Anyone into genealogy?

[KEV67]

My father was interested in it. I have a second cousin once removed who is very interested. I just signed up with a genealogy website because I wondered what relatives I have on my father's side. My father was an only child and my grandfather could hold a grudge. The first time I heard he had any brothers was when his wife was being buried. He said three of his brothers were buried in the same cemetery. I am looked up his side a bit. It looks like one of his brothers had one child and another had two, one of whom may still be alive. I see no evidence of them having children, but it appears to be more difficult to work down than up. Living people's details are often locked, and I am not sure more recent censuses are available. My father's mother was on better terms with her siblings, but while two had children, none has grandchildren, at least so far as I have seen so far. Things are a bit better on my mother's side. Two of her brothers are childless, but the other has three children and they all had children themselves. However, my mother comes from Ireland and records there seem much poorer, or else not as many Irish people are as into genealogy or use a different website.

[lunababymoonchild]

My father's cousin went into their family genealogy in great detail and had it published, sending my father a copy of the quite thick booklet. It was very interesting.
 

I'm curious about my mother's side but absolutely terrified of finding out because her immediate family were very difficult and there is an inherited disease that causes physical and mental disability. I really don't want to find more relatives that may well be so afflicted, selfish although that may be.

[KEV67]

2 hours ago, lunababymoonchild said:

My father's cousin went into their family genealogy in great detail and had it published, sending my father a copy of the quite thick booklet. It was very interesting.
 

I'm curious about my mother's side but absolutely terrified of finding out because her immediate family were very difficult and there is an inherited disease that causes physical and mental disability. I really don't want to find more relatives that may well be so afflicted, selfish although that may be.

Hopefully this is an inherited disease you are not prone to.

[KEV67]

It looks like one of my father's first cousins on his father's side may still be alive, possibly two. I think I met one of them, but I am confused because I thought she was on his mother's side. I heard some garbled story about a teenage birth which may have involved her. She does not seem to have married and I am not sure she is still alive. The other cousin was one I had not heard of before. She seems to have been alive last year, that she married in the 60s, and that she has one son. That would be the only second cousin I have on my father's side (I could have up to four second cousins once removed).

[Madeleine]

the 1911 census is the most recent one to come online, not sure if that will help you in your search.

[lunababymoonchild]

43 minutes ago, KEV67 said:

Hopefully this is an inherited disease you are not prone to.

No, I don't have it, should have made that clear. 😐

[KEV67]

1 hour ago, Madeleine said:

the 1911 census is the most recent one to come online, not sure if that will help you in your search.

I have seen more recent censuses online than that, I think. 

[KEV67]

Does anyone understand the 'second cousin once removed' definition. I thought I worked it out. I thought it meant you shared two great-grandparents but that you were separated by a generation. Therefore, my great-aunt Eileen's two sons are my second cousins once removed. (I am assuming a great-aunt is your grandparent's sister). But what about my first cousin's son Jacob? My grandfather is his great-grandfather, so is he my second cousin once removed or my first cousin once removed. I have never heard the term first cousin once removed so I am guessing he is still my second cousin once removed.

[Madeleine]

Must be 2021 census that came on recently.

 

I've never figured out the once removed thing either. I think Jacob would be your second cousin once removed but it gets very confusing.

[KEV67]

I think you may be right about the census, but there are other records too. Electoral rolls are useful.

 

Interestingly, my mother tells me one of my father's cousins I was confused about is still alive but gaga. She had an illegitimate daughter as a teenager and a legitimate son later on. The daughter was brought up by her grandparents. I dimly remember my father telling me that the boy who knocked her up offered to marry her, but he was only sixteen so they said no. Both the illegitimate daughter and the legitimate son had children of their own. Her brother, my father's cousin, was a reprobate. He was married several times, but still managed to have several illegitimate children, and none legitimate. His mother outlived him about two decades. So things are not a complete washout in that quartile, although tracking down illegitimate, distant relatives is tricky. I asked my father whether any of this man's former wives came to his funeral. He said no, and that they would not have been welcome. It seemed strange to me. I wonder whether any of his 'persons of dubious parentage' did.

[lunababymoonchild]

7 hours ago, KEV67 said:

Does anyone understand the 'second cousin once removed' definition. I thought I worked it out. I thought it meant you shared two great-grandparents but that you were separated by a generation. Therefore, my great-aunt Eileen's two sons are my second cousins once removed. (I am assuming a great-aunt is your grandparent's sister). But what about my first cousin's son Jacob? My grandfather is his great-grandfather, so is he my second cousin once removed or my first cousin once removed. I have never heard the term first cousin once removed so I am guessing he is still my second cousin once removed.

No. I did plug it in to a search engine and it came up with an explanation :

 

'second cousin once removed'

 

DEFINITION

a child of one's second cousin.

one's parent's second cousin.

 

This how many times removed untangling distant family relationships might be interesting and offer some explanantion.

[KEV67]

1 hour ago, lunababymoonchild said:

No. I did plug it in to a search engine and it came up with an explanation :

 

'second cousin once removed'

 

DEFINITION

a child of one's second cousin.

one's parent's second cousin.

 

This how many times removed untangling distant family relationships might be interesting and offer some explanantion.

Thanks for that. If I understood correctly, my cousin's son, Jacob, is my first cousin once removed, but I am his second cousin once removed.

 

Edit: I looked at the diagram and I would be his first cousin once removed too.

Edit: which means the people I thought were my second cousins once removed are actually my first cousins once removed. I cannot remember actually ever meeting a second cousin.

Edited August 18, 2023 by KEV67

[lunababymoonchild]

You are welcome. I glad that it was of use.

[KEV67]

It is weird. I have been searching for records on my Irish granny. Half the county turned up to her funeral and I can't find a thing. It is as if she never existed.

[Hayley]

7 hours ago, KEV67 said:

It is weird. I have been searching for records on my Irish granny. Half the county turned up to her funeral and I can't find a thing. It is as if she never existed.

I did a family tree for my parents once and it was pretty much impossible to trace my dad’s side (Irish) by records. The Limerick record office burnt down many years ago and a lot of the stuff simply doesn’t exist any more. It’s very frustrating! Also doesn’t really help that Irish family members tend to refer to anyone even remotely related to you as your cousin 😄.

 

I think Ancestry.com added Irish immigration records in the last few years, which could potentially help?