X for EXcitement, EXceeding EXpectations - and Much More: A-Z Challenge 2020 :

I have no Xenia or Xander in my family tree;  place names beginning with X abound in China and there are some in Wales and Greece  - but nobody I know comes from there;  and the last time I played the xylophone was on my daughter's toy instrument many years ago.  So here I am focusing on  some of the sidelines of my family history activity.

 

X is for:


EXcitement at finding ancestors who were unknown to me. After many years of appearing on message boards etc. with minimal success, my blog was discovered by three different third cousins and resulted in new photographs and new stories.  Below is Mary Jane Danson (my great grandfather's cousin), with her husband John Oldham, a coal merchant of Blackpool, and  their children Elsie and Hilda. 

EXceeding EXpectations: When I first started on my family history trail, I thought I would be lucky to trace my very ordinary Danson family back to the 1841 census. I have far exceeded that, discovering my great great great, great grandfather John Danson, born 1736, son of Peter, husbandman.  Here is his signature from his will found in Lancashire Record Office

 

EXchanging Information: In pre-Internet days this activity came from joining Family History Societies and studying their listings of Members Interests. Now the world is open to us. My first venture into Internet research on my Bryning connections resulted in more information in four weeks than I had unearthed in four years. A wonderful tool - as long as you check sources! 

   

Examining Records - the fascination and pleasure in touching documents,  written  a long time ago relating to my ancdestors' lives.   

The family bible of my paternal great grandfather John Matthews, 

recording the births of his ten children 1872 to 1892.  

 The will of my maternal gggg grandfather John Danson  who died in  1821

EXpressing the family stories: Research is an all absorbing task, but turning the facts, names and dates into a family story that people are interested in reading, whether through blog or book, is my favourite FH occupation, along with the detective work.


EXcursions into sidelines of family history - local, military, house and social history: occupations, travel,  leisure, lifestyles, names traditions, etc. etc. to add colour to a family story. This is something  I have tried to reflect  in this year's A-Z challenge, and the possibilities are endless, with local newspapers online a key source of information. 

                                    Earlston Parish Church Choir Outing, 1906 

                      Polish soldiers based in Earlston  in 1944, training for D Day 

                                         Entertainment in Earlston in 1892

                       [Earlston  images courtesy of the Auld Earlston Group]

EXpense: I have read comments about the expense of the hobby. I have been lucky in that I have not had to spend too much on obtaining BMD certificates. I can appreciate that people are on a tight budget, but it can be a question of being very focused in accessing paid internet sites - being sure you have done the background work through other means e.g.free sites of  Family Search and Free BMD,  and especially that you have found the "correct" person - admittedly not easy if you are researching a popular name. 

Take advantage of discount offers on the  subscription sites or consider a 14 day sub for concentrated searches - as long as you remember  to cancel at the end of your session.

But it is worth remembering so many leisure activities come at some cost, whether it be sport, music, art and crafts, collecting etc.  

And finally after all of this - EXhaustion!

My father enjoying a snooze in our garden in Edinburgh c.1960's 

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