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This week’s theme for the #52Ancestors project is “Curious”. Apparently this is being interpreted in different ways. Amy Johnson Crow, who compiled the list, says she was “thinking of something that you’ve always wanted to discover … or a record/discovery that you find curious (unusual).”

The Cambridge Dictionary provides two different takes on the adjective. Curious as “interested in learning about people or things around you” and curious as “strange and unusual”.

It got me thinking. Genealogists are surely by nature curious – about their past, their family history. That often extends to wanting to learn more about the times and places in which their ancestors lived. Could these be considered “people or things around you”? If it leads you to talk to different family members, or to seek out previous dwellings, then yes, they could. And we’ve all probably come across something “strange and unusual” in our research.

Some of my “curiosities”

  • Who was my great grandfather’s father? How do I track him down? Should I try the DNA route? He has an unusual surname (William Thomas TITTERINGTON, 1869-1940) – but that was his mother’s surname.
  • Is the family lore that the SANDERSONs came from Scotland true? I’ve yet to get far enough back to begin to attempt to prove or disprove that particular tale.
  • How did my BENNETT/COAD ancestors travel from south Cornwall to Lancashire? The ‘why’ is apparently because of the closure of the tin mines – they came to Lancashire to work in the quarries.
  • What has the Ripponden Commercial Company got to do with my BOTTOMLEY (or perhaps HEY) ancestors?
  • Why did someone use at least three different years of birth on a number of documents over the years – was it just because of confusion, lack of proper documentation (I’ve still to track down the birth certificate – was she born in Wales or in Co Durham?), or an attempt to disguise her age? And how many different “spellings” of Amelia (WILKES nee BARNES, c1868/1870-?) can you come up with? (This one isn’t even my ancestor – I’ve been helping out a friend with her tree.)
  • Does the date stone featured in the header image represent a connection with my ggg grandparents, Joseph and Elizabeth PRIESTLEY? If so, then there are some interesting things to explore as described on Malcolm Bull’s Calderdale Companion. I walked around the area looking at houses where some of my ancestors may have lived – it’s fascinating to get that sense of time, and of things continuing through the ages.

If anyone has any suggestions or top tips … ?