It is not a hobby of mine but I do know my family history and enjoy talking about it with my family. I really love looking at old photos. I actually found a bunch of old tintype photos of some of my past relatives that are really cool! I also have a book detailing my family history back to mid 1600's that my Aunt wrote.
I'm hooked on genealogy as well. Had a message from someone in Belfast this week whose first name is Smyrl. He was wanting to know what I knew about the name, He was named for his grandfather.
I've done extensive genealogy work on my family. I kinda got burned out on it. Kept running into brick walls, couldn't find any more information. I put it all away. I'll get it out again in a few years and see if I can turn up anything new.
I find I do it now and again and push back a branch here or there. Eventually of course you run into a brick wall - e.g. one ggggg grandfather - "father" died two years before he was born so it is unlikely I will ever discover who his real father was.
We used to be quite close to the royal family before the fucking commies took over. My nan has a family tree poster from like 1000 years back or something crazy so i don't even need to do any research.
Indeed I do. We have traced my ancestry in the USA back to 1620. And my wife has a chart of her German ancestry that goes back beyond that. It's a great hobby, but it takes a ton of time to do it well.
1620 - what did they do, come over on the mayflower? They reckon Pocahontas now has over 500,000 descendants - maybe she made the smart move marrying an english settler - certainly made sure her seed was kept intact.
Hey! We are related!! (This is why genealogy is so much fun!) I am a descendant of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins!
My name is james thomas smyrl , and I have an interest in my genealogy.. I just dont know when or where to start !!
Start with your parents and grandparents. Ask them what they know. Then go to your local library or birth, death and marriage register. Also the internet is a wealth of knowledge and you may find someone who has already done a significant part of your family tree - once you get to 20 generations you have 1 million ancestors so essentially you will be related to nearly every person you meet somewhere along the line - particularly if you are of the same ethnicity