Never give up!

[Damselfish]

Good afternoon, I have been researching my late father's family tree (Walmsleys of Lambeth, London, UK, prior to 1940) and have made great strides through joining ancestry.co.uk earlier this month. I was directed to another tree containing one of the names in mine and have been in contact with a lady who is highly likely to be my second cousin because we think we share the same great-grandparents. As I have never met any of my father's family this is potentially very exciting. I have been researching on and off since 2009 and this latest discovery has really galvanised me to keep chipping away. Good luck to all searchers - you will turn up a nugget eventually!

[Pam Downes]

Hello Sue,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

People beginning their research now are so lucky because the number of records online are millions of times more than they were when I first began twenty years ago. Even so, knowing only the place and date of his birth and that he had a sister I managed by about 2016 to get back on my grandfather's paternal line to 1700. The only thing that eluded me was the death of his father. It should have been easy to find, as it's a fairly uncommon surname, but everywhere drew a blank.
In desperation, I posted the details I knew in the forum, and within hours someone had found his death in a Canadian newspaper. I now have a copy of his death certificate, a photo of his headstone, plus a report from an English newspaper about his death.
So, you need lots of determination and a little bit of luck, but you will eventually find your nugget.
Remember also to keep checking because new records are being added all the time. I had allegedly checked the UK papers for great-grandfather's death, but obviously the one with the report of his death had been added online after my initial search.

Pam

[Lesley Robertson]

Don't forget to use traditional genealogy methods as well! It's amazing what you can find.

Like Pam, I started long before DNA analysis became common, and my whole paternal tree started with a photograph of my grandfather, parents and siblings. Because one Great Uncle was in full dress Black Watch uniform, it was possible to date it (he was leaving for the Anglo-Boer War and didn't come home), and then my research turned into a combination of treks to the record office in Edinburgh and waiting for the post to bring a hard copy of the next certificate.

I hope you have as much fun as I did!
As you seem new to these forums, you may find THIS POST useful.

[Guy Etchells]

Good afternoon, I have been researching my late father's family tree (Walmsleys of Lambeth, London, UK, prior to 1940) and have made great strides through joining ancestry.co.uk earlier this month. I was directed to another tree containing one of the names in mine and have been in contact with a lady who is highly likely to be my second cousin because we think we share the same great-grandparents. As I have never met any of my father's family this is potentially very exciting. I have been researching on and off since 2009 and this latest discovery has really galvanised me to keep chipping away. Good luck to all searchers - you will turn up a nugget eventually!

I totally agree.
I have been researching practically all my life and have many of my lines a long way back, however due to my father leaving us I never researched his family history, out of respect to my mum. It was not until after my mum's death in 2004 that I felt free to do some research into his family, found the “official” English records and followed them backwards. Due to “privacy laws” in Canada where he spent his last 38 years I could not find anything of his life there until about 2008/9 when I found a Canadian website which provided online death certificates, this included my dad's. The certificate not only gave details of his death but also that he had remarried and had at least one child.
Unfortunately the signature of the informant (his child) was illegible.
Fast forward to the roll-out of DNA testing, I had my DNA tested and waited, plenty of matches on my mum's side but nothing on my dad's. After a year or so I decided to test with a different DNA testing company and quickly had a response for Canada, a cousin. She knew my father's family and quickly put me in touch with my “new” sister.
As a result I was sent details of my dad's parents & family details of their life in Canada through the 1930s to the present. Including the fact my dad had won the Military Medal in the second World War. My wife and I had been planning to visit Canada to meet that side of the family but then Covid hit so that had to be put on hold for a while.
But to echo Damselfish;685255 “Good luck to all searchers - you will turn up a nugget eventually!”
Cheers
Guy