Hello Ingrid and fellow listers Some ten years ago, I belonged to both this and the Northumbria Lists and in those days this form of posting on the list quite often gained responses. As you say, sometimes down the track people still approach you regarding your earlier stated interests. Unfortunately, when transferring to ADSL I had to change from my old email address, so no longer do I receive responses to those earlier listed interests. I had hoped that by restating my interests I may have attracted some of the old contacts, that are now lost. I had earlier mentioned on this list that my father and mother, Ada Bird nee Robertson, had migrated from North Shields to N.Z. back in the late 1920s. Will be in Auckland myself in 2 wks time, so thanks for the comment from the country of my birth. Alan Bird Brisbane Qld. Ingrid Clausen wrote: > Hi Alan > > In answer to your first point, the number of people belonging to any > one mailing list is relatively small and their main purpose is to > enable people to help each other with their research. Making contact > with someone researching the same family would be a relatively unusual > bonus. Wonderful if it happens, but it may well not happen. However > sometimes people search the archives and send a message a couple of > years later, which has happened to me, and is great. > > You may increase your chances of making a connection, if you perhaps > give one or two names at a time and start with some more recent > names. Particularly with common names such as Robertson & Watson, > many people will not have got as far back as the 18th century. Just > a suggestion that you may or may not wish to follow up on. > > There are some sites such as Genesreunited which specialise in making > links between people, but you have to pay to be able to send > messages. You could try some of the other rootsweb lists such as the > Northumbria one - I suspect there is a lot of overlap in membership > however. Perhaps some other free sites such as Rootschat? > > Sorry that this is not particularly helpful, but did not want you to > feel no-one had read your message. > > Regards, > > Ingrid > >