Find Ancestors

I don't normally complain, but I need to today... People who post messages asking for lookups with little information about who they need. When you find a load of information about the person they wanted, they then delete said thread with no 'Yes, that's them. Thank you' or 'No that wasn't them'. I'm a little peeved at the moment to say the least. Why do people post messages if they have either no intention of looking at found information or deleting threads after looking at found information and not saying anything?!?! (Apologies for messing up your Babylonian discussion lol)

Im with you on that one Tracey - I think we were both stung by the same person! No thanks and message deleted.

I'm watching you Heather :¬)

I would like to moan about elderly aunties who know damn well that lurking at the bottom of their handbags they have stuff which would make my life oh so much simpler. But will they part with it??? God knows how much stuff ends up in Oxfam sorting depots etc... Grrrrrrrrr

Genuine Record Office serach requests being interpreted for 'sponging off other members'. The reply was deemed as abuse and removed quickly, but the verbal attack was a shock and now I feel personally loathe to ask for anybody to look up anything! What do you do if you're work PC hasn't the correct browser, you don't have a pc at home, and your IT manager won't let down the firewall for you? Records Office searches are exactly that when requested from me. My wife works on Saturday,I have a 2 yr old son, so I can't get up to London at the mo - but hopefully soon. Thanks for listening - anybody want to share.

Many thanks for the instructions Nell ( by the way, I like bourbons, so I was slow in following the first part ) I suppose I will only know if I've done it correctly by reading my own post. Here goes.... Keith

Keith I agree, not sure 'biscuit coloured' is actually the colour of any biscuit I've eaten. Confusius says it is better to light one tiny candle than to curse the darkness. nell

I enjoy raiding Google or the various free internet sites for other people. I don’t advertise look ups because my time/management skills are appalling and I don’t want to disappoint. What I always feel, though, is that I am depriving people of the excitement of finding things out for themselves. We can all search Ancestry, even if we cannot view the image. We can all access freebmd and Familysearch. If I do look something up in a Record Office or specialist index, then I might miss a vital reference: either through carelessness, or through not knowing all the facts. If I go to a Records Office on my own behalf, I do what I call French polishing searches, going round in circles through baptisms, marriages and burials, to establish whether the family are in a parish for a single generation or from the start of the registers, and then to pick up references for the wider family. This technique is not possible when dipping in for somebody else. When somebody is kind enough to check something for me, I am very grateful, but I will still want to check it for myself. There are some lines that have been and will remain in cold storage for quite some time, with just the anticipation to keep me going.

Another moan would be for websites with useless search facilities, particularly those which don't have any sort of soundex/name varient search. Especially ones which don't throw up abbreviations like 'Robt' when a search is done for 'Robert'. I know I complain that sometimes they throw up truly odd 'variations', but they're better than nothing. And where can I find passport applications and settlement certificates for the Babylonian exodus?

Twinkle Have you tried googling? nell

Nell Do you mean the Confucius (usual spelling I think, although may have been transcribed YOUR way on occasions - not SHOUTING, just adding emphasis) whom one website claims to have lived from Confucius (09/28/0555 – ?/?/0479 BC)? I suspect you may have to look in the December quarter to find his birth. Not knowing the exact date, his death may be trickier to find.

My Dad used to say: Confucius say 'Keep Noble Silence', which according to my Dad meant, if you can't think of anything sensible to say, keep yer gob shut. This posting is not aimed at anyone on this Site, before anyone gets all huffy, it was just an illustration of the profound wisdom of Confucius and its less than profound application! Marjorie

Geoff His name can be recorded a number of ways, including K'ung-fu-tzu or Kongfuzi. Another of his sayings, which I am often reminded of when after impatiently waiting I get a certificate, is: it is better to travel hopefully than to arrive! Fortunately he is not in my direct line, so I have decided not to bother with him. Still having difficulty with the Bethelem tax returns. If only they'd written it in capital letters! Have you found any children from Adam's first liaison (I don't think it was a regular union) with Lilith? nell

Nell I thought I'd made it clear that MY Adam was from Accrington. The child supposedly indexed as born in Jerusalem was actually born in Ramsbottom.

Geoff You can hardly expect Nell to know that - after all, the local pronunciation is Ramsbum. And er, I also have Adam, born 1279 in Haslingden. No father given but I think we all know the answer to that, don't we? Marjorie

Geoff I'm sure none of my relatives came from up north! Marjorie Thank you for springing to my defence. Your information about local pronunciation has confirmed all my southern prejudices. Oh and I think I saw that Paul/Saul [wish I could work out that first initial!] letters to the Corinthians is on e-bay. I wonder if there will be any useful clues there? I'm sure Geoff could help us out with where Corinth is - I think the county boundaries changed since the letters were written. nell

So Nell, exactly what is wrong with we notherners? Maybe I shouldn't add this as I am just imagining the replies!!!!!!! Linda

Nell, I think perhaps you are ... um ... approaching an age at which a pair of reading glasses would be advantageous - what you are saying is Corinth is actually Clitheroe and what you thought was Damascus is our old friend Ramsbottom again.

So John Pillinger, am I to be praised or despised??? I am one of those people who do look ups for others and spend a lot of time doing so, as they do for me, yet I am also one of those people who has never been to a records office. I suppose one day I may have to, but until then, what is wrong with using the computer? Are you not doing so yourself? Nancy.

I am guilty of 'i have mailed you' BUT I do put the info on the message thread too. :-D Ohh and am also guilty of not visiting a records office - mainly because I wouldn't have a clue on where to start etc. My pc is where I am good at looking for info, so I will stick with that for now. The majority of folks that use this site are A1, its just the minority who 'use and abuse' though i suspect most of them dont mean to. At least I hope so! And one last thing - I am a northener too - married to a southener! And proud of it, LOL xx Happy Researching peeps Vikki xx