Janette,
I was very bothered by your expression of disappointment. Some people get the erroneous
idea that those of us on the lists comprise some sort of "service" and it's
easy to infer from your words that you didn't receive the level of service you felt
you were entitled to. You definitely "sounded annoyed". In any case, I was
prompted to look into the list archives and refresh my memory as to your research
interests, etc.
First, I discovered you did not subscribe to the Montgomeryshire list at all, rather, you
subscribed to the Powys list (which also covers Montgomeryshire). This was about the
first of February 2005, at which time you received a "Welcome" message from the
Listowner, Malcolm Bebb, which is very lengthy and includes *extensive* information for
researchers new to Welsh Genealogy. There are sections for new researchers, materials
that can be found online, what to expect from the lists, directions to the huge GENUKI
website, all of the website addresses for the local family history societies, and more.
Following up on the material and links presented in the "Welcome" message would
have provided you with the basic foundation (and much more) that would more than prepare
you to be able to strike out and accomplish some research before going to Wales and after
you got there.
Did you join either or both family history societies covering Montgomeryshire or get in
touch with them? Did you purchase any of their publications (census, monumental
inscriptions, etc.)? Did you thoroughly explore the GENUKI pages for Montgomeryshire to
familiarize yourself with the sort of documentation that is available, in which repository
it is held, what the local family history societies can offer you, etc? Have you read the
recommended book, "Welsh Family History, A Guide to Research"?
From the archives, it's clear that your participation on the Powys list spanned
approximately 1 week, maybe less. Alison Bryan replied to you regarding the 1841 Census
and Lloyd Lewis replied with all of the POOLE entries from the 1851 Census. There is no
reply from you to Lloyd but you may have exchanged emails off-list. There are no further
postings from you after February 8th. It looks as though the 1851 details led you to the
Shropshire list. As far as I can tell, today is the first time you thanked anyone for
their help back in February.
I'm very sorry you were disappointed and believe that you received no help, thus you
were unable to do any research while you were in Wales. Anyone on these lists would tell
you that a couple of inquiries posted to mailing lists will never prepare anyone for
serious research. Suffice it to say your expectations were completely unreasonable. Had
you continued to participate and ask many questions and watch the ongoing dialogue, you
couldn't help but learn a great deal and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more
willing group of people ready to help you.
If you stay around on the lists (Montgomeryshire & Powys, I'd recommend) *much*
longer than a few days and follow up all of the leads provided you in the
"Welcome" messages, you'll learn a lot from the postings of others,
regardless of whether they pertain specifically to POOLEs or to the parish you're
researching. With the holidays approaching, things on the lists will be a bit slow so
you'll have plenty of time to explore all of the links, join societies, etc.
To say you probably didn't do enough research before you went was an understatement --
this is a very long learning curve, despite more and more information becoming available
online!
Regards,
Julie Preston
juliefpreston(a)sbcglobal.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Janette & Bernie Childs
To: Julie Preston
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 7:49 PM
Subject: Re: [WLS-MGY] Assistance
Julie
Many thanks for the welcome. I was very disappointed to have no guidance before we left
as we could not do any actual research whilst there but did visit many cemetries and
church's. Via the Shropshire list I found a contact researching the same names I was
and have thus found more info since returning. We probably didn't do enough research
on the area of Wales before we went. Sorry if I sounded annoyed but was very
disappointed.
Again thanks for the welcome.
Janette
Julie Preston <juliefpreston(a)sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Janette,
Welcome back to the list (I think).
It's not clear to me what you meant when you said you would've liked to do
some research [in Wales] "but with no help didn't get it done", nor what to
make of your last comment, "we have found out much more via others on other lists,
etc..."
Regards,
Julie Preston
juliefpreston(a)sbcglobal.net
----- Original Message -----
From: Janette & Bernie Childs
To: WLS-MONTGOMERYSHIRE-L(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2005 4:51 PM
Subject: [WLS-MGY] Assistance
I have just rejoined this list since coming back from Wales.
Thank you list for the help given before we visited the area in June this year.
We would have liked to do some research, but with no help didn't get it done. But
don't be concerned as we have found out much more via others on other lists etc since
returning home.
Janette
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