Family history...

Recently, I've been researching my family history, helped by my Grandma. Its been really fun so far. I've discovered ancestors who lived nearby, found a family burial plot and made contact with family members who I didn't previously know. I've found out lots of information about where people lived, what they did for a living and how they died. 

I've also discovered that some family members emigrated to the USA. One relative, my Great, Great, Great Aunt, kept in touch with my Grandma and regularly wrote and sent gifts. My Grandma kept these and gave me a selection of the letters to read, sent to her from her "loving Aunt Hannah" from Rhode Island, throughout the 50's. These letters are above.

My Grandma would have been in her late teens at the time and its funny to read "I guess you are a big girl now" and about her having met "a nice young man" (my Granddad). The letters even refer to the birth of my Grandma's first baby (my mum). 

I plan to keep researching and my next step is to visit the West Yorkshire Archives, to find out more about Hannah's father Enoch, who sadly died in the 'Paupers Lunatic Asylum'. 

I always used to watch "Who Do You Think You Are" and wonder why people got emotional about ancestors they never knew, but I have realised in doing this that you do develop an emotional attachment to these people. 

Here's to more discoveries!