Taking a peek around the side of a brick wall

I spent a couple of days following down some Deacon-cousin lines in hopes it might shed some light on my brick wall.

I got to know (fellow genealogists, you know what I mean) several Deacons in those two days.  I watched as they were born, grew up, married, had their own families, and finally died.  They became my family.  I admired as one family, starting in Tintagel, Cornwall, went to Beesands, Devonshire and then onto Newton Abbot, St. Austell, Heavitree and Paddington.  The family dispersed and moved from slate quarrying to fishing to being In Service.

This reminded me how easy is can be to do this research at times, in fact many times.  It also contrasted with the research on my great-grandmother/brick wall.  Sometimes it is goood to be reminded of the other world, where folks registered and were registered where and when you’d expect them to be, and just how difficult your own research has become.  And while my research in those two days has not seemed to have shed light on my brick wall, it has rekindled hope nonetheless.