Genealogy has been my hobby since 1999 and I find it totally absorbing but also very frustrating when I come across yet another brick wall.
What always fascinates me is that we can never be certain who are ancestors really are. Even if we think we know our parents, grandparents, etc., they or their parents may have had affairs, or you or your ancestors may be adopted and never told about it. There are so many reasons and circumstances why our families or ancestors may not be who we think they are. I know one little boy who grew up thinking his grandmother was his mother. His birth mother was really his eldest sister.
You’ll find my (perceived) ancestors under “Lancashire Ancestors” at http://www.ancestry.com until I have them all on here.
My family names from direct ancestors are: Smith, Alker, Pennington, Barton, Thistlewood, Holt, Clayton, Evans, Westhead, Bryers, Booth, Murphy, Peers, Edgar, Tabener, Halliwell, Arrowsmith, Atherton, Marsh, Greenhach, Barton, Fishwick, Birch, Tyrall, Webster, Johnson, Wnstanley, Holcroft, Winstanley, Knowles, Green, Ascroft, Lunt, Bickerstaffe, Davies, Sampson, Mercer, Haselden, Rawsthorne, Foster, Birchall,
My Holt ancestors are listed on http://www.joseph-holt.org
along with many other Holt ancestors (not my family) from Ireland, England and Australia.
Author -Carole Parkes 
you are so right! we will never truly be certain of who our ancestors really were! but, it is such fun to be on the adventure 🙂 I’d found my husband’s grandfather’s side after decades of no one knowing – so it is kind of exciting!
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I know that feeling so well, Debi. My husband didn’t know anything about his father and paternal ancestors until I delved into the records. It’s like hunting for treasure, isn’t it?
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LOL! absolutely. I just about did a happy dance, the family looked at me…like I was nuts 🙂 I have always loved history though, you too?!
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Unfortunately, My history teacher wasn’t very imaginative, consequently. I missed lessons whenever I could. Now, I love history after seeing earlier events rather than the Modern History they taught us.It was all the agricultural society and then early manufacture. The Tolpuddle martyrs etc. Genealogy fascinates me. I’m up against several brick walls at the moment so thought I’d lay off a bit until some new records come out. I’m Into the late 1700s now though, and proving links is so much harder without the civil records.
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I’m fairly rigid on rellies that are close up, for details but the further back they are, the more leeway there is for err. so i’m not so ‘intense’ lol. I do find errs a lot. I’ve read 1 out of 10 children, were in fact NOT the designated fathers. I was shocked. 🙂
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I did two branches of my family tree. I learned a lot about my family and had fun doing it. I do have admit though at times it was hard work. I spent a week looking through families in an area I knew my family came from so I could figure out which family trees were not mine. Once I knew which ones were not mine, I could see my family’s line. It was massive days of grave yard searches and shifting through other people’s family trees. Trust me it was one oversized headache but well worth the trouble. The day I knew which line was mine was one of my happier moments in life. 🙂
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Isn’t that breakthrough moment wonderful? It’s worth all the frustration.
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Thanks for following my blog – I hope you continue to enjoy it!
I have been tracing my family for about the last five years and have managed to dig my way back to the late 1500s. I thought ‘Rigby’ was an unusual name until I made my way up to Lancashire! Funnily enough they came from Newburgh near Ormskirk – presumably you know it? Along the way they married Claytons and Athertons; I tried following your link out of curiosity but only got to the Ancestry home page. It’d be funny if we were connected!
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First of all, may I congratulate you on getting back so far in such a short time. I’ve been doing my tree for fifteen years but have only gone back to the late seventeen hundreds for most of my lines except one, where I’ve reached the 1600’s. I find the records too vague at that stage to be sure you have the correct family. I have ancestors from Newburgh too; mine have the surname Edgar. Newburgh is only about two miles from where I live.
I do have a Catherine Rigby (b 15/Apr/1831, Ashton-in-Makerfield) who married James Waterworth (b 1829, Upholland). She is the only Rigby so far in my tree. I also have a Clayton brick wall but the family I’m seeking lived in Liverpool. My gt gt grandmother Elizabeth Ann Clayton (b 1834) was the daughter of George Clayton and Martha Peers. They both died in 1847, when George was only 47 and Martha was 49. I don’t think I have my full tree on Ancestry but when you reach their home page (from my link), click the search button and scroll down to ‘public family trees’. then type ‘Mary Edgar’ this will bring you to my gt gt grandmother born in Newburgh. She came from a big family so you might find an interesting name in her siblings’ marriages. I’m pleased we connected.
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I share your fascination with genealogy. My manuscript, The Last Cherry Blossom, is about my mother’s family story in Hiroshima during the last year of World War 2. So nice to have met you through your blog 🙂
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It sounds a fascinating story. I have my mother’s bigraphy and was thinking of posting it on a website specific to the area she lived. My mum’s story would only be of interest to them. Yours would be far more marketable. These stories should be preserved.
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Thank you Carol. That is what I am hoping a publisher will say:) I look forward to your future blog posts.
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You highlight a lot of ambiguities in ancestry claims! LOL…You are so right! Guess…it would be safe to say that we are all interconnected!
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I don’t doubt it for a moment. Pleased to meet you cousin, ha ha.
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Just one question, in your artwork, are some of the images photographs? If not they are brilliant.
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None of the images in my artwork page are photographs. They are all my own paintings. Thanks for the great compliment though, thinking they were snaps.
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My ancestors were from Yorkshire England. Our family tree is traced back to the 1600s. truly fascinating stuff to learn.
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Oh you’re not too far from my patch then. My ancestors were mostly from Lancashire, one branch from Kirkby Lonsdale and a couple from Ireland. My husband’s famly seem to be from all over the place, much more interesting than mine. His Gt gt Grandfather was a Russian Mariner and his Gt gt Grandmother was born in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, the daughter of a Ship Master also born in Stornoway. The Gt gt Grandmother was living in Liverpool in 1871 with her cousin Josephine Scarlett. That sounds such an exotic name I’m sure I could write a story about her, purely fiction of course as I now nothing aout her.
I really enjoyed looking through your wordpress site. I noticed we enjoy similar things and you used one of your paintings for your book cover which is exactly what I did. Keep up the good work.
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Interesting history. I probably have relatives in your area too! I look forward to reading your stories. Thank you for visiting my blog! So glad you appreciate my work.
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