Whoa.
I feel like that’s all I am able to write about my
experience on ancestry.com after joining a fourteen-day trial to search
specifically for Joe Wellington. And there is a lot of information on there.
Since I know you’re all waiting to hear if this trial search has reconnected me
with JW, it wouldn’t be considerate of me to leave you with just a “whoa”.
Signing up for this trial was actually a bit funny. I
couldn’t sign up as myself because I have previously used their database, thus
I wouldn’t qualify for a “free” trial. So I had to make one up. Oops. I know, I
know, this is not good karma to be dishonest to the Internet gods but hey-
sometimes it’s okay to tweak things a bit. Besides, I wasn’t looking for my
ancestors.
Let’s get to it.
I typed in ‘Joseph Wellington’ and estimated that in 1998
(when I met him) he must have at least been twenty-one. So that means he would
have had to be born in 1977 or earlier. Pretty confident he was born in New
Zealand and male.
…Searching…
91,000 results in all categories.
Whoa.
Excited, I filter the search to only look up electoral rolls
for New Zealand.
Several results for a Joseph Wellington with residence in
Whangerai in 1978. He wasn’t old enough to vote in 1978 or 1981 so I’m going to
toss those aside.
Hmph.
New search of census, birth and death certificates.
…Searching…
Only 9 results from the 1900s census lists… The most current
names are Joseph Henry Wellington or Joseph Andrew Wellington. Both results are
from 1981 listed as an adult.
So, nothing.
“Are you kidding me?!” I say out loud as I shake my fists
dramatically to the cyber gods.
Moving on, I read a newspaper result that seems to be an
obituary of someone who passed away in May 2013 in Auckland. It wasn’t Joseph
who died but a sibling named ‘Jo’ is highlighted as the search result. I figure
it doesn’t hurt to take a look so I click on the link and the web site opens
only to say “this obituary is no longer available online.” I could restore it
for a fee but since I’m not feeling confident this is the right lead, I close
the tab.
Unwilling to admit defeat, I once again type his name
into a search only this time I change the filter to “sounds like or similar”.
I’m not certain his last name is/was Wellington to begin with, so maybe this
will lead me in the right direction?
…Searching…
‘Frederick J. Wellington’? ‘Heather J. Wellington’? Surname
‘Williams’… this does not seem to be the right path.
Several surname
Wellington’s come up for US public records. To get the world package I would
have to pay extra. Not interested.
My head beginning to ache, I skim info on family trees
containing the name Joe Wellington. Sooo much information I can’t keep up with
all of it. Nope, he’s not from the 1600s. Nope, he didn’t die in 1996. Nope,
pretty sure his first name isn’t really Lester. Also pretty sure he wasn’t born
in Jamaica. Really?
Now the trial is over. And I’m not any closer to finding Joe
Wellington. I think I have to concede that his last name isn’t Wellington. So
now, I feel like I have to start all over. Actually, I don’t even know where to
start.
I will keep writing this blog and I hope you’ll all continue
to follow. Remember that if you hear of anyone named Joe Wellington, ask if he
is from New Zealand and if he was in San Francisco in 1998. For now, that’s
about all the searching I can do.
Unless… wait a minute… what’s this thing called Twitter?
…Searching…
…To Be Continued…
 |
| www.facebook.com/whereisjoewellington |
