Why and when did you start on family history? (General)

by Jean Herbert , Leeds Yorkshire, Monday, January 12, 2009, 11:07 (5866 days ago) @ cmfenton

I first started many years ago when my father kept on insisting that his family were Irish. His name was Ernest Patrick - which in his eyes made him 100% from the Emerald Isle. I started to research his family but, having got back to the mid 1700's on both his mother's and his father's tree, no-one remotely Irish appeared. We just put him down as a daft old bat, who liked his pint and his Irish music.
A few years down the line, a contact who was researching the same family, casually informed me that in the early 1800's, one of my father's ancestors did in fact originate from Ireland, but had lied on the census and said he was born in Yorkshire, as he was only a baby when he was brought to this country by his parents and siblings.
Apparntly he was having difficulty obtaining work, due to the large influx of Irish workers so he just changed his place of birth.
Sadly, my father had died by the time we found out and I was never able to tell him he was correct.
Jean Herbert