, I wouldn't be here.

Some ancestors had several children who were all my ancestors - as far as my memory goes, four children of the same family is the greatest number in this respect.

As a rough estimate you will have 4-5 generations per hundred years. If you go back 21 generations (counting yourself as generation 1) which will bring you to about the 1300s (plus or minus) you then have in excess of 1 million ancestral grand parents (1,048,576 to be precise). Thus at generation 22 there are over 2 million and generation 23 has over 4 million direct ancestors. Without doubt, some of those (probably quite a few) will be a direct ancestor more than once. By the time you get to 30 generations back you have over 536 million grand parents.

Charlemagne, Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire, King of the Franks, was my 37th great grand father; so how many millions of direct ancestors did I have in that generation? And three of Charlemagne's children, Pepin of Italy, Louis the Pious and Hugo L'Abbe' (Bastard Of The Holy Roman Empire) all figure as direct ancestors!

mickmackey1

Crikey... please accept my humble apologies, your Most Serene Majesty :pac::pac:

CassieManson

odds_on wrote: »

But notjustsweet has only found two of his '256' gggggg grandparents, so I am sure he would know if they were related or figured twice in his tree.

In my own tree, going back to the 1200/1300/1400s, I certainly have numerous ancestors who figure multiple times and not always in the same generation. However, without any one of them, I wouldn't be here.

Some ancestors had several children who were all my ancestors - as far as my memory goes, four children of the same family is the greatest number in this respect.

As a rough estimate you will have 4-5 generations per hundred years. If you go back 21 generations (counting yourself as generation 1) which will bring you to about the 1300s (plus or minus) you then have in excess of 1 million ancestral grand parents (1,048,576 to be precise). Thus at generation 22 there are over 2 million and generation 23 has over 4 million direct ancestors. Without doubt, some of those (probably quite a few) will be a direct ancestor more than once. By the time you get to 30 generations back you have over 536 million grand parents.

Charlemagne, Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire, King of the Franks, was my 37th great grand father; so how many millions of direct ancestors did I have in that generation? And three of Charlemagne's children, Pepin of Italy, Louis the Pious and Hugo L'Abbe' (Bastard Of The Holy Roman Empire) all figure as direct ancestors!

Thats fantastic.Would love to know how you have managed to research back that far!

Coolnabacky1873

odds_on wrote: »

But notjustsweet has only found two of his '256' gggggg grandparents, so I am sure he would know if they were related or figured twice in his tree.

In my own tree, going back to the 1200/1300/1400s, I certainly have numerous ancestors who figure multiple times and not always in the same generation. However, without any one of them, I wouldn't be here.

Some ancestors had several children who were all my ancestors - as far as my memory goes, four children of the same family is the greatest number in this respect.

As a rough estimate you will have 4-5 generations per hundred years. If you go back 21 generations (counting yourself as generation 1) which will bring you to about the 1300s (plus or minus) you then have in excess of 1 million ancestral grand parents (1,048,576 to be precise). Thus at generation 22 there are over 2 million and generation 23 has over 4 million direct ancestors. Without doubt, some of those (probably quite a few) will be a direct ancestor more than once. By the time you get to 30 generations back you have over 536 million grand parents.

Charlemagne, Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire, King of the Franks, was my 37th great grand father; so how many millions of direct ancestors did I have in that generation? And three of Charlemagne's children, Pepin of Italy, Louis the Pious and Hugo L'Abbe' (Bastard Of The Holy Roman Empire) all figure as direct ancestors!

You're related to Cindy Crawford so, as they got back to Charlie for her on her episode of US WDYTYA. In your research, did you get his marriage record on RootsIreland?

Miss Mayhem

mod9maple wrote: »

Can of worms that...

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/heritage/irish-roots-is-the-1926-census-out-of-reach-1.1429138

So there's definitely no way to see it? Even if I pay for it? If my grandfather requested to see his mother's census form would he be able to see it?

shanew

under the current rules the 1926 census details are closed for all access until January 2027.

CeannRua

Miss Mayhem wrote: »

I've recently started working on mine. So far I have...

My mother's mother's family back as far as 1867

My mother's father's family back as far as 1854

My father's mother's family back as far as 1862

I'm having no luck tracing my father's father's family. My grandfather was adopted twice so it's awkward trying to find out details. My biological great-grandmother's name was Isabelle (not sure of the correct spelling for the name) Curry, she was from Laois or Queen's County as it was called back then and she was a teenager at the time of his birth (not sure of her age - probably aged between 14 to 18 so that would give her birth sometime between 1910 - 1914). This information is from the records of the Magdalene laundry she gave birth in. I haven't been able to trace her exact D.O.B. on any website so far. Anyone know if its possible to see the census from 1926 anywhere?

Have you checked this? https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FBTN-8PN

odds_on

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

You're related to Cindy Crawford so, as they got back to Charlie for her on her episode of US WDYTYA. In your research, did you get his marriage record on RootsIreland?

Who's Cindy Crawford?

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a copy of his marriage certs.
When you can get to royalty, Kings, Queens, etc., history books and encyclopaedias can provide a vast area of research.

The various Burke's editions can also help.

Coolnabacky1873

odds_on wrote: »

Who's Cindy Crawford?

You must be over 60 or under 20!:p She used to do the odd modeling job.

odds_on

Coolnabacky1873 wrote: »

You must be over 60 or under 20!:p She used to do the odd modeling job.

Well over sixty!
And I'm a caveman - I don't have a TV - just my laptop which is not used for watching films or streaming TV programs.

Miss Mayhem

CeannRua wrote: »

Have you checked this? https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FBTN-8PN

Thanks but I already found that and about a dozen different Isabel/Isabelle/Isabella/Isobel/Isobelle/Bella/Belle Curry/Corry/Currie/Corry/McCurry/Curr etc. I'm just not able to narrow it down with the information I have. My grandfather doesn't even have a copy of his birth cert. He's not even sure what year he was born. He was adopted as a baby until he was about 3 or 4 (the family that adopted him gave him back when the wife got pregnant apparently :mad:). He was sent to Artane Industrial school for a few years and adopted/fostered again by another family when he was around 6. He thinks he was born between 1926-1929. He's always been told he was born in August but he's not entirely sure what day. All we have is a small amount of information my aunt got from the Artane records. I've been searching his birth myself and I think this might be it: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/F13V-K6J

Alicat

Miss Mayhem, I'd recommend contacting the Barnardos Origins Service at origins@barnardos.ie. I specifically dealt with a lady named Donna McKay about my granny and she was very helpful.

Miss Mayhem

Alicat wrote: »

Miss Mayhem, I'd recommend contacting the Barnardos Origins Service at origins@barnardos.ie. I specifically dealt with a lady named Donna McKay about my granny and she was very helpful.

Thanks very much for that! I didn't know about the service. Going give it ago!

Ipso

odds_on wrote: »

But notjustsweet has only found two of his '256' gggggg grandparents, so I am sure he would know if they were related or figured twice in his tree.

In my own tree, going back to the 1200/1300/1400s, I certainly have numerous ancestors who figure multiple times and not always in the same generation. However, without any one of them, I wouldn't be here.

Some ancestors had several children who were all my ancestors - as far as my memory goes, four children of the same family is the greatest number in this respect.

As a rough estimate you will have 4-5 generations per hundred years. If you go back 21 generations (counting yourself as generation 1) which will bring you to about the 1300s (plus or minus) you then have in excess of 1 million ancestral grand parents (1,048,576 to be precise). Thus at generation 22 there are over 2 million and generation 23 has over 4 million direct ancestors. Without doubt, some of those (probably quite a few) will be a direct ancestor more than once. By the time you get to 30 generations back you have over 536 million grand parents.

Charlemagne, Emperor Of The Holy Roman Empire, King of the Franks, was my 37th great grand father; so how many millions of direct ancestors did I have in that generation? And three of Charlemagne's children, Pepin of Italy, Louis the Pious and Hugo L'Abbe' (Bastard Of The Holy Roman Empire) all figure as direct ancestors!

Cousins marrying will reduce the numbers of potential ancestors, if you go back far enough the total would exceed the worlds population. I read that once you go past 10 generations you get an additional 100 ancestors per generation on average.

L1011

MYOB wrote: »

Hadn't thought of looking at it that way - I've only got 14/16 on that generation so I may put a bit of effort in to that...

After buying a rake of certs and a lot of other work, I've got 16/16 finally. 19/32 at the next level but that's smashed in to the registration barrier in most cases.

havetoquit

Wonder if anyone can advise or suggest the best place to start when tracing ancestors please.
I am totally confused by all the different sites and indeed prices.

I have full details back to great grandparents, but am totally stuck on finding my great aunt's grave. I know where she is buried, but so many of the tombstones are not legible.

When one knows the cemetery where a relative's grave is, short of finding a local who may know the location of the grave, is there a record of all graves and where are the usually held?

Many thanks in anticipation of any help with this at all.

shanew

havetoquit wrote: »

.....When one knows the cemetery where a relative's grave is, short of finding a local who may know the location of the grave, is there a record of all graves and where are the usually held?..

depends on the graveyard, who runs it etc, but in many cases there's no detailed list or map and very few RC parishes kept death/burial records in their registers before the 20thC. Local knowledge or possibly the nearest undertaker will sometimes know which family own each plot, but often not details of individual burials.

Maybe mention the name/location of the graveyards involved in case anybody has details ?

pinkypinky

If it is in Dublin, try here, which will tell you where the records are, if they still exist.

http://dublinheritage.ie/graveyards/

havetoquit

Thank you very much.

The cemetery is in the Irishtown New Ross, where my great aunt lived. She possibly died in the 40's. It may help me to also ask around in the Wexford forum on here, as maybe just maybe, the right person will see it and have some info.

It is sad when there is just one family member that one cannot even pay respect to, by laying a flower at their resting place, so it would be so great for me to be able to do that, for her truly amazing sister who was my adored grandmother.

If only we realized as young adults how important it is to ask grandmothers lots of questions about family and their own childhood and to either tape the conversation or take notes, but we were always buzzing in and out and at family occasions, dwelling more on the present that beginning conversations regarding the past.

The other issue for many I guess would be that sometimes when we bring up the past to our senior relatives, it is quite often a place they really do not wish to go back to and even discussing it briefly I often note, seems to simply open wounds that many find more easy to keep closed. When one comes up against this scenario, then you cannot force things, so you can often end up no wiser.

For those who were strong enough to disclose their experiences of that time back in the early 1900's, it can often be extremely emotional and sometimes disturbing to hear, but I feel very grateful to be privileged to such personal information and respect them for sharing it with me of their own accord. One often witnesses a total release of something that was sitting there and festering for so long and to witness the sheer relief on the face of the narrator, as though a severe pain had just subsided is quite something.

We moan so much at times about our lives, but for me, even with all the issues, they appear to be one thousand times better than the lives of our ancestors.

Thanks again.

Hermy

Great post above havetoquit - and so very true!

Regarding your earlier post the Tracing Guide on the front page is definitely the place to start.
And follow that with the Irish Genealogy Toolkit on Clare Santry's blog.

Free websites I use most regularly include:

1901/ 1911 Census Returns

Irish Church Records

Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1858 - 1922

I have a paid subscription for Ancestry.co.uk which costs £19.99 a month and it has been well worth it for my research. They have a 14 day free trial which might be worth a go to begin with.

Perhaps if you can say who, where and when you're interested in researching others may be able to give details of more specific sources.:)

shanew

sorry - I was mixing up the generations there, thinking of siblings of great-grandparents rather than siblings of grandparent, so thinking of earlier dates.

Would think the local knowledge is the way to go, and see the undertaker from the 1940s or successors are still in business. I have a directory list of businesses in the town in the early 40's, but no undertakers specifically listed. Think they often had this as a secondary business.

havetoquit

Thank you both so much for all of this, especially the links, which is all very encouraging.

I was in the actual cemetery where my dear Great Aunt is buried yesterday. I spoke to people along the little street where the family used to live and where I strongly believe some members still dwell, but although most people I spoke with seemed to know one of the family members, they seemed quite vague with regard to the location of the grave or in fact any further information about the very member who could have provided that same information.

I feel it has a lot to do with the kind of world we live in and that people are so security conscious regarding strangers and do not think it wise to give out any information. I really get that, but if it were me and I was approached by someone who explained simply that they were searching for a family member's grave and not the Crown Jewels, then I don't think I would consider it to be a risk to merely point them in the right direction, or offer to ask around. I mean a person of my age and stature are hardly likely to be able to lift a stone memorial and spirit it away and I wasn't wearing a hoody, carrying a suspicious weapon or giving off any sign that I could be carrying one hidden on my person. I also did not wear a dirty mack to give the impression that I may be a private detective acting on behalf of some greedy relative who was after money. No, the only picture I could possibly have presented was that of a soberly and respectfully attired person who could almost have been a relative of the veritable Miss Marple herself... ah, maybe that is what did it.......

Only joking to make a little light of a situation that was frustrating at the time after a drive and a long wait in the hope of meeting a person who may have been able to help. For just a few minutes on that street, I felt like I was a character in Alice Taylor's novel, The Village of The Twitching Curtains... not joking there mind.... it was palpable.

Hermy

Unfortunately people do have to err on the side of caution these days and you can only do your best to reassure them of your good intentions.

I recently called to house which was once occupied by my ancestors in the 1830's. I had no idea what sort of reception awaited me calling unannounced as I did but the older couple I meet were really nice and quite interested in my story as they knew the history of the house but weren't familiar with my ancestors time there.
When I got home I wrote them a letter thanking them for their help as I thought something with my contact details and a brief synopsis of that branch of my family tree would at least give them something to verify my story.
Not long after that they wrote me back eager to know if I'd found out anything more and they also provided me with contact details for a local historian in their area.

Maybe my next house call won't go so smoothly but you can only do your best.