Who cares about Genealogy anyway?

[AlanC]

Well everyone on this Site and many similar Sites. Family are a great encouragement but my grandchildren, even some mothers and fathers couldn't care less and show no interest. Over the last 6 or 7 years I have acquired a mass of records but who will take them over.......I have no idea. Talking to neighbours and friends I find similar apathy and I don't understand their lack of enthusiasm. Is it only in later life that we wonder about our past...............I certainly belong to that Group.....................didn't know my grandmother's name when I began.
Supporting this Site as I do and to a lesser extent a couple of others, there is plenty of optimism but are we just a narrow band of the population?
I enjoy every second of my researches and I do care about Genealogy but I wonder what experiences other FTM members have had.

[stevefraseruk]

Most people that show an interest are those that seem to be a little older, even though the young do not seem to care now, by the time they get older they become those that are interested.

So do not be disheartened by the lack of enthusiasm now about all your data and records, just make sure that it is passed to another family member to carry on handing it down through the generations.

I only wish that my relatives had kept some records and data to hand down, rather than throwing it away like rubbish into a skip.

Best wishes with your research

[AntonyM]

If you come along to the "Who Do You Think You Are Live" show next month at Olympia, you will see that many of those attending are probably close to retirement age, however there are a few younger faces who turn up.

But I think it is true that for most the interest in family history is something that tends to come along later in life - perhaps as we start to think about our own mortality !

[jammin208]

I am 28 and have been researching for over a year have found loads and bought many certs
. if I mention my research to anyone my own age I have to say no one seems interested.
and I do worry who if anyone will follow on with my tree.
I find it really interesting and once I started don't think I can stp.x

[Guest]

Shame there isn't a company that stores your tree for you, till a family member decides to start research, you could leave details of it in your will.

[Janet]

Although I started my Family History in the 1950's, I have to say that starting then was more luck than anything else. My mother was probably always interested and certainly had a lot of information, and when I left home to live in Gravesend for a year she gave me some interesting information about a Great Uncle buried in Northfleet as well as some addresses of family members living in the London/Kent area. Like most young people I promptly forgot all about both, and enjoyed life to the full as any young person of 20 would do! I left Gravesend after a year but returned three years later with a friend who later became my OH! It just so happened that he was interested in Paper Manufacture and my Great Uncle buried at Northfleet had been the Manager of the local Paper Mill with a history of invention of all sorts of things, so together we worked on this person's family history for four years. That was my start which included researching newspapers, old maps of the area, Public Record Office and Births Marriages and Deaths. It all came to a grinding halt when we married, had children and jobs so no time, and the interest waned, despite my mother's interest! Now how I regret that disinterest of mine! I grind my teeth regularly on how much information I could have had if only I had shown the interest! Interest began to return when my father died and I started asking questions, but then Aunts died before I could ask more questions and my mother's memory went before I could ask her more questions and nothing was written down!

After all the older relatives had gone, I became passionately interested in Family History and this seems to be the pattern for most people. I know a few young ones who are interested but not many so I do have some hope that one of the young ones will take on the mantle once I have gone, even though they show no interest now!

I have been warned that any books/booklets that I have written along with Family Trees, other documents on my computer and BMD certs etc will be kept, but that any unsorted material willl most probably end up on the skip! So it is up to me to leave written documents and sort and organise what I have done so far. At least my young ones will have a written legacy which I did not have! That is really all we can hope for!

Janet

[AntonyM]

Shame there isn't a company that stores your tree for you, till a family member decides to start research, you could leave details of it in your will.

I think we should all certainly consider what happens to our research when we are gone, and if possible record those wishes in a will. If no-one else is interested, The Society of Genealogists will take your research for their archive, and make it available to other researchers.

[Guest]

Antony thats wonderful do they charge much ? must google as none of my lot are interested either.
Janet how I wish I'd have listened too ,I am lucky in that one old aunt is still around and has told me lots and also sent me photos.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Antony thats wonderful do they charge much ? must google as none of my lot are interested either.
.

Val, some info here ..

http://www.sog.org.uk/learn/share-your-knowledge/

[AlanC]

I'm relieved to read your comments and it's looking like something that begins later rather than earlier in life.
Living on the Wirral Antony, it will be too far for a day trip to Olympia though the prospect appeals to me.........I'm guessing but you'll probably have a 'stand' there?

[Elizabeth Herts]

I'm lucky as my elder daughter loves genealogy as much as I do, although she has far less time for it. I will just offload it all onto her.

I'm interested that the Society of Genealogists want people's research as I was under the impression that you had to prove its accuracy in the past. Are they selective in what they take? We all know that some research isn't as accurate as it could be...

[Guest]

thanks Elaine shall have a look , and by the way nice to see you

[Olde Crone Holden]

Elizabeth

I think SoG takes the research "as is" and leaves it upto members of SoG to judge the accuracy for themselves, with the high standards of proof which SoG members would require.

OC

[vera2013]

My three nieces have access to my tree. So a good start if they or their children wish to carry on. They all showed an interest when I met them recently. My own daughter shows no interest but then she often glazed over at my over enthusiasm at a 'find'.

Vera

[Jill on the A272]

So far the older generation have been quite interested in my research though not all can use a computer so it cost me rather a lot for printing and mailing, my own generation have shown limited interest and the younger generation none at all! That's why I have chosen to have a public tree and have had the benefit of more distantly related contacts who share an interest.

[AntonyM]

I'm relieved to read your comments and it's looking like something that begins later rather than earlier in life.
Living on the Wirral Antony, it will be too far for a day trip to Olympia though the prospect appeals to me.........I'm guessing but you'll probably have a 'stand' there?

No - I won't have a stand, but will be on a desk in the Society of Genealogists "Ask the Experts" section and probably also on the AGRA (Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives) stand at some point.

[webwiz]

The most disappointing thing for me is the number of second and upwards cousins that I have tracked down but have not even replied to my letter of introduction. I suppose there are so many scams these days that people are suspicious of cold approaches.

[insane40]

When my parents were doing the family history research in the 70s and 80s, I was one of those who wasn't really interested, I do remember some things that they did tell me like the great, great grandmother with one eye and a great uncle who fell in a fire and died, but the rest wasn't of any interest. Then when my dad died I suddenly wanted to know where I came from and took over where he and my mum left off. I wish I has asked lots of questions it's now too late to ask and wish they were here now to see just how much information I have got on both sides. My own children aren't interested now, but I suspect that when they get older they will be like me and wish they had asked questions. My own children have told their friends to "ignore mum she spends too much time with dead people"!!

[bcbrit]

My children - now in their mid to late twenties are beginning to show signs of interest.

Over the years I have practised " throw aways " on them.

This is a very quick fact or short story about someone.

I told my niece who hates her middle name that it has been passed down through every generation, starting in 1793. This blew her away and she wanted to know a little bit more.

My daughter loves shopping in Oxford Street, London. I told that her 3 x great grandfather died in the workhouse just behind the Marks and Spencer in the lower end of Oxford Street.

My son knows the story of his great grandfather who signed up to fight in WW1, just before he turned 16 years old.

I have tried very hard to keep stories short and sweet, and what they can relate to.

My daughter has suggested that when I am ready, she will help me make a web site for both sides of the family.

I have my fingers crossed that she or my son will pass the stories down.

bcbrit

[PhotoFamily]

A third cousin just passed on photos of my grandmother, my grandmother's mother and father, and my grandmother's siblings. I had seen most of the photos before - she gave me the actual photos

There were two of my grandmother I hadn't seen before. I scanned them and sent them to all of my relatives who knew her in her lifetime. No response. Very disappointing.