What is a brickwall?

Aside from the obvious answer, a brickwall is a term used within the genealogical community to describe the point where a particular line in your research has ground to a halt. It arises where you simply cannot prove a particular fact that would allow you to progress further.

A Brickwall....

Do I have a lot of these Brickwalls?

Though I have been researching the Kingshott family for a number of years, there are still quite a few lines of research that are "floating" outside the main tree.

From my research, it is clear that all Kingshott's are related but proving this is often difficult. It becomes especially difficult prior to the 19th century, when every male is called John or William and every female is called Mary or Elizabeth. I therefore have a number of what I call "floating trees" that I research in the hope of one day joining them to my main tree.

That I do have brickwalls can be seen as a good thing, from a genealogical point of view. It means that I will not simply guess at a relationship and show it as a fact. If I cannot prove the link, I will not show it, however frustrating that may be.

The following pages in this section will detail some of the families where I cannot prove their link to my main tree.

Perhaps the largest, and for me the most frustrating, is the tree that relates to John Kingshott of Greatham and his family. I know that they are related, but cannot, yet, prove it. I can get them back to a village 1 mile from my own ancestors but do not know where they fit in. They therefore remain a "floating tree".

Another example of a current brickwall is the Kingshotte family. I can get them back to London in the 1860's, but lose them there.

There are, however, many other "floating trees" where people crop up in the parish registers, and I have no idea where they come from. As time goes on, I usually manage to link these people in, but sometimes I just can't seem to do it. Perhaps you can help?