The urge to dig deeper never goes away!

[Paul Rixon]

Hi All,

I have been researching my family history on-and-off for several years. Paid some subscriptions, found all the information overwhelming and just couldn't devote the time to keep going.

Retirement looms (18 months and counting)so here we go again.

I used Roots Magic software and luckily had all my previous work backed up on an external hard drive so I installed it onto an old lap top my son gave me and now I am ready to go once again.

I have a fullscap book which I use to write in pencil any info I get on each family member(one page each)birth, marriage, death, addresses, children etc etc. I find it helps to write things down.

My father's family should be straight foreward but with my Grandfather, whose name is Francis Richard Rixon, was always called Dick, and I have two further down the line with the same name Thomas Rixon. Just a couple of examples as to the challenges that lie ahead.

My Mother was Belgian and I have traced back to her parents so far.

My plan is to concentrate on my father's side first and not get distracted by the many off-springs, and theirs, and theirs, which is where the overwhelming bit comes in.

So that's me. A bit of a long winded intro, sorry. Time for a drink

[Lesley Robertson]

Welcome to the British Genealogy Forum, Paul. You’ve hit one of the rules of genealogy, another is that if it were easy, it would not be fun!
Have a look round, have a look at the “stickies” posted at the tops of some forums, and join in. If you had a long break, it’s likely that lots of new info is available...
Enjoy!

[christanel]

Hi Paul and welcome to Brit-Gen
I can see why your great grandfather is causing you trouble as there are no birth, death and marraige records on FreeBMD for a Francis Richard Rixon but there are a great number for just Francis Rixon and one census and birth record for a Dick Rixon.
If you want help just choose a suitable forum (maybe the county forum where he was born?) tell us what you do know about him, wife, children etc and it won't be too long before you get help. Our members love a challenge
Christina

[Pam Downes]

Time for a drink

I suspect that will be the first of many.

Lesley said,

If you had a long break, it’s likely that lots of new info is available..

That is an absolute certainly, as it's amazing what a difference a year can make as regards extra records. You've got a couple of years until the 1921 census becomes available, but in the meantime you've got 1841-1911 census, the 1939 Register, BMD registrations, a lot of parish registers are now online so you don't have to travel to the relevant county archives, electoral rolls, school registers, military service records up to 1921, for starters.
Obviously what's available varies from county to county, and not all of the records can be found on one site, but often your local library will provide free access to either/or Ancestry and Findmypast (FMP). You can take out 'short-term' subs for both companies, as well as a free 14-day trial though for the latter you need to make sure you untick the auto-renew/subscribe box otherwise your bank statement will get a shock! Don't start a free trial until you're fairly organised with a couple of free weekends so you can spend the maximum amount of time searching. Make sure you download any results/images you find, and that you record all the details, e.g. census references, not just the fact that they lived at 111 High Street, Anytown. (Also useful to note if an entry was mis-indexed so that it's easier to find if you do have to go back to it in the future.)

I had a very long gap in my research and found it extremely useful to 'begin again'. When I first recorded the entries in one PR I managed to make five errors in seven entries simply because I was new and didn't really understand about transcribing what it said in the register, and then I managed to get at least one date wrong as well.

Enjoy the hunt.

Pam

[Paul Rixon]

Thanks Christina , Pam,

Turns out he was born out of wedlock. Surely his birth would still be registered.He was 5 years old when his mother married my GG Grandfather. This opens up whole can or worms.I will find a suitable forum and post all the details.
Paul