Amongst my many gifts, I got 'Family Tree Maker 2010'

[panik]

Which carries the proud boast, 'No 1 selling family history software!' It includes a 6 months membership of Ancestry (wow, that thing is expensive!) and 50% off the cost of an ancestry DNA test. (meep. Wonder what that will show up?).

So last night I took it out of its box and fired it up on the ole' Compaq.

I've been looking at Dad's family - my mum's side are quite posh, well documented and decidedly dull, tbh (a long, long line of forkers, as a friend once put it). Dad's, much more of a mystery and it's been interesting to see who they were and where they came from but most of all - good golly, those people had harsh lives!

Let's take the Beresford's of Crich on my dad's grandmother's maternal line. Living in one small workman's cottage (basically the same sort of place I live in now, a front room, a back kitchen, a bedroom and a loft, earth closet out the back - in Crich! Lol. That house, if it still exits, will probably set you back at least quarter of a million these days, but I digress).

From the 1851 census, we have: James Beresford, age 64, working as a limestone quarryman. His wife Martha, 60, son Joseph, 36, and James 34, both limestone quarrymen, Joseph's wife Elizabeth, 36, washerwoman, granddaughter Harriett (sic) age 11 and Alfred aged 9, both working as cotton mill gleaners. Also a lodger (where did they put him? Remembering my Dad grew up one of 9 children in a house smaller than this), James Hunt, age 70 also working as a limestone quarryman. There's a long list of dead babies in the births and deaths.

Never ever let me complain about my pathetic life of ease ever again.

I''m also finding a lot of  family lore coming true. I got to the Beresford's via a widowed great aunt Theresa, living with my great grandparents when my grandpa was a child, in 1901. In the  1891 census, she's still down as a widow, listed as 'head of house' at another address, living with an older brother (that seems unusual for the time? Assume she was the main earner, the name on the rent book?) whose name is James MacKay (yes Sentinel peeps! Tis in the very blood!) listed as being born, not in Sheffield like all the rest but in Weedon barracks (which I believe is in Northamptonshire) - My Dad (James) was told he was named for a Scots ancestor who emigrated to America, so this looks a promising lead.

Another family story is that the family had ancestors in Eyam at the time of the plague who are listed in the great book there and, indeed, I find a branch of the poor Beresfords in Eyam in the 1851 census, I'll have to dig and see if they were there in the 17C.

I've only used it for an evening, barely scratched the surface of what the software does yet but, cool, ain't it? *g* A terrible time-waster but decidedly cool. I might have a crack at gramma's side next, see what that turns up before we get too far back and it starts getting tricky. I have dad's family back to the mid 18C now but I suspect it'll get harder as we travel further back - not helped by the fact we have a plethora of names like George Walker, James Walker and etc who are like needles in a haystack in this bit of Yorkshire. Best of all, Dad, who reckoned he couldn't remember 'anything' did start to remember - names, addresses, stories - as I asked 'is this him? Is this the one?' over and over. it's been great for him, too but gosh, I miss my mum for all of this, she'd have remembered everything. ::sigh::

I found Mum's sister, too; Joan Foster, d. 1928 age 2 yrs, there amongst the vast list of under 5s, lest we forget how bloody lucky we are to live when we do.

ETA: OMG! Heavy heavy sudden snow! It was blue and clear and thick with frost when I started writing this. Oh wow, that's a lot of snow, falling on ice, there goes my stroll in the woods. Better stay in and eat a mince pie I think, for purely medicinal purposes of course, fortitude against this terrible weather. ::nod::

Comments

[miwahni.livejournal.com]

That's so cool! It's interesting to trace back, see where your roots are. One of my 50th birthday presents was a thick binder full of family history, and a huge long wall scroll showing family tree back to the 1600s. My stepmum is really heavily into genealogy and spent hours compiling, tracing, obtaining copies of certificates of BDMs etc.
Once upon a time in Oz no-one wanted to uncover a convict past; now it's considered quite the social thing to have ancestors who came out on the First Fleet. No such claims to fame here though.

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Wow - fascinating stuff - I had no idea that family history software was so good now. ::wets lips and eyes bank balance:: The death of babies really brings you up short, doesn't it? My mum's mum was one of the youngest of her family, and she once told me that there were 23 children, although we can only find actual evidence for about 10 making it to adulthood. Presumably there are 13 or so babies out there somewhere, buried and forgotten. It doesn't help that they re-used names of dead children; I only discovered very recently I had two Aunt Mays - the one I adored who lived into her 90s, and the one she replaced who died at a few months of age. So sad.

And you've got more snow? We had a sort of powdery dusting last night that froze into the frost, and everything is pale and sparkly this morning. Mince pies cure many of life's ills. I think I'll go take a dose myself.

[discord26.livejournal.com]

Be careful...genealogy is like crack. Once you get started it may take an intervention to get you away from it.LOL I started three years ago and I've found and fully sourced three thousand relatives/ancestors back to the 15th century. I've finally taken a break but I'm almost ready to dive in again.

[fingers.livejournal.com]

Oh sounds really interesting .... and fun.

We have the white stuff here - almost can't see anything but snow...

[knitty-woman.livejournal.com]

About 15 years ago I got my mom FTM - she never used it, and I took it. My son had a heritage project a couple of years ago, and while he was bored stiff, I got really inspired. Even with old software, I was amazed at how much I was able to find out. I can only imagine what new stuff is included in the current edition. And I think I got a 30-day free trial on Ancestry.com, which was extremely useful. Six months free - that's quite a gift. Have fun!

[snycock.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's amazing - I had no idea that genealogy programs were that well-referenced. Sounds like a good way to while away the hours while it snows there... :-)

[frostdoll.livejournal.com]

I really enjoy hearing about people family history! Most probably because my family was never into sharing this kind of stuff and compared to some I don't know a whole lot about great-grandparents or so.

I was just talking about your post with my parents (65 years old) over dinner, while my mother recalls something (if pressed) my father hasn't any story about his father's family so he went into a huff when we pointed out his side wasn't into talking about family matters.

[hermitsoul]

Oh, genealogy! So very addictive, so potentially expensive, but so, so rewarding! *sigh*

Thankfully, in America most libraries I've been to have subscriptions to Ancestry as does the Latter Day Saint's church (not a member, but they do share their research facilities with non-members). Plus, I found quite a bit of information through Rootsweb and other free volunteer projects.

[bennys-mum.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I love genealogy! I have a trial version of Reunion that's years old, but no one felt it worth while to give me the full version, despite my many requests.

When i look for info, it's usually through the canadian archived which doesn't get me that far. I have boxes of family info in my basement though!

There's a canadian show called Ancestors in the Attic. It's very cool. I'm almost out of time for the moment, but I'll try to come back a little later in the day and tell you about it.

[bennys-mum.livejournal.com]

So, Ancestors in the Attic has a somewhat goodlooking but rather dorky host, and then there's an archivist. Each episode, they try to answer someone's genealogical question, like, "am I related to Sir Wilfrid Laurier." One episode was very cool. There was a black woman who was born in england, but had lived most of her life in canada, and was told stories all her life about what it was like to live in... Shoot I don't remember, one of the islands below the states. They did a dna test, which might be the same as what you mentioned above, and that told them, definitely, two of the African groups she was descended from. So then, they took her to Africa to let her meet one of the groups. It was very cool! They usually take the person somewhere, since large portions of the canadian population have not been here all that long.

Anyway, I really like the show. I don't know if there are others like it, but it's cool!