What memories will you leave?

I meant to add, they were saved on the computer as JPEG files and can be shared with anyone by e-mail or WhatsApp.

I bought a really good Epson scanner which did negatives including my mother's old Box Brownie large negatives, and of course photos. I scanned all the negatives I had because they come out much better, then all the photos, hundreds in total. I now have a digital archive of 19th and 20th century family photos.

Some of the negatives were my family in the 1930s and they were as clear as the day they were taken when the negatives were scanned. I was blown away.

twiglet77

My elder sibling has most of our late mother’s photos and I hope her offspring treasure them when the time comes.

I have recently gone through the photos I do have, and those of my own children, annotating them with names, dates and locations they wouldn’t otherwise know.

Twiglet, if you would like copies of some of those photos, ask your sister or their offspring to download them onto the computer so that they can forward copies to you that way. If you want, you will then be able to print off as many copies as you would like, plus keep the downloaded ones on your computer.

Don't become these 'Strangers in a Box' one day.

I found this some time ago, and I hope you can read it. I'll maybe type it up one day!

I have most of our family photos, even old telegrams announcing grandparents deaths

No, dont bin.

In a way, I consider my photos really belong to my kids.
They can decide what to do with them when I go.
I imagine they will divide them up between themselves.

A good way to keep a family tree is on Ancestry website. They don't show names or ages of living people but I still don't put living people on there. But for your ancestors it's brilliant. You can choose whether the tree should be private (by invitation only) or public for anyone to see. You can invite family members to have access to your tree. I have a tree for my mother, a tree for my father and one for husband's family. That way you can keep things a bit tidier as these people are not related.

Even if your Ancestry membership runs out and you're not paying anything you can still see your trees and add notes etc, just not able to take information from Ancestry unless you have a paid up membership.

I,d like to think my GC will remember me the way I remember my granny who lived with us and died when I was 18 and my oldest sister 27.
There were very few photographs but hundreds of stories about her life and the lives of her family .
My children have heard these stories from me and my grandchildren from their parents.
Memories for me aren,t about things ,memories are carried with you in your head and your heart all your life.
I did ,t keep anything of my parents except a list of herbs and how to grow them written in my fathers beautiful writing when I was newly married.I wear a pendant made from a teardrop shaped sapphire (one of a pair of earrings )given to me for a big birthday and lost one the first time on .My mother died very soon after giving me the earrings and didn’t know I,d lost and I wear it because it was the last gift she gave me.
I know anything of value will be sold ,I have no problem with that I,d rather they remember me as their daft granny,that’s what they,ve called me since my gswas a toddler 23 years ago.
Surely that’s what’s important? Not stuff.

We had a rare meal out a couple of nights ago with one son, DiL and the two teenage DGC, and at one point, the DGC started to talk about their memories from when I used to care for them at my house for several days a week up until they were about six years old.
I was delighted to discover how many things they remembered so fondly from those times - especially as it was always very clear back at the time that they would much rather be at home with their parents if it had been possible! Based on those memories, I will now keep anything related to them, so that the DGC can eventually choose whether or not they would like them when I die.

I am being very selective with photos, and have got rid of a huge number recently, but have sorted and kept any that I think might be of interest to the family one day. This includes family photos going back to my great grandparents on two lines, most of which I have only discovered in very recent years. I have written who the subjects are on the back.

Having done a huge amount of family history over the past two years, and solved a big mystery there too, I have loads of info that I would like to think would interest someone in the family after I am gone, and I shall certainly keep it all so that they have a choice.

I do keep intending to actually draw out (the old fashioned way) a big tree that at least shows the direct ancestors as far back as i have reliably been able to go, and make additional info on each generation available for any of the family who are interested.

Beyond that, I don't think I have anything much worth keeping for them.

Photos with all the people named. My publications - books and articles. Also I have written down all I know about my family and its history. My GC will have memories of coming to my house and all the activities we did together. DD will remember out all inclusive holidays, the cocktails and the dancing.

My elder sibling has most of our late mother’s photos and I hope her offspring treasure them when the time comes.

I have recently gone through the photos I do have, and those of my own children, annotating them with names, dates and locations they wouldn’t otherwise know.

On a recent Flogit a man wanted to sell his father’s war medals because his children weren’t interested. The expert persuaded him not to saying that future generations might be interested. So do leave something behind.

That's really sad that everything was thrown out. You will be surprised what you can find about an ancestor's life. I started with just my dad's birth certificate and now have 4 Lever Arch files on him and his family.

Definitely keep photos of family members, with names on the back and when and where taken if possible. Also photos of family homes, otherwise throw out holiday snaps, animals and views, no-one will want them. Letters and postcards can be interesting, I have a whole suitcase full (from 1930s) but really must reduce them!

I've got loads of photos, and also both mine and my oh family tree, going back a few generations, so our family can choose what they want to do with them,

If you research her extended family members (live and dead) you may find lots of info about her life and theirs.

You could start with getting copies of her birth, death and marriage registration certificates. From knowing where and when she was born, married and died, you can make a start on Census records . Her first appearance in Census records should give you her parents and perhaps siblings names.

You can do all this from home

My parents both kept secrets and some of the ones they took to the grave, should have died with them. Be careful what you dig up.

All photos are there at mine....I never kept letters and hardly any cards ...I know my 3 kids will bin them all 😁

I would not do that. These things contain family memories that they will want to keep.