Ancestry / Genealogy

[tonys]

My wife signed up with Ancestry.co.uk and we have gone back to about 1750 but several of the searches have been inconclusive. We also had a look into our surnames when we were in Pembroke in July and got the coat of arms and various alternatives to the spellings with a little bit of history about people with our names.
Haven't done anything on Ancestry for a few months so should really get back to it

 

[Street]

I went down the rabbit hole last night after seeing this thread and gave the free trial a blast. There doesn't seem to be much info on my dads side, but my mums goes back a bit. I did find I had a great uncle Lonzil and Guilielmus that I've never heard mentioned before.

 

[Doggie2k]

Coming from the new world (Australia) I have always been intrigued where my heritage was from especially the convict side. Was able to trace back to The black prince and the founders of the Salvation Army which was cool but geez the other side (my dads) of my ancestors were evil Some of them were a family of Northen Irish gangsters who were transported to Oz, English and scottish theives. Another was a portugiese sailor who used to kidnap other sailors and then put them in his dungeon in Sydney and then claim the reward for catching them lol.

Pretty much related to a whole line of tough son a of a ******* though the way they all survived their gaol time and picked them selves up to become farmers or miners.

 

[IC3]

I always wondered how accurate and legit those things are, how would you fact check what they tell you?

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Ireland had a King until 1949 and Northern Ireland still does. The same Royal line had been on the throne of Ireland since 1297 if memory serves.

Wow, that really is a good memory you've got there.

 

[PlacidCasual]

Wow, that really is a good memory you've got there.

I looked it up relatively recently after I listened to a R4 programme that discussed Trinity College Dublin, founded by Elizabeth I, which is still an official UK deposit library despite not being in the UK. One tit bit of information leads you to look up another.

 

[tres]

I got a bit further back
My most distant direct ancestors - the mediocre viking "Eystein the Clatterer"

 

[413x]

I always wondered how accurate and legit those things are, how would you fact check what they tell you?

Same. If that's the best version of the truth.. How is it even validated

 

[413x]

I have a great great great uncle who was a pauper.

I have a dad.
Found out he could identify queen wasps. And killed them for a living.

 

[IC3]

Same. If that's the best version of the truth.. How is it even validated

It's a scam isn't it, deep down people are fooling themselves...

 

[413x]

It's a scam isn't it, deep down people are fooling themselves...

Personally I think so. Or at least you'd always doubt it (I would anyway)

 

[tres]

I always wondered how accurate and legit those things are, how would you fact check what they tell you?

It's the fun of the hunt. You don't go by what Ancestry etc tell you, you research using birth certificates, census records, marriage and divorce registers, wills and probates, burial records etc.

 

[tonys]

It's the fun of the hunt. You don't go by what Ancestry etc tell you, you research using birth certificates, census records, marriage and divorce registers, wills and probates, burial records etc.

Check and cross checking is the way to get as much out of it as you can but it can be frustrating aswell when you can't find information on people.

 

[Dreadi]

Got given a myheritage kit for my birthday, get emails once a week telling me there's a possible match for a 9th cousin who's 80 years old and live in Canada. Was mildly interesting to see where my background comes from but after that kinda pointless