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.

Start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start!

According to the Sound of Music, "let's start at the very beginning, it's a very good place to start".

I have been semi interested in geneology for the last 5 years or so, but have always balked at the amount of work involved and if I'm honest, the cost that can also be involved.

I have delved into bits and pieces over the years, using very good groundwork layed out for me by other family detectives, but it is now that I sit, with one leg in the air after a knee operation and the font of all family knowledge, my Mother Marj, sitting beside me, that I have been truly been bitten by the Genealogy bug.