Shake the tree and nuts fall out!

I originally started looking into the family tree back in 1995 when I was 13 years old and it was part of a badge for guides or st john ambulance. The tree was drawn/written on paper and had only a few people in it. I still have this tree in the boxes of family tree stuff. I was told by many living relatives that I was not allowed to do the family tree due to things I would find out and they would upset others. Well I didn't listen and I went ahead and did it. 1 of my uncles told me and my mum loads of things linked to the family that were covered up (very well I may add). This means that I have information BUT I can't prove it due to the cover ups. 1 cover up I was able to prove was via information on a death certificate - I had been called a liar when I said about what I knew - £9 and a death certificate later I showed I was right, however, I was still told the information was fake! Another issue was that linked to my Mum's Dad, family member's said that she was...

From AJC This may not be everyone’s take on the them but it’s mine. As I’ve already stated I now live in Cumbria, more precisely the very west coast of Cumbria (well 1mile from the coast but close enough). This is what ignited my thoughts for the theme of “closer to home”. Before I go into things linked to the theme, I need to add some history – the Lackey family originally came from Scotland and were under the name of MacGregor, however due to bad behaviour they were banished from Scotland and sent to Ireland where they lost the MacGregor name and became Lackey’s (it means slave). After my line of the family left Ireland they moved to Durham, and from here they met and married families from Yorkshire and moved further afield. I live in Whitehaven, and on a (very) clear day you can see parts of Ireland from the Whitehaven Harbour, I haven’t yet seen it but it is said you can via the telescopes up on the cliffs and in the museum. I believe it is about 80miles in a direct lin...

Is there a trait or an occupation that seems to have been in your family tree for generations? Is there a line in your genealogy that's been in a particular place for a long, long time? Maybe you have Long as a surname. Be creative! From AJC This topic has taken a bit of thinking of what to write about. My first thought was do I have anyone named “Long” in the tree that I could use (1 lady who is distant relative so not much use or info), I then thought about how “long” it has taken me to do research and such BUT that doesn’t fit with the long line theme, so thinking cap back on and I thought about the longest line of the family tree going back to whoever, but the little voice in my head says “wont most people use this?” I then thought about the Lackey family occupation as boot & shoemakers as a long line, but it wasn’t really that long, so I decide to look at photos for inspiration and that’s when it hit me – My parents wedding photo’s loads of them had a “ Long Line ” ...

What is a favorite family photo of yours? If you're thinking, "Oh, but I don't have any old family photos," remember that you are a part of your family history! It doesn't have to be a photo of a great-great-great-grandfather. What about a favorite photo of someone in a more recent generation, like your parents, siblings, or even yourself. Why is it a favorite photo? What is the story behind it? From AJC This is quite a hard call for week 2. I have so many photographs of family/ancestors, their houses, gravestones, weddings, doing silly things, places of work etc so I wouldn’t like to have to choose just 1 photo. So, I am sort of going to cheat on this, the “ Favourite Photograph ” I have chosen is a photo of loads of photos (taken many years ago) that were sent to me by my Dad’s cousin Morley Lackey. Photo of photos sent to me by my Dad’s cousin Morley Lackey. All of the photos in the photo are copies of the original photos that my Dad’s cousin h...

Some ideas include starting with yourself or whoever the "home person" is on one of your family trees. Maybe you focus on the person who got you started in genealogy or the ancestor you wanted to find first. You could talk about a relative who started a business. From AJC There are so many options of people that I could do for this week, those that left Ireland to go to the UK or to USA to make a new start, those who moved to Australia or New Zealand for a new start or those that moved from 1 place to another for a new start. However, as this 52-week 52 ancestors challenge is by me (Amy-Louise Watson nee Lackey), I feel that it’s only right that I start with myself. I was born in Peterborough on January 3 rd 1982, and grew up there. I spent all of my childhood, my teenage years, my 20s and just into my 30s living there in various places around the town. However, in 2009 myself and family decided we wanted “a new start” after spending time up in the Lake District, ...

2020 is a new year, a new decade and a new challenge for me. I came across a post on a forum that i use linked to the family tree and it sparked something and i decided to give it ago. In fairness i have never heard of this challenge before but it has been going for a few years now. The challenge is called 52 ancestors in 52 weeks (so 1 a week). The idea is the brainchild of Amy Johnson Crow (AJC will be how i reference it on other pages with hyperlink), a link to her website and info can be found here .   Each week I will add a new story about a different ancestor in my tree. I've started this blog for the challenge but it will serve for family history bits as well.  However, the challenge is now on week 5 so i'm a bit behind, but I will rectify that quickly.