YouTube & Genealogy

Have you ever wondered about the town or village your great-great grandmother was from? I have. My maternal grandparents were borth born in Ramsgate, Kent England. Their ancestors (and thus mine) were born in various towns and villages in Kent, Sussex, Devon and other Counties. I've never been to England and have long wondered what the towns they grew up in were like.

I've used Google Maps Street View to look for their homes (using addresses on the various census records). I've looked at historic postcards. But I've never thought of checking YouTube until recently.

Much to my delight there are many videos, both amateur and professional, giving overviews of various towns and villages in England! Some videos are put out by tourist boards. Some are by people living in a specific town and just walking around while filming. Some are by tourists. But wow, what a treasure trove!

One of my ancestors (Hannah Philpot) was born in 1805 in a tiny village called Pluckley, in Kent. I'd no idea it is considered the most haunted village in all of England until I found dozens of YouTube videos about it. Using the videos in conjuction with Google Maps, I am now able to have a good idea of what Hannah experienced and saw with her own eyes.

Hannah later moved to Lenham Kent when she married Edward Golding, and a quick search of Lenham in the YouTube search engine brought 103 results. Some of course are more interesting to the genealogist-historian than others!

Searching for Ramsgate, where both my grandparents and their parents and their grandparents and so on waaaay back were born, gave me over 2,000 hits. I have only watched a half-dozen but now I have a much better idea of places my grandmother Ruth Fuller talked about.

Youtube has added a whole new dimension to my genealogy searches and knowledge of my ancestors. It adds much needed detail and definitely fleshes out those ancestral bones.