newbie living in Oz (great site!)

[debsy]

Hi I am so glad I discovered this site! I have a lot of surname interests which I will post in the interests area and a few brick walls. I have only been researching for about a year and, because I live in Australia and can't go to the appropriate County Records Offices, I am subscribed to a site which has helped me in my efforts. (Thank goodness for the internet!) However as it is mentioned on the home page 'Real family history - not just collecting names and dates. Not just to find ancestors and build a family tree, but to put meat on the bones with information about where they lived, how they lived their lives, information about their occupations, and what influenced their thinking and decision making'
I hope to find some of this 'meat' and also to 'meet' others who are addicted to this hobby (or is it obsession?!), maybe find a cousin or two and learn how to trace family before the 1837 date. (I have a couple of marriages from my subscription but I don't know how to search Parish Registers or newspapers.)
I have just read a little on this site about unreliable sources and I, too, have come across a few that have been transcribed incorrectly.
I have purchased a number of marriage certificates and some birth certificates and I wish I had seen this site before doing so as I purchased through the General Register Office online and recently read on this site that it is better to get a copy of 'the real deal' from the parish concerned (or is it county concerned, I can't find that particular post now) so that the original signature is seen. I need to buy some more certificates (Middlesex, Essex and Cambridgeshire) so if anyone has advice it would be appreciated. I also found that the certificates took between 3-4 weeks to arrive - a long time when one is waiting desparately for them to come!
Anyway I have introduced myself enough, now to post my surname interests.
- Deb

[Bo Peep]

Hi Debsy and welcome to Brit-Gen. I am so pleased you like the site and it is great to see you exploring the forum.

[kentish kate]

Heloo Debsy welcome along