Friday 24 September 2010

Family tree

Today has been a much better day and a good end to a stressful week. This morning the marriage certificate of my great-great Grandfather and mother arrived in the post. I needed to know my Great Great Grandmother's maiden name in an attempt to discover the Irish connection, but as yet I haven't been able to find it. Her maiden name was Roche and although there were several Roches born in Ireland, I don't think she was one of them. It's quite disappointing in a way as I always told people that I had Irish blood but unless there is a connection further back, it's looking less and less likely. I have no idea where my Grandmother got this idea from (she always said it was my Great Grandmother but it wasn't) and the sad thing is that she died 3 years ago so I can't talk to her and get any more details.

We're going to go down to Kent on Sunday and will have a look in the village of Stone to see if we can find anything else but time will be limited. The amazing thing is I've been able to look at Parish records on the internet and have found out lots of information this way, including baptism records and wedding certificates. The internet is truly a wonderful resource and has helped tremendously!

I'm very glad the weekend is here and it's been heaven to come home and relax tonight. It's been a real Autumnal day today with a cold wind and the odd spot of rain so it's time to wrap up and get all cosy! Keith celebrated his Birthday today but went to the pub as usual. He was pleased with his presents and cards and we will celebrate properly on Sunday by going to the pub for a meal. It's hard to believe that a couple of years ago on his birthday we were sitting on the beach at St Ives in Cornwall and the weather was gorgeous, warm and sunny...it just shows how fickle our climate can be!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jane
Interesting fing about you GG grandmother. I'm still trying to find information about my dads distant family, but cos thetre Irish, its proving very difficult. What sites are you using? I think i might re-subscribe to Ancestry soon, only the worldwide membership this time. And i know what you mean about different spellings of surnames, its a maze isnt it!
Jiggy :)

Janie said...

It's very frustrating and I'm always worried I'm researching the wrong person!

I use Genes Reunited because I find it easier to navigate my way around the site and Ancestry.co.uk. I also dip into FindMyPast.co.uk and Rootsweb. I'm very lucky that in Kent a lot of the Parish registers have been put online which makes things a lot easier!