Genes Reunited Blog

We asked you to tell us your spooky stories for the chance to win Women in Black goodies and theatre tickets. Thank you to everyone who entered, we thoroughly enjoyed reading your tales! We hope you enjoy reading a few of our favourites...

Winner Melissa

"Whilst on Genes Reunited I made contact with a lady in Australia, she said we were connected through a paternal great grandmother. She had been researching the Biggs family tree for a many years and had compiled a report of over 40 pages. I was intrigued. A few pages through my eyes fell upon an address in Bournemouth, Palmerston Road. My distant relation, Adelaide Biggs, like me had been born in Leicester but some years later she was living on Palmerston Road in Bournemouth. The very street I live on now and where I was whilst reading the words! I was gobsmacked. I can't believe how small the world really is. This has spurred me on to see how many more spooky connections are out there!"

Runner Up Sue

"My great aunt lived with my grandparents and was very close to my father. She died in 1964. One day in September 1967 my father came home looking very shocked. He had been on his way to work, which was down a long driveway with no entrance or exit other than the factory gates, when he saw an old lady walking towards him. It crossed his mind that she looked like his aunt. As she passed him he heard her call his name and he spun round to find there was no one anywhere in sight. My father died just before Christmas that year."

Runner Up Mrs Renton

"2012 is our diamond wedding year and we returned to the church we married at 60 years ago, to renew our vows. This time we had our sons and daughters, grandchildren and great grand children.

Getting married on 17th May 1952 and renewing wedding vows exactly 60 years to the day on 17th May 2012

Runner Up Annette

"During my family history research I found that my antecedents on my father’s side through his mother (nee Gambrell) were fishermen of Whitstable. There is a photograph on the Whitstable Town website of the Gambrell men at some sort of wedding occasion taken on my Great Great Grandfather’s boat. GG Grandfather is immediately behind my Great Grandfather who pictured centre front dressed in some sort of finery. I sent the photo online to my brother, Kevin, who lives in South Africa. He, his wife Joyce, and their friends were amazed when they saw the photograph as they all thought my Great Grandfather was their son, my nephew Aaron, dressed up. I have heard before that likenesses do run in families five generations apart and this would seem to confirm that."

Family likeness runs through 5 generations

Runner Up Helen

"Whilst touring Tasmania some years ago looking for clues to the life of my convict ancestor, my husband and I decided to take a tour of Port Arthur. My GGG Grandfather was transported to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) for 7 years for machine breaking. Even though he hadn't been "incorrigible" enough to be sent to Port Arthur (his only offence was getting drunk with a free man on a Saturday night and receiving 10 days on the treadmill - lucky him) we couldn't pass up the opportunity of visiting this historic place. We spent a whole day there and decided to come back for the night time dinner and ghost tour. Everyone in Tasmania will tell you it is the most haunted place in Australia! We had been to a lot of old buildings on our holiday and hadn't seen one ghost! We felt ripped off. The tour took about two hours and the guide regaled us with their stories of sightings of ghosts, by visitors and staff that had occurred over the years. We decided to wait till everyone had left the so called haunted rooms/cells and then take a photo of the completely black room - with no flash. We took two photos and then entered the morgue where the guide told us about the resident doctor, who apparently took great pleasure in cutting up the unfortunate convicts that had died there, whilst wearing a top hat. When we were leaving the morgue I said, "Come on smile for the camera". We continued on with the tour and took another two photos into the completely darkened rooms. When we had the photos developed we found something unusual. There were plenty of photos of surrounding Port Arthur in the day time, and the ones we took at night including some completely black. . The one in the middle, when we were in the morgue, showed a white blurry smiling face of a man in a top hat! You could definitely see a face and the top hat. I have yet to send the photo on to Port Arthur for their "Wall of ghosts". That's my eerie family research experience!"