Thread: Hello again

Hi

I love this new site, it looks so cheery and friendly, I have not been doing very much recently, had a stinker of a cold, but it is now clearing up, has left me a bit tired though and feeling rather lazy.

However, it is Christmas eve, so Merry Christmas to all, I hope to visit a bit more in the coming New Year and meet everyone again.



I have recently been having great results in my research enquiries and have been delighted by some of the help I have been receiving from some great guys. It certainly does pay off to be a member of v arious sites, there seems to be always someone out there with some of the answers. I don`t know where they find them (why did I not find them!) anyway, if any of you are looking in you will hopefully recognise yourself, and know just how much I appreciate all the help I`ve been given, I have been overwhelmed by the kindess of people and the help they offer. Especially the information I`ve had about my paternal grandfather (James Barr). I`m now getting to know him.



Only wish I could knock some years off my age and have more years in front of me to carry on rsearching, it must be great to be young nowadays and have all the facilities to find information that was lacking in the past.

I often think my mother and others, must be spinning in their graves because of all the secrets that are unfolding, which they, especially my mother, had hoped would never be found out. I have not been shocked though, surprised of course, and then attitudes are so different these days to what they had been years ago, so it is not surprising that parents went to great lengths to hide facts, but what a shame they had to do so.



Well, I`ll sign off now and hope to be back again soon wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR

We are VERY pleased that you like the new site and we do hope that you have many great results with us.



You are most welcome here and we are glad to have you.



A very merry christmas to you and a happy new year.



Best regards.

Hi Stillsearching,



Glad to see you've made it back and are over the worse of your cold. I wonder if we could knock some years off our age we would still be researching or doing more of what the younger people do ?

Hi Stillsearching and welcome too AA

What a lovely introduction message.



I hope you continue to have great success with your tree and I'm sure you will come across a few of us dedicated to helping others in their search as you have already found out from the sites you visit. The owners of this site have worked so hard over the years to come up with a site that people can enjoy and feel like part of the family. I think they may have at long last succeeded and they pride themselves on keeping it as friendly and as interesting as possible. Not bad for ones so young!!



Well I would like to return your good wishes and hope your Christmas is full of special moments and 2006 is a very fruitful one for you.



Take care

Hi Stillsearching,



I do hope that you had a lovely Christmas. Sorry I am late with my welcome but I went away for the festivities.



I too wish I could turn the clock back a little and get some extra information from my parents and grandparents. Ah well hopefully future generations will appreciate that I did at least start.



Hope that your search continues to be rewarding.



Enjoy your time with AA - they are a great bunch.

Hi

I have not been here for quite a while, I have been kept very busy recently receiving lots of news about my gt aunt Laura Gagan, she had been sent to Canada in 1885.

I last found her on the 1901 census and then diuscovered her again on the 1911, but she was still unmarried and working as a domestic servant.



Then, to my great delight, I receiv ed a message from Canada, telling me that she had married a Dutchman, Lawrence Yokker (spelt Jokker, but the Dutch pronounce the J as Y)

more and more details kept coming in and I have been kept really busy tracking all that had happened to her.



Sadly for her, he turned out to be a bigamist, he already had a wife in Holland, perhaps it was a "shotgun wedding" she was already pregnant, she was only 17 years old. then she had a son, sadly he died at age 4 but she had another daughter.

Then, he turns up. he must have met L:aura in New York, she had been living in Rochester City, then she returned to Canada, he arrived there also, and they filled in an affadavit to marry in August.

They married on August 8th, he declared he was a batchelor!

He then returned at some stage to Holland, had he deserted Laura? then he died there in 1912.



I wonder if she ever knew, or did she just think he had deserted her? she kept the surname anyway, so probably if she had known, she would have reverted to her maiden name. Laura died in 1950

Its all such a mystery, little did I think that when I received news of her at last, that it would lead to such a big puzzle!



I wonder if my family knew about all this, if so, it is little wonder that I never was told anything about the family. What with illegitimate births,now TWO bigam ous marriages,

my gt grandmother Louisa Geoghan/Gagan(nee Paddison) married an Alfred Davis in 1885, stating she was a widow, but I found the death of her husband Stephen Geoghan, in 1919 in Liverpool! I have not foiund her death yet?

He was nowhere in sight for 1881 or 1891, then he appeared in Liverpool on the 1901 census. Could possibily he have gone back to Ireland for those missing years?



So, as you can imagine, all these details have been keeping me busy getting it all sorted out, and what with corresponding with a very kind lady in Holland, having to get everything translated so that I can understand it all, then sending replies to her, and also to another kind lady in Canada, its been like being on a roundabout!!

I don`t know whether I`m coming or going

If only I could now find someone who knew Laura or about her, that could answer some questions, now I`m really asking for a miracle!!