I’ve mentioned it a few times and I’m sure most people know by now; I am utterly and hopelessly addicted to researching my family tree! It has become so much of an addiction that like any addiction, I need my fix. These fixes come in the form of clues.
There are days when I’m searching and I literally cannot find anything. No leads, no documents, no idea. It’s when I hit this place that I need something to pick me up. Something to take my tired, frustrated self and help it soar into euphoria. The clues hardly ever come to me though. I have to go out and find them.
If I can, I try to avoid ordering certificates (it’s so expensive!). I only ever order them if I truly am desperate. The Nicholson clan has been one of those times. After sending the request off with a touch of hope, I get on with life but carry around the constant knowledge that now I have to wait. Not being a patient person, this is agony. Days later the certificate finally arrives and I grab the inconspicuous envelope greedily and tear it to shreds. Yanking the certificate out of its now destroyed home – rather than gently unfolding it – I smack it open so I can speed-read the contents. Indeed I read it so quickly that most of the words do not sink in and I have to read it a second and third time. Sometimes there are clues and sometimes there aren’t. I take whatever I can from the document and add it to the tree. If there are no clues, I (along with feeling extremely disappointed) scavenge through other options.
One such option (and my recent fix) arrived in the form of an email. Not feeling particularly satisfied with the information on a certificate and once again finding myself stuck on the Nicholsons, I took the time to email my Pop’s brother in Victoria. His reply came yesterday and was filled with gold! Christmas had come early and after many gasps and exclamations of surprise, I set to work. Before long I had added over ten new people and a brand new connection was forming in front of me.
I still have a lot of work to do. I have to go through each person and add the years they featured in the electoral roll, there is a Victorian connection so I have to visit the State Library to search the Victorian BDM and finally, my once small “Graves to Visit” list has become rather large which means a visit to Karrakatta will once again be in order.
It is the constant supply of work that keeps me happy and my fingers are crossed that these clues will be the stepping stones that lead me to more clues.
Finding Family 