I have been told not to trust the findings of others and to check, check and check again before adding any names to my family tree.
One problem I have come across is that people often don't appreciate being told that they have got something wrong.
Most of the mistakes others have made with regards to my particular tree surrounds my paternal grandmother Florence Steward whose maiden name was Payne.
I popped a photograph onto my family tree of her. It was taken with her holding my aunt when my aunt was a baby. This picture was copied by numerous people and added to their trees. So far so good, but the majority of those trees have my grandmother being born in Leicestershire. My grandmother was born in Norwich and never left the city. She died about three miles from where she was born. This I am 100 per cent sure of from official documents and from talking to her, my aunt and my father when they were alive.
The problem is that there are so many other people who have copied the Leicestershire myth. Not only have they got the wrong Florence Payne (Steward), they have got her parents, her grandparents and so on completely wrong. They have a whole side of their family trees completely incorrect.
I started to write to a few of these people to point this out and just gave up when some of them insisted that it was I who had got the names wrong and not them. It infuriated me to some extent.
One guy also claimed that my grandmother emigrated or came from America, I forget which, and they had photographic evidence. They even sent me a picture of a woman. It looked nothing like my grandmother. I informed them of this and they responded by telling me I didn't know what I was talking about. At times I do feel like screaming.
If you are doing family research keep an open mind and check, check, check.
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As you know I like to post meaningful song lyrics on this blog. I have long held the opinion that some song lyrics are as much poetry as the likes of Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth and all the other classical poets.
Sometimes I come across a song lyric that resonates with me and I end up playing the song over and over.
Take this one for example which comes from a singer songwriter I had never heard of. I will tell you his name tomorrow. This is a beautifully simple song entitled "David's Prayer."
"Give me faith
To lead an upright, honest life
To sleep soundly through the night
And let all life be followed as it should.
And may my children
And their children's children live
Learn to take and learn to give
And let all life be followed as it should".
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I have been listening to a few podcasts recently. Thought it was time I got into the modern world. I must have a short attention span as I often get fed up with them after a few minutes.
I saw that a podcast had been launched about The Cavern Club in Liverpool and so decided to have a listen. I lasted about five minutes on each episode. The problem for me is that many of these podcasts are run by two or three podcasters who start with minutes worth of what is generally described as meaningless banter designed to make the listener think what jolly fun people the presenters are.
I find this all dull and pretty irrelevant. So here's your challenge for the day. Can anyone recommend an interesting podcast for me? Trying to find the right one is like trying to find a way out of a jungle.
I did a few podcasts myself a few years ago about Hethersett and actually interviewed the guys from Home Farm Gin.
I wasn't particularly happy with the results though and the time factor was another problem. I will at some point have another go but I need to sort out a proper format and subject matter. Any help in this direction would be greatly appreciated.