Family Tree

[kaz]

For some time my parents have been researching our family tree on my Mother's side and have said it's been full of exciting discoveries. Anyway, a few weeks ago I joined an off-shoot of friends reunited...

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/

Yesterday I had an email (via that site) from a guy who says we may be related (my Grandparents were his aunt and uncle). His surname however was unknown to us. My dad just rang and said he vaguely remembers as a child that my Grandfather had another sister who was disassociated from the family (was never talked about). So today, I've done a bit of delving and low and behold... the sister married a guy which links the surname of the chappie who claims we are related 

Just wondered if anyone else has researched their family tree and have any interesting stories. I am hoping that this contact will be able to reveal why the sister was pushed away by the family.

[Teresa]

My oldest brother is very into that and has researched our family back for a couple of thousand years.  There are holes in the chart, but it's huge.  He had it printed on a 4' square piece of paper and it fills the entire thing.  He also has tons of really great stories that he's found.  He's got some computer software program that keeps both the stories and the lineage.  It's very cool to have and to read, but I don't think I'd ever do the work to gather it up.

Hope you like your new found relative!

[Mikey]

Congratulations on the find Kaz.  Exciting isn't it. 

Long story-short.  I was raised in foster homes starting at about age 6 or 7.  I had no contact with either of my parents and didn't know any relatives on either side; no grandparents, no cousins etc.  It continued that way for another 40+ years.

In about 1997 the fetching Mrs. Mikey became interested in establishing both of our genealogies.  Hers was easy but my family tree had short roots that ended with my birth certificate that had the names of my mother and father.  She went to a genealogy website and posted the names of my parents.  In 1999 she received an e-mail from a prospective cousin of mine living on the opposite coast in North Carolina.  We live in California.  After several more e-mails they were able to confirm we were in fact related.  It seems I have a bunch of cousins in North Carolina, Georgia and Maryland.  I then learned that my father had last written to my grandmother in the 50's and so she knew she had two grandsons out there somewhere.  He then ceased all contact with his family, perhaps because he had abandoned my mother and his two sons.  My grandmother had died before we reestablished contact and my cousins had been searching for years for me and my brother.  We have since flown back for a couple of family reunions and earlier this summer we spent several days with my Maryland cousins. 

Also, thanks to the Internet, my wife has located a cousin on her father's side who lives in Canada, which was where both of her parents came from.  We met them about six years ago and they e-mail each other weekly.  And as recently as two months ago my wife was contacted by a cousin on her mother's side who also lives in Canada.  This cousin is the great/great granddaughter of a missionary, Dr. Stirrett, who served most of his life in the Sudan.  My wife has an old book written about him, "Stirrett of the Sudan".

[barb]

How exciting!     And there are some interesting stories here so far.

I grew up with a father who was obsessed with researching our family tree.  A previous relative had published a book that detailed our family back to the 1600's, but my father wanted to elaborate on this history....so many school vacations and weekends we traveled to distant states and traipsed through cemetaries, town halls, collapsing shacks and log cabins, etc.  As a child I found it boring, but now as an adult in my 40's there are definitely some interesting stories.  My father even has a silver dollar that was in the pocket of my great, great grandfather when he was shot while riding a horse; the silver dollar stopped the bullet.  It has a huge round indentation in it.  Stories of what actually happened vary; some say he was involved in a family/neighbor/wife dispute when shot, others say something different.  My father still has the coin, I've seen it.  I have read many of the family stories my father has written down in a short book, and now as an adult I can really appreciate them.  Just a few months ago my father was reminding me of all the famous people, like Daniel Boone, that we are related to, but I always forget after a few months.  I think personal family stories are very important to record, otherwise over the years they get lost or change in the retelling.

[CliffandJoann]

How sad for you Mikey that you grew up in foster homes. It bought tears to my eyes and saddened me to
know that you weren't someones precious baby boy.  :'(
I am not clear on all the details
that you mentioned, but you grew up with your brother though, right? You have a son or sons, I think,
 I'm sure they never took for granted the pride and love you and your wife have for them.
Bless your heart.
Joann

[kaz]

Mikey... you have certainly landed on your feet following your childhood ordeal.  I've thought that before when you have hinted of your story and your resulting career and family stability.

Barb... I'm like you... my interest is stronger now I'm older.  After today's research (I now have a headache ), I take my hat off to your brother Teresa... a family tree is a complicated web for sure.

Well today has opened a can of worms... this new found relative and my father have managed to put together some bits of the jigsaw:  It seems that my grandpa's sister was frozen out of the family following an affair with a married man... in 1940's this was a crime punishable in hell .  So... my dad never got to meet his first cousin.  There is still a mystery to be cleared up... Dad told me for the first time today that his parents had a young child living with them up until dad was born.  Nobody knows who he was or what became of him! (could he have been the product of the affair?)

Lessons learnt today... uncover the skeletons in family closets before relatives take their secrets to the grave! 

[MikeW]

OK, now that you have mentioned skeletons - which are, after all, the most fascinating part of anybody's tree, I will spill mine - as long as everybody promises to stay mum!

My dad's family came from the Earls of Pembroke - a county in Wales. I am the oldest son, of the oldest son, of the oldest son etc for many generations, and thus should be the 12th Earl of Pembroke. Now Shakespeare wrote his "Taming of the Shrew" for his friend, the Earl of Pembroke, so I already as a kid, was figuring we were some sketchy type family, hanging out with artsy types, from way back.

Why was I not the twelfth Earl, well, turns out there was this little illegitimacy problem some generations back. By the time I am figuring this out, I realise that an illegitimacy does not happen between the Earl and Countess, but rather the Earl and kitchen maid. Thus, as royal as I thought I was, I am also as much peasant.

My grandfather, on a trip to London, was investing considerable time in Somerset House - where the family records were kept at the time, until his father cabled him to stop - embarrassed as he was that his grandfather was illegitimate. At that time, the 'bastard' was put into the army and shipped off into the Empire where my forebears did all sorts of currently politically un PC things subjugating natives for King and Country.

Eventually they settled in South Africa as "Gentlemen Farmers", and along I came three generations later, the eldest of the eldest etc.

Best souvenir of the family's wanderings, besides the Bible given us by the Bishop of Madras in 1826, and the cash pay out of the British Govt. for compensation of "loss of title" is a Victorian London newspaper. All very yellowed and fragile now, but it contains the obituary of one of us that made it back to England. A Lt. Colonel Williams' obit in 1901 was talking about his exploits in the Indian Mutiny (about 1858 I think - and I should know). Anyway, at dawn,  on horseback, leading his troops across a river, he raised his sword, yelling "CHARGE". as they did then, and got shot in the armpit.

Gosh, I'm thinking, I come from a line that was too horny, and stupid. Not sure if I want to chase this tree down any further!

Cheers,

Mike

[barb]

How romantic... (discounting the illegitmacy/unPCbehavior/shootingsetc.)  I especially enjoy historical romances, and the Earls of Pembroke are a familiar name to me, I've heard it before.  Or maybe it's just Pembroke I've heard, but I've definitely heard it!  I've been to Wales, but never met any horny Earls...  At least if they were Earls, I was not aware of that fact.  LOL. 

That is fascinating family history, to be sure!  (really, it IS interesting, I love the way you tell a story)

Edited because before I could finish this post my 15 year old dd came in to see what I was writing...sorry if I was originally so unsympathetic, but I was in a rush to post this and run!)

[MikeW]

The ultimate romantic part of all this Barb, is my name. My dad was William Lawrence, his dad Sidney Herbert, his dad William Lawrence and so on - back into the mists of time. I should have been Christened Sidney Herbert Williams. Wow I'm thinking, if I hated Sid, I could have gone with Herb.

My mother, who luckilly had even a better pedigree, (equivalent to South Africa's Mayflower) stood up to my grandfather, and insisted that if there was no longer any money or title involved, I was not going to be Sidney Herbert. ( Michael Lawrence as it turned out, and my brother got Bryan Sidney). I have never stopped worshipping at my mother's feet for her courageous stand in the name game!

Cheers,

Mike

[barb]

That is all very impressive, Mike.  Sounds like your mother was a force to be reckoned with.   

My earliest French ancestor left France and the aristocracy in the 1600's because he refused to convert to Catholism.  He was a Huguenot.  I'm sure he wasn't nearly as well titled as an Earl, though.  He did have quite a history, though.

I love family histories, it's all very fascinating!! 

[Joyce]

That is so cool Kaz!

My dads family are highlanders from Scotland (Altnaharra),
and my mom is Czech, from the mountains too (Karvina).
We have a very weird, wide, sprawling family tree.
Celts and Druids on one side, 'gypsies' on the other.

[MikeW]

Hey Barb, the Huguenots who ended up in Holland and England after leaving France, were eventually settled in South Afica. They brought with them clippings of their vines, and built up South Africa's wine industry. Just outside of Cape Town, around the towns of Stellenbosch and Franschoek are these gorgeous 300 year old wine estates, producing some excellent stuff.

In 1945, with all the World War II destruction in France, clippings were taken from those Huguenot vines in South Africa, and brought back to France to restart many of the vinyards there.  Maybe we had ancestors who knew each other?

Cheers,

Mike

[barb]

I guess it is indeed a small world!!   

[Krista]

Everyone's stories are so interesting! Amazing what kind of history you can dig up eh. I personally haven't had much time to do any research, but DH has what he calls a "book of remembrance" that has pages and pages of his family history. It's over an inch thick.

My mother had been doing our family trees until a couple years ago and has discovered many lost branches. Until 2.5 years ago, my parents and grandparents would travel to England,Wales and Scotland every couple of years where my mom spent days and days in churches and cementaries and town halls.  One story that I remember is they went to visit a cathedral that mom thought her Great Great grandfather was the organist at (My mother is an organist). She has a hymn book that he had hand written out. As they were exploring the church, the current minister came out and as they got to talking he invited her to play their pipe organ. An extremely old, extremely impressive old beast and it was the highlight of my mom's trip. The rest of my family always puts up with it but Mom keeps threatening to head off to England by herself. The problem is my mother has absolutely no sense of direction and requires 3 people to keep her on the right road to her next destination. Anyway, I'm not sure how far back she's gone but has it all documented in her computer programs.  One day when I have some time I'll probably take it over.

[kaz]

Now, I always knew there was something regal & somewhat aloof about that MikeW character... just could never quite put my finger on it

[Mikey]

Henceforth I will always think of Mike as "The Dukester"

[karen J]

Interesting. I love reading about everyone's ancestry. I have often wondered about the "six degrees of separation" theory and how it may relate to the folks here on the forum. Maybe some of us are even distantly related and don't even know it. 

Krista, my hubby's father was an accomplished organist as well, and was taught by a famous person who used to play at St Paul's in London, and then his father or brother made Jenn pianos. We'd like to research that side of the family more. I would love the opprotunity to go to England and visit cemetaries and churches. Someday! Kevin's mother's side is interesting, her tree goes back hundreds of years.

My brother has done an amazing amount of research on my ancestry. He's been to England several times, and finally got to go to East Germany after the wall came down. He hit a dead end in Gotha, 1844. So if anyone knows anyone related to Johann Drescher or Marth Weibezahl just give us a ring!
As far as the English side goes, there are lots of pretty common names- like Brown, Bulmer, Wilkinson, Hyde, Allen, Dunne, Hall, Clark, Hind, Palmer, Mowbray, Fitzgerald, Fenton, Lloyd, and Jenn.
 

[maryvonne]

Very interesting stories indeed.
When I was back in France in April I met one of my cousin's wife who has done a lot of geneology on the family. She hadn't found any skeletons or dead ends. There were 7 children in my dad's family, one died at the age of 5 and of the other 6, three remained in France and 3 immigrated to Canada. Of the 26 grand children, 13 were born here and 13 in France.
The funny thing was that my cousin's wife had the names and birth dates of all the great grandchildren in Canada but wasn't sure which cousins they belonged to so she asked me to help her with that. It turns out that one great grandchild was missing from the list. This was my cousins daughter from a brief relationship he had before he married. It turns out that although this was common knowledge here no one knew about this child in France. I quess I let the cat out of the bag. So it looks like the only skeleton so far is in my generation.

Maryvonne

[LeeAnne151]

I confess that I have not paid as much attention to family and geneology as I should. I do have a book that someone in my family put together but haven't read it.

Everyone else's stories are fascinating though.

[kaz]

The UK census started in 1841, but church records go back a long, long way.  It's a big bummer that I can't get online access to any UK records after the 1901 census (I'd have to go to the County records office)...  I think this is to give privacy to people who may still be living.  Americans can access more recent records though (I think 1930s) .

Anyway... here's a page from the 1881 census which contains details of my Dad's great grandmother (under Hills).  The calligraphy is a right pain in the bum In the final column, some poor child has been recorded as an imbecile... that's a word we don't hear anymore!  Samuel Hill's occupation was recorded as a 'general dealer'... don't think that would be considered a legal activity now days