Genealogy Chat

nudged to share with others

Great stories.Write them down while you can . I never wrote down the things that my late Granma told me but I remember alot of it. She lived a typical New Zealand early farming life and I shared it with her until 1968 when she died.

The old lady next door to me lived to be 91 and was distantly related - her step-father was my great uncle. I went for a chat when she was ninety to ask her if she could remember my gt-grandfather, as by that time she was the oldest person in the village. She told me about another great-uncle, who had had to spend a night in a farm barn (& his family) because he had refused to pay a rent increase and had been evicted and then told me who had lived in every house she passed on her way to school. I was absolutely riveted, especially when she recounted about going to a small-holding every morning for milk. It was run by an elderly spinster and her two batchelor brothers, one of whom was crippled and slept downstairs in the back kitchen and used to flash at her at every opportunity if he could get away with it. It certainly made 1901 census for the village come alive when I transcribed it - would never have got all that info from a record office! Jay

Hi everyone, What lovely stories, you are all so lucky to have known your grandparents, mine all died before I was born. I am very lucky though to have an 80 year old mum who has told me a wealth of stories about her parents and many brothers and sisters living in a small terraced cottage. In the past two or three years I have been trying to remember all these stories and write them down before they become lost for ever. Mum is brilliant, she can still remember loads of funny incidents you just have to get her taking about when she was a child. Daisy

I wasn't fortunate enough to know and of my grandparents, but when i was 4yrs old the old lady next door used to mind me while my parents were at work. She was your typical white haired tall old lady with a severe bun at the base of her neck , she used to get meals on wheels and i always had the pudding which was in a big bowl that you put in the oven.She had blackout shades over all her bulbs, (they looked like chinese hats)this was in the 60s, a chaise longue (very uncomfortable)a cabinet full of 1st war medals(her late husbands)and two of those peckinese dogs at each end of her fireplace.My sister used to go to the shops for her and she would reward her with a jam buttie(my sister hated them)every tuesday was church group (just a meeting of like minded old ladies drinking tea with the local priest)I hated these meeting because i didn't like one particular priest, he scared me. I used to try and con Towney(her real name was mrs Townsend don't know her first name)and tell her 'its raining' she'd say i will take my brolly, and i would be so scared to go out until she promised me a treat A tube of smarties.when she died a distant rellie of hers came and took everything she treasured and before the workmen cleared the rest out they asked my mother(who loved towney) would you like a few momentos, so i went in with my mum and picked my favs, Two of which i still have to this day, one is a slab of rough green glass and so heavy it has chippings of what looks like marble in it, i used to stare in it for hours as a child because towney kept it on the windowsill and it throws out multi coulored light....sorry to ramble but i had forgotten most of this and i have now decided to see if i can find towneys death...MOE!

As a child I spent a lot of time with my Nanna and she told me loads of juicy bits about all the other people who lived in the village. She told me all about being in service and the awful shock on her first morning at work, when she was shaken awake at 5 o'clock in the morning to light the copper, as it was Monday and wash day. She told me nothing about her parents though, although there was a photo of her mother on her bedroom wall, and I always thought it was of the Duke of Edinburgh! Since I've been doing my family history though, I now understand why she never went into all the ramifications of who was who - I would never have been able to follow it all! Let's just say some things are best researched when people are no longer with us!! Jay

Hello Every one I love the stories that you have all left i do so hope that more are added its so loverly to read your memories and for you all share them with us all Thank you . Diana

My Granny used to tell a lovely story about when they took in evacuees. in the part of the country where they lived nobody was , well, other than White skinned, and nanny and grandad got, you have guessed it, two little 'black' refugees. Nanny used to tell the tale that she'd bath them in the tub in front of the fire with bacon fat in the water to oil their skin! Oh how i miss her tales! The tale she did keep to herself was the one that told how her first born died soon after birth. Alice

LOL!! My gran was brill and I miss her loads, but she was NOOOO good for family history! She completely fabricated who her mother was (made up a new person and told me her bio mother was a wicked step mum who came into gran's life when she was three!!) Forgot to mention that she had been married twice (mind you, she didn't mention this at her second wedding either! LOL) Glorified her father so much I truly believed he was the senior librarian at The British Library......... Told be about her Huguenot ancestors (really??! who was that then??) Told me about her gggggggggggg(whatever) grandfather coming over with William the Conquerer (well, someone must have, I suppose?) She was a story teller, but I still miss her! Mind you, with all I've found out, maybe it's a good job she isn't here?? Merry

Dea I forgot I have not changed my name since Xmas is this one better . I think this should be a tribute page for those that have touched our lives in so many ways and my nan has most certinally touched mine not for her knowledge of the family but for the things she did for me there is one thing i didt like about her though she used to do me ringlets on a saturday evening not often but sometimes ready for church on a sunday oh how my head hurt and i was never able to sleep they were so tight with the rags but so preety once done my nan is one in a million . . Diana

I have an Uncle a bit like that who is 87 and has a really good memory. He has given me loads of bits of information that have helped me so much with searching for my ancestors. He always went on and on about bits of info that I could not check as it was around the time of WW2. I recently traced his cousin through Hot Matches who my Uncle was able to talk to on the telephone and now fill in all the missing bits on his relations who are also my relations because my Uncle is my father's brother. Thank God for living relations. Good Luck Irene

Thank's for sharing such a lovely story with us - One thing is sure - you will miss her but obviously will never forget her - I hope there are people who will feel the same about me when I am gone - It makes your life worthwhile. Dea x P.S/ - Just noticed your posing name - Are you SURE Santa's still coming - I thought he had just been - WWhhooppeee - More Prezzies !!! Dea x

Hi I was talking to my nan and she over the years has told me so much about her grandparents even her grandparents siblings . Years ago i thought she was so boring but then i was not interested in my Family tree how i so wish i had written it down or imprinted in my memory . But I am lucky and she is still alive and we do chat on the phone as i live so far away and she is beging to forget things i always have a pen and note pad when we talk so i can jot things down . And sure enough if i check the things she tells me are true . There are some things i cannot check like she told me that her grandmothers mothing law was a bit of a dragon her nan told that they had a lodger Called Harry and of course the mothinglaw thought their was more to it than that so when my nans grandmother gave birth to a son they called him Harry to spite her (Harry the lodger was still living there ). It was my nans Grandads ideato call the child Harry he thought it would be funny . This story was passed on from my nans uncle and parents . It Just gives me another dimension to the sort of people they were . Also I have also found out that my nans Grandmother used to collect spoons and she would have them engraved with her name not sure if it was her full name or just initals but now when ever i go to a car boot i always look at the spoons if i see any you never know what might turn up . My nan said that after her grandmother died the spoons went too she was convinced they were pinched and nobody seems to know where they ended up . I think my nan must have talked with her parents so much about her family so they must have been quite close or just nosey parkers and gossips lol . Shes a vague on dates but good on names we just have to figure out where some fit in . I am going to miss her once she has gone . Diana