Your family tree can bear life-changing discoveries

Elaine Lloyd, who’s been sharing her tips with us on researching your family history, explains some of the hurdles you can come up against, and how to sail over them.

The former law official based in Queensland has spent 19 years researching her own ancestry, so has plenty of personal experience in overcoming tricky research issues, as her adventures show.

Read more: How to get started on researching your family history.

The twisting path to a surname

My father’s great-grandfather, who came from Germany, had the surname Carppendorff. It’s not a well-known name and even many hours of searching German and global records didn’t bring the name up anywhere, despite three years of research and even a trip to Germany. But I attended a seminar at the Queensland State Archives on German heritage and was able to ask the speaker about the name. He told me that it was most likely that Carppendorff was not actually his surname, because my great-grandfather couldn’t speak English, so the name would have been phonetically.

One day, due to the two p’s and the two f’’s, which I thought had to be the clue in the spelling, I searched German surnames beginning with “K” instead of “C” with the two p’s and two f’s, and found the surname Krippendorff.

Because I had my great-grandfather’s parents’ names, which were on his death certificate, and I had his birthplace as Bremen, Germany, I sent off the information once again to the Bremen State Archives (Staatsarchiv Bremen – somewhere I’d tried previously with the Carppendorff spelling, to no avail) and this time I received in the mail his full family tree, with records of births, their marriages and their spouse’s details, and their death records. I honestly jumped up and down when I opened it and saw what it was, I was so happy. Three years of work to eventual success!

I then searched for people throughout the world with the surname of Krippendorff. I made contact with a professor in the US, who directed me to his cousin in Germany who was interested in researching the Krippendorff family. From  this new contact I received the the full family ancestry back to 1716, providing me my four-times great-grandparents and their descendants. He even translated the German in the documents – I’ve been so fortunate.

I have since travelled to the village of Krippendorf, where my ancestors originated, met many relatives in Germany and had many wonderful experiences.

A network of contacts is invaluable

I acquired a document of immigration from the year my paternal great-grandparents departed Germany but it was written in old German handwriting. This document contained all of the requirements of immigration and so held so many details of interest, the only problem was that I couldn’t find anyone who could read old German, which has largely been forgotten. I contacted local Germans and even went to the German Club in Brisbane but no one could translate it for me.

So I emailed a friend who lived near Frankfurt in Germany, told me his sister, who lived in South Australia, had been writing to their father in old German handwriting for many years!. She translated it for me and it held a wealth of information, such as how much they paid for the journey, how much money and other goods they could carry with them, their clothing, and everything else pertaining to the ship. Another long time spent persevering until I had a successful outcome!

You may find new relatives!

Whhile working on my husband’s ancestry, I cleared up a family misunderstanding and found a whole bunch of new relatives!

My husband’s family was under the impression that they were lone descendants  of a great-great-grandparent, with no other relatives living in Australia. This was due to loss of contact between generations amid in a move from south-west to central Queensland.

My research lead me to my husband’s great-grandfather, who’d had married a second time, unbeknownst to my husband’s family. As a result of finding the family of this second marriage, a whole new set of relatives became a part of our family and we also became a part of theirs, sharing many festive events. 

Prepare for unexpected good deeds

One of my relatives found war medals in his father’s belongings and I was asked to assist in finding the owner’s family so they could be returned.  I not only found them but now both families have met for the handover. Another special moment in time.

Amazing coincidences can happen

I knew the name of the village in England my maternal grandfather was from, and found a website for the village and its history. The site list listed the historical residents and I saw that my family’s name was included, so I sent an email to the website.

The person who wrote back to me was a relative of mine! And he was not only involved with the website, he was also publishing books on the village’s history. He asked for the story of my grandfather’s immigration to Australia and life there, and that story got published on the website.

The site went on to win an award for the  Best Historical Website in the UK and I was so pleased to be a part of that. A book that was published also included my grandfather’s story, and is now available worldwide.

Some bonds are unbreakable

I have visited relatives in England and Germany and we have regular visits from relatives from England, as well as a visit by a Canadian cousin.

The family bond is bewildering – as soon as you meet, you feel the relationship between you, you feel the bond. You then go on to produce your own wonderful memorable moments in time.

Some things remain a mystery

I recently did a DNA test through ancestry.com and learned from the results that I’m 11 percent Italian, which was a complete surprise and is still a mystery. By making my DNA result available on ancestry.com to be found by cousins with a DNA match, I now have more relatives and other connections throughout England and the US. We’re now friends on Facebook, allowing us to see eachother’s photos and life events.

Read more: How to get more information while researching family history. 

A word of caution

Many times I was able to provide answers to particular questions a relative may have had about their ancestry, but I always took a gentle approach. Some topics are sensitive so I needed to make sure they knew there was no intention to offend with any of my findings. I also needed to be mindful of their privacy.

Each person who has gone before you had a full life of events and to condense that life into a few pages is quite a task. You need a lot of patience,  a lot of hours and plenty of dedication.

But as you meet new family members along the way,  share exciting experiences, and enjoy the treasures of information that you uncover, it’s all worth every moment.

You are a leaf on a branch of a large tree and that tree keeps growing new branches and new leaves. Each tree, each branch, and each leaf are unique.

Have you discovered some amazing tales while researching your own family tree?