Thanks Nivard for the advice. However I've looked at all possible self-imposed blockages, but wonder that having received in answer to my question three immediate replies, my "line" must be open, just a little bit unpopulated. The encouraging bit is the immediacy of the replies. Would you agree that things are now normal if a bit haphazard? If not I will follow your advice. Alistair. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nivard Ovington" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]>; "Angus Roots Web" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 5:09 PM Subject: Re: [ANGUS] no mail > Hi Alistair > > Frankly most lists are very quiet if not dormant :-( > > But in all cases its a simple matter to see if you have missed anything or > the subscribers have > nodded off <g> > > Check the archives > > http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ > > Select Mailing lists from the top bar menu > > Enter the list name in the lower box and select the list in question, > scroll down and browse the > archives , select the latest month and you can see at a glance if you have > seen the posts or not > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > > >> Guidance please - >> I've probably pressed the wrong button, but from regular inbox receipts >> of around 4 or 5 a day, >> for the last week I have received none at all. Literally nothing >> related to genealogy of any >> description. >> Alistair Macdonald > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Hi again Nothing has changed regarding the lists of late Thats not to say you may have inadvertantly pressed the wrong button somewhere along the line but suspect not My advice would be to still check the archives to satisfy yourself you have not missed any Whilst you are there I would also suggest trying your names / places of interest in the upper search box There are over 30,000 different lists and you never know which if any, one of your potential unknown relatives may have posted to The search will check all archives across all lists at the same time Generally a good exercise to do periodically , especially when the lists are slow perhaps :-) Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > Thanks Nivard for the advice. However I've looked at all possible > self-imposed blockages, but wonder that having received in answer to my > question three immediate replies, my "line" must be open, just a little bit > unpopulated. > The encouraging bit is the immediacy of the replies. Would you agree that > things are now normal if a bit haphazard? If not I will follow your > advice. > Alistair. >

Hi Nivard, Thanks for your encouragement. Emails now appear to be flowing freely, particularly those emanating from you. Encouraged by your obvious fount of knowledge, I venture to copy a request posted some weeks ago which produced no replies. Quite apart from the missing data, my request was (is) to find a route to breakdown, or circumvent this brickwall. This is one of two such walls, but the other, more important from a line continuation point of view, has produced a firm "No" The e Spalding search would appear to offer the most likely result if only I could find the way in, or round. Alistair COPY I will try to explain my brickwall problem in broad strokes, and be prepared to elaborate if there appears to be a solution available. My maternal line is Spalding. I have traced a branch from a marriage of John Alexander Spalding b 1828 in Monikie, to Mary Caird b 1835 in Dundee. The marriage took place in 1857. At this point I should add that I have failed to find a connection of Mary Caird with James Key Caird, the Dundee benefactor born Dundee 1837. He was also the prime funder to Shackleton's expedition to the South Pole. The significance of this will emerge as I trace the following Spalding line which has ended up as a brickwall. The family line exists and in part resident today in the Broughty Ferry/Monifieth area. I have learned, from a source in Canada that James Caird Spalding b 1920 d 2003 has a family of two sons, and two daughters. At least one of his sons with a son resident in Dundee. I have made contact with him and received an enthusiastic response, requesting more details of my requirements. For reasons which can be imagined, there was a sudden silence. Letters to one son of James Caird Spalding went unanswered. I have no information on the whereabouts of the two daughters. Ten Spalding families in the Broughty/Monifieth area have been contacted with no success, although replies offering assistance were received. My distant relative in Canada has tried, by telephone to persuade the widow of James Caird Spalding to co-operate in my search, but information has been refused. I am seeking a way to break this brickwall without antagonising the existing Spalding members who appear to be anti-genealogy. The Caird connection (if any) has been intriguing, in that in successive Spalding generations, the name Caird has emerged as middle name five times. Even if there is no connection, the family appear to think there is. I don't think this story is as clear as I would have hoped, but any suggestions on how to find a way round this barrier of silence would be appreciated. Alistair Macdonald ----- Original Message ----- From: "Nivard Ovington" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 6:33 PM Subject: Re: [ANGUS] no mail > Hi again > > Nothing has changed regarding the lists of late > > Thats not to say you may have inadvertantly pressed the wrong button > somewhere along the line but > suspect not > > My advice would be to still check the archives to satisfy yourself you > have not missed any > > Whilst you are there I would also suggest trying your names / places of > interest in the upper search > box > > There are over 30,000 different lists and you never know which if any, one > of your potential unknown > relatives may have posted to > > The search will check all archives across all lists at the same time > > Generally a good exercise to do periodically , especially when the lists > are slow perhaps :-) > > Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > > >> Thanks Nivard for the advice. However I've looked at all possible >> self-imposed blockages, but wonder that having received in answer to my >> question three immediate replies, my "line" must be open, just a little >> bit >> unpopulated. >> The encouraging bit is the immediacy of the replies. Would you agree that >> things are now normal if a bit haphazard? If not I will follow your >> advice. >> Alistair. >> > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Alistair, I want to echo in part what Nivard has said here. You can't get the people in Monifieth and Broughty Ferry to participate in your research if they don't want to, or if they've had second thoughts. You seem to want to demonstrate a link to James Caird, but that probably isn't a very useful way to go. Have you tried to work backward (not forward) from Mary Caird? Do you know who her parents were? (Are they on the marriage record - they probably will be if you have that.) Interesting things may emerge from looking at this. Jenny On 29/09/2011 15:00, Alistair Macdonald wrote: Quite apart from the missing data, my request was (is) > to find a route to breakdown, or circumvent this brickwall. This is one of > two such walls, but the other, more important from a line continuation point > of view, has produced a firm "No" The e Spalding search would appear to > offer the most likely result if only I could find the way in, or round. > Alistair >