Shake the tree and nuts fall out!

How many trees to make a Forest Family? So, I ask this question? How many trees does it take to make a family? Many people will probably wonder what I'm on about, think I'm mad etc as trees make forests (and paper) NOT families. This is semi true, trees also make families if you are doing a family tree! So I ask the question again - How many trees does it take to make a family? Many people would say one. In many ways I agree with this BUT in another way I totally don't agree, read on and I will explain my reason and logic for this. As it stands I currently have 15 family trees on my family tree maker. You may be think who needs that many or do I have so many etc. Let me tell you. I have my "main family tree", this doesn't get people added to it until I have a proven link that they are related to me. I have in the past added people as I found them only to find out down the line that they didn't marry my joe blogs, but joe blogs round the corner and had to ...

  Week 7 (Feb. 15-21): Unusual Source – village notice board From Amy Johnson-Crow -  Week 7's theme is "Unusual Source." Not all of our genealogy discoveries come in the "regular" sources like vital records and the census. What is a discovery that you've made using an unusual source? An online Village notice board linked to Saintfield, Ireland is the most “unusual source” that I have gathered information about my ancestors from. Well, technically speaking I didn’t get the information about them off the notice board, I posted an advert onto it a few years ago asking for any information linked to my family who had lived in the area in the 1800's and possibly any who are still living today, and I heard nothing, that was until a couple of weeks ago. VILLAGE NOTICE BOARD I had a lady message me saying she had seen my advert online on the village notice board linked to my “Lackey and Jackson” family of Saintfield, Ireland. She believed she could help me out...

Week 6 (Feb. 8-14): Valentine – Sydney Valentine Fountain For this week’s theme of “Valentine” I can’t say that I have any old love letters or documents that have been handed down, no stories linked to “Valentines ” that I could use (my first marriage was 2 days after “Valentines ” day but we will leave that there!) So I then thought of people I could use and I planned on using my Great Grandfather John “Valentine” Thompson. However, I used him last year under the theme of bearded, and as I have no new information on him it seemed pointless. What I will say linked to him is I have no idea of why or how he got the middle name “Valentine” as he wasn’t born on or near “Valentines” day, it wasn’t his Father’s name or middle name, it wasn’t his Mother’s maiden name or linked to her as far as I can see. I looked through my family tree online did a search for the name “Valentine” and I had a total of 4 people (including John) with the middle name “Valentine” . 1 was John’s son and he o...

  Week 5 (Feb. 1-7): In the Kitchen – John Cook I don’t have anyone with the name of “Kitchen” or similar in my tree, nor do I really have any interesting stories to share about the kitchen (I did think of the kitchen fire I had, but that links to me again), but what do you do in the “Kitchen” ? You cook! And I have Cook’s in my tree. I would like to say before I start on the Cook’s that my youngest son Blake wants to be a chef and has done since her 18months old and had a chef come to his nursery school. I wasn’t sure which of the Cook family to use, but as I was looking through them, I came across a Royal Marine Marriage record (see below). So, I decided to go with this person, especially as none of them were actual Cooks/chefs. John Cook was born 22 nd June 1854 in Brompton Kent. He was the maternal grandfather of the wife of my maternal grandfather, so not really a close link but one of marriage. He was baptised on Christmas Day when he was 7years old. He was the son of Jose...

  Week 4 (Jan. 25-31): Favourite Photo – George Robert Haylock/Alice Adelaide Mason Due to my laptop dying last year I lost many of my photos that I had found online or been sent by other people, but I had many “proper” photos and had scanned them and added to an online family tree. Of my proper photos I think one of my “ favourite photos ” would have to be this one of George Robert Haylock and his wife Alice Adelaide Mason.  It was taken in their daughter Dora’s garden at 26 Longlands Road, Emsworth, but I have no idea of the year but would be before 1962. The photo shows them both very smartly dressed and gives me the impression that they were very proud and well to do people. It seems miles off from what George did for a living as a general labourer and jobbing gardener, of which you would expect him to be quite messy etc. I wonder if it was a wedding, christening or funeral etc, or if when he wasn’t working he did dress this way. Maybe this was Sunday best and they were g...