Fits and Starts

I got a call tonight from Robert (Bob), my 1/2 first cousin once removed tonight who is also researching the Holmes family tree.

Among all the discussions about our family, we also discussed how we got into genealogy and what we love about it.

What also seems to be a common theme (with us and other researchers) is how our passion for research comes in fits and starts.  You seem to find a clue and then go down and down a rabbit hole until you exhaust that line and then need to take a break.

It also seems that life gets in the way and without regularly scheduled research, a couple of months can easily pass by.

I hoe to be less fitful in my research in the future.

Second Cousins Once Removed

I am very excited! The Holmes connection is growing & growing.  I've found my second cousin once removed.  They have also done quite a bit of work and have alot of information parts of the family we didn't know about.  Can't wait to continue down the rabbit hole & learn more about them

Happy Dance 1, 2 & 3 - Holmes Great Grandparents

In getting up to speed on the best practice for doing family history, I found this Ancestry.com YouTube clip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0eG9CFuAGc

Basically it runs through things you can do when you hit a brick wall and then we you finally find what you're looking for, you do the happy dance.

Well today, I did a happy dance, even with one leg.

The last couple of days, one of my branches has grown exponentially.  My Aunty & cousin came around for lunch while my Mum was staying with me.  Within a couple of hours I have about 30 new names and alot more data & dates.

From there I jumped on the Western Australian BMD (Births, Deaths & Marriages) site and found the names of my great grandfathers (Abraham Holmes) parents (Abraham Holmes & Fanny Mason).

Yesterday I went hunting a bit more, found some census records (showing a couple more children) and a private member tree on Ancestry.com (showing what looked like my great great great great grandparents).

I quickly fired off a query to the Ancestry.com user and received a reply today.  Yes - it is my great x 4 parents.

It's wins like these that keep you going!

WOO HOO! HAPPY DANCE!

Who Cares? Other Genealogists?

Something I have discovered in a very short time period is what a collaborative group the Genealogy community is.  People all over the world offering fabulous tips, lessons learned & general encouragement to keep going.

I stumbled across Elyse Doerflinger's clips on YouTube and found them so helpful that I immediately jumped on her blog & found that just as useful.  She's also very inspirational, at 35 I feel quite young to be getting into this, but Elyse puts me to shame & I very keen to see how far she goes.

After adding my four lines to Ancestry.com (Australia) message boards, I received 2 comments within 24 hours giving me some tips & leads to follow up. It's fantastic to feel that support behind you.

Who Cares? Your Family?

One of the most interesting things I have found with getting into my family history is who is and isn't interested.

Your Family
Most of the family seem to be very interested as long as you don't expect them to do any work. 

My grandparents, parents, aunties & uncles set a very good example many years ago and have been very good at keeping the family history and holding family reunions so we could all keep up with the extended family.

The younger generation used to be really good at attending but as time has gone on and their lives have gotten busier, they seem to find it harder and harder to make it a priority.

Coming from a large family (baby of nine), I am well aware of the excuses made with big families, "there's too many, it's too hard so we won't bother".  But just by catching up with a small cohort, it keeps those connections open and allows for the next generation to make their own connections.

My advice to all who want to keep their family history alive is to lead by example or for a bigger cliche "build it and they will come".  Sometimes it feels like you're the only one at the party, but if you can keep small connections going, it will be worthwhile in the end.

Part II - Other Genealogists coming up soon.

Four Lines

While there are already over 120 surnames in my family tree, there are four main lines that I am researching.

JAESCHKE - Paternal Grandfather
CULLINANE - Paternal Grandmother
HOLMES - Maternal Grandfather
GRIFFIN - Maternal Grandmother

If you are researching any of these lines, I'd love to hear from you to see if we have any connections.

A family of historians

I am very lucky in that a lot of my family history has already been documented by dedicated family members in the past.

My grandfather Ernest Holmes wrote an autobiography called "Ledger of Life".

My Uncle John Vincent Feeney wrote an autobiography called "Dusty Boots".

My grandfather Gerlad Victor Delane (Jaeschke) wrote a diary of his time in the war.

The Jaeschke Connections, by Dulcie Love, published in 1987 provided a very good basis with one of my ancestry lines being completed.

My Mum Marj Delane had been documenting her life on a daily basis since 1963 in a daily diary.