I know it's been said before BUT....

[allie island]

GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE!

I was idly doing so, and found one of my elusive 'names' on the Essex Family History site.
I sent an email through their connection service and got a lovely reply which has filled in some gaps

If like me you forget to Google occasionally, just a reminder ;)

[Uncle John]

It can also be a salutary reminder of what is floating around there in the public domain. Some time ago I googled my surname, and found inter alia a review of a holiday cottage my daughter had stayed at, a newsgroup contribution from me more than 10 years ago and the fact that my grandfather was a founder vice-president of the Institution of Marine Engineers.

[allie island]

Fame at last! LOL!!

[Olde Crone Holden]

I think everyone should Google at least twice a day - it is so good for you!

Yes, I have found some amazing stuff by googling - stuff I would never have thought to look for, if you see what I mean.

I recently got an excellent contact with a third cousin simply because I googled in desperation, the funny little name of a tiny hamlet in Scotland.

It picked up a six year old message on Rootsweb and she replied almost immediately saying she had quite given up hope on this branch of the family. We have now filled in each other's missing info.

(A previous google search using this man's surname had produced nothing, or if it did, I missed it in the 900 pages google offered me)

OC

[Just Gillian]

Can I put in a word for "google images" here?

Just for a change I put some surnames into it today and was surprised how many photos of gravestones showed up - ones I hadn't come across on Find a Grave and the like. Quite handy as several were early 1900s and had "son/daughter of" etc so filled some gaps where the earlier generation had emigrated but had left no trace.

[Roger in Sussex]

Don't forget google books, particularly doing a search on the full text entries.

[Mary from Italy]

Yes, it's worth repeating a Google books search once a month, because they seem to be adding new stuff all the time.

[Little Nell]

Googling is great - and the more you do it, the better you get at doing it.

Examples of things I've found by googling:

mention of Will of gt gt gt grandfather of OH (Will was complicated and it was in a legal book, gave info about the Will which saved me having to get it!)

I found the road where my gt grandfather dropped dead - it had changed names twice since his death, which is why I hadn't found out where it was previously

various baptisms, census entries, court cases involving ancestors.

[Muggins in Sussex]

Couldn't agree more, Alison.

I found amongst some old family photos a photo of a young man on a hillside with the name "William Clough" written on the back - spent ages looking for William Clough (and getting other people to help me).

Then I googled and immediately discovered that William Clough was the name of the hill on which the man was standing! William Clough is a perfect way to ascend from Hayfield onto the Kinder Plateau - a photo - Walking Britain :o:o

And I'd even found a William Clough on Ancestry!

[Harrys mum]

I google very day. Google books has given me three wills so far with all the family fighting that went with them.

Google images has given me great piccies of OH's family's houses.

[Michael]

Unfortunately Googling tends to be of fairly limited use when you're dealing with Joneses - if I Google my name the first result which comes up is a Sussex estate agent!

[Olde Crone Holden]

Ah, that's why you need to think outside the box, Michael! If your Joneses lived at 33 Acacia Avenue, google that instead, or Google

"Fred Jones 1899" which cuts down the hits dramatically.

I know these things Michael, cos I once made the mistake of Googling for the surname "Green" lol and got two million pages of hits for everything from Greenpeace to suppliers of green paint.

OC

[Richard]

Brilliant!

Thought I would follow OC's advice take a punt and Google at least two names or places on my tree a day. Already had a result. Long ago got stuck on ancestor Matthew Vincent of Long Burton died 1759. Just found his will!....have googled before, but that certainly wasn't there last time . That's give more something to chew over this holiday weekend! Great stuff.

[jenoco]

I've also found something different. I Google regularly and never thought to try for addresses or anything other than surnames but I've just found a photo my dad sent to the heritage department of the town where he grew up. It's of my dad and his brothers in the 1920s, with a local "character". That was a big surprise!

[Sheila from Down Under]

I must be honest I forget to Google, I am trying to find Anna Brunsdon, and so I thought well I'll give it a go to see what happens and was so exited that I found her , clicked on the link and guess what???? I was reading my own thread on FTF I saw my White fluffy cat was my face red :o
Sheila
walking cat.gif

[Northern Light]

I'm always googling and have found some really good snippets on my family.

I came unstuck the other day though when I was googling two surnames...... Almond and Topping, I ended up with some fantastic apple pie recipes ..:D

[Jill on the A272]

You should try having family called Crisp who are in the leather business. There are some very strange sites ou there.

[Just Gillian]

lol Jill!

I was amused, on googling my mother's birth address in Scotland, to find a planning application to convert it to a dwelling place. I wonder what it was considered before?

And I bet they didn't keep her cupboard bed in the kitchen wall when they did it up!

[allie island]

I'm always googling and have found some really good snippets on my family.

I came unstuck the other day though when I was googling two surnames...... Almond and Topping, I ended up with some fantastic apple pie recipes ..:D

LOL!!
Maybe you could pass them on :D

[Sunny Kate]

Must admit to neglecting google in relation to family history so this thread was a good reminder to take action. Decided to google Highgate Cemetery where 3 x great grandfather is buried and actually found a coloured photo of the monument on his grave!