#52 Ancestors Month 1 Foundations

My choice of Foundations was quite simple as I had recently had a death certificate, for a Christmas present no less!!!  It was for my 2x great grandmother Alice Tilbee who had married Samuel White in 1842 in Kent.  This is on my father's maternal side.

My father's side of the family has always taken a bit of a back seat in terms of research.  One side is hampered by illegitimacy in the family direct line and the other by the lack of many images and resources for the family in Kent but that is now changing courtesy of Find My Past.  It also got put to one side as my father died and I wanted to concentrate on my mother's side all the whilst she was alive.

The topics for Foundations include Favourite find, favourite photo and curious.

My favourite find has to be the time, admittedly a few year ago now, that I found I had a name error for my paternal great grandmother and her surname wasn't Simpkins at all, but Linkins.  I was then able to visit the correct registry office and get a copy of the certificate and have an enjoyable time going round some of the villages the family lived in.  

Going back to Alice Tilbee it was great to find that there was a One Named Study for Alice's mother, Dorcas Vant.  The ONS have been so helpful in sharing information with me.

Favourite photo has to be one of my grandmother and two similar looking ladies....who are they?  She only had one sister.  Photos of my grandmother on the top row and I believe she is on the right in the bottom photo.

Curious has to be, and always will be, how my female ancestor met and had a relationship with the father of her illegitimate child.  Had he moved down from Scotland before or after the child was born.  It will be something that will never get an answer.

This is my monthly posting for the #52 ancestors project by Amy Johnson Crow.  It sets the scene for the family line I will be exploring in the months to come.

Next month will see me finding new information for "Branching Out"

2022 Family History Goals

 I really don't know why I choose goals for my family history when I don't make New Year's resolutions!!!

This year I am going to try to be a little more committed about my family history because I have found that covid and other personal issues have taken my mind off the ball.  It is almost as though there is little room left in my brain to tackle DNA and brickwalls.  It has been so easy to watch webinars, follow ancestry tweeps on Twitter and occasionally be prompted by a new match on my DNA.

To that end, my goals are fairly small and can be broken down into small bits but it will need the support of my family history friends to keep me on track and kick me up the posterior sometimes.

My first goal is to switch on my laptop more as that is where I find it easier to work across multiple internet sites and compare to matches and research finds.

My second goal is take part in 52Ancestors in 52Weeks run by Amy Johnson Crow.  She sets topics for every week of the year to prompt you into doing research and sharing but this year it is also possible to do 12Ancestors in 12Months by just working on the month's theme.

My third goal is to do more about researching on my Dad's Kentish side from the villages around Ashford, Kent.

Finally my fourth goal is to start writing short stories about my ancestors so that my grandchildren are more likely to be interested.

I haven't included a DNA target because I am hoping that will come naturally within my four goals.