Genealogy Buddies

Many of us have "genealogy buddies" who help us with our research. I have been very fortunate to have discovered helpers and mentors in the early days of my research. People like Mervyn Buchanan, Mabel Henry, and Anne B. McMane were of enormous help getting started on my Buchanan family line. Lorne and Doris Buchanan's Buchanan Family Tree book provided a ton of help on branches of our extended family. Since the Watsons were intermarried with the Buchanans, these sources provided help with Watson family research too. Among my loved and appreciated genealogy buddies are Darlene, Barry, Patty, Suzanne, Vera, and many others.

But on my mother's side such help was very rare. Grandma gave me what information she could remember on her Wright and Eley lines. And Grandpa did the same on his Ing and Forsbury lines. It was fortunate that I was able to interview them in the 1960s, as they have been gone now for a generation or more. I have found local history books in the Provincial Archives of Alberta to be a good source of family stories, but it is very hit or miss. And these are stories of their relatives rather than their ancestors.

We hope and pray for miracles and they do come occasionally. When the 1851 Census of England was published online, I found the christening of James Waller in Rogate, Sussex in 1834. When I googled that information, I found a genealogy message board posting from Australia asking about him. Knowing that James had emigrated to Australia, I excitedly replied to the message. As a result, I was able to receive 150 years of family history of James' descendants and I was able to give my Australian cousin 150 years of family history of James' sister's family, my Ings and Forsburys.

Which brings me to my Goldring line in the Rogate area. I have a copy of the Rogate parish records. My ancestors William Walder and Elizabeth Goldring were married there on 6 May 1717 and over the next 10 years had 4 children christened there. An Elzabeth Goldring was christened there 10 Jun 1690, daughter of John Goldring. Excitedly, I added this information to my family tree. Then I had a letter from Spain, that basically said "Bill, I see that you have made the same mistake as many other Goldring researchers. John Goldring's will mentions that his daughter is Elizabeth Cobb (not Walder!!!) and a quick search finds the marriage of Elizabeth Goldring and an Richard Cobb in nearby Haslemere." I read the will for myself, and I had to prune off that line. Well!!!

So where was my Elzabeth Goldring born and who are her parents? With the help of my genealogy buddies Jeremy in France and Jennifer in New Zealand, I am trying to find out. Please wish us success.