The end of a chapter

I dived into ancestry research headfirst in about April, and have really enjoyed it.

My mum and aunt never knew about their father's side of the family as he wouldn't talk of them. So part of that mission has been to build a story.

Today I feel a bit of a sense of closure in one story.

My great grandfather I traced him from birth, spent ages down the wrong avenue as I was a newbie and trusted Ancestry.com's suggested info (lesson learnt!). I've chased him around from address to address - boy did he move a lot. (A bit like me, I wonder if I get that from him.)

And then after 1939 I had no detail. And I finally found what I thought was his death record, and bought the cert on a punt... and today it came through it was him.

Seeing his name staring back at me. And knowing where he ended up, it feels like closure.

I feel a little sad. I've followed him around and now it feels like the end.

I know its not really the end, so much other research to do... and no info from 1939 to 1966 on him (and possibly never will).

But I just wanted to share! It feels like a big chapter in an interesting journey. He's probably be the stand out one for me as I've been able with perseverance to piece it together bit by bit.

This is a lovely story and now knowing where and when he died must give you a sense of closure. I can understand if you also feel a little bereft after spending so much time searching but now you can pick up on one of your other difficult ancestors without the niggle in the back of your mind that you need to get your great grandfather sorted. :smile5:
Christina

Thinking about it, your story is similar to mine. Even his surviving child (my aunt) knew very little about her father/my grandfather's life apart from where he was born and that he had a sister. I found out a whole lot about his father and his other siblings, the one thing missing being the death of his father/my great grandfather. Thanks to a wonderful forum member he was eventually found, buried in Canada. The icing on the cake being that he has a small headstone, and there's a photo of it on Find-a-grave.

Pam

I feel I now want to share another closed chapter, but the complete opposite end of the feeling. You guys I think get this emotional journey.

The person I mentioned above, I have been tracking one of his sons. And I admit I've gotten emotionally involved in all this. A lot of people potentially have not married, not had kids... and (channelling my own life issues admittedly) I am aware of these people not being forgotten. A bit of a mission to remember them.

I went down a long chain of information and luck that led me to where I arrived.

The 1939 register > find his death > order death cert > contact person on that certificate on Facebook > she tells me where he was buried > talking to that council who told me where he was buried > I travel 2+ hours to find his grave > gravestone hurrah, I find other names on the gravestone > I find an obituary for one of them > I find siblings on ancestry > I post in Facebook group with their names > I get linked to someone > I speak to her > bombshell.

The bombshell was let's just say... he was a bad person. And while I am always cautious to be 'balanced', the message was unambiguous. And it just kind of fits with other data I found.

I'm quite shellshocked. This was the brother my grandfather. My grandfather was a great person. It seems the rest of his family were troubled, or just bad people.

As a piece of research - utter success. I have gone through such a path and I have my answers.

But also the utter sadness of learning of skeletons in the closet. That this person I wanted to find out and remember was not a good person.

Researching is such a path of reward and pain I am learning... but so worth it overall. I'll be back on Ancestry tomorrow for the next mission.

Good Luck with your hunting, antonyf.
There are bad apples in every barrel, and there's usually a reason.
And we can't change the past.
What happened, happened.
Move on.

Jane

Quote:

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Originally Posted by antonyf

I dived into ancestry research headfirst in about April, and have really enjoyed it.

My mum and aunt never knew about their father's side of the family as he wouldn't talk of them. So part of that mission has been to build a story.

Today I feel a bit of a sense of closure in one story.

My great grandfather I traced him from birth, spent ages down the wrong avenue as I was a newbie and trusted Ancestry.com's suggested info (lesson learnt!). I've chased him around from address to address - boy did he move a lot. (A bit like me, I wonder if I get that from him.)

And then after 1939 I had no detail. And I finally found what I thought was his death record, and bought the cert on a punt... and today it came through it was him.

Seeing his name staring back at me. And knowing where he ended up, it feels like closure.

I feel a little sad. I've followed him around and now it feels like the end.

I know its not really the end, so much other research to do... and no info from 1939 to 1966 on him (and possibly never will).

But I just wanted to share! It feels like a big chapter in an interesting journey. He's probably be the stand out one for me as I've been able with perseverance to piece it together bit by bit.

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Why can't you research from 1939 to 1966, there are records available, for instance Electoral Registers, there was a break for the war years but you can always work back from 1966 to 1945/6?
There may even be work records for him depending where he worked and various other records.

Family history is never complete there is always something else to discover, I started my research as a child many decades ago and am still discovering new details.
Having said that there are no rules if you feel you have completed one part of your tree to your satisfaction then you have it's as simple as that.
Enjoy your journey.
Cheers
Guy