So in the past few years I've found a new hobby- geneaology. Like most people, a lot of my family came over on a boat from Europe, so I figure there's gotta be some royalty in there somewhere. I don't necessarily need any monarchs- but even a duke or a countess or an earl would be kinda cool. I'd settle for a knight even!
I've managed to get myself back to the 1700's in some branches, but the nobility aspect is sorely lacking. Here are the cool things that I have found though:
- My Great-Great Grandmother was Métis.
- My Grandfather was once arrested for bootlegging.
- My Great Grandfather supposedly came to Canada from the US because he opposed guns & the war etc, but apparently it was really because of some family feud.
- I am part: English, Scottish, & Norwegian for sure. Potentially I am also Irish & Welsh
- My Great Grandfather was killed by being gored by a bull. I have my my grandmother's (his daughter) diaries from that time - it is so heartwrenching to read.
- My Grandfather lost his eye in WWI at Vimy Ridge.
- My Great Uncle also lost his eye (not sure how though)
- My bootlegging Grandfather left home when he was very young, got his wallet stolen, and it was found on the thief's dead body. Everyone thought it was my grandfather was dead and his parents moved away. It took him a while to find them, and it was quite a shock to them when he arrived at their doorstep!
- My Great Great Grandfather was recruited by the Hudson's Bay Company from Scotland to come over here and work.
So what have you got? Any interesting family facts? How far back do you know? It's a super interesting (and expensive) hobby to have. It almost makes me regret not having children (never say never I suppose) so I would have someone to pass this all on to...
* Or is it acorn??xo
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13 comments:
That's fascinating! But funny because my father tells a dumb joke about how his grandfather lost his "i" in the war. Since "Brandeis" is the spelling people go for more than "Brandes." What! I SAID it was dumb!
I think you'll find it is neither an Apple or an Acorn but in fact a Dead Bird that doesn't fall far from the tree. You learn something new everyday.
Bootlegger! Niiiice! However, I'm sorely unimpressed at your Scottish roots. Please erase that asap!
I don't have to spend too much cash to find my Great Grand Parents. My Great Nan lives in Kent & I'm seeing her next weekend with my old dear & my little bro. She's 96...or 95. My Great Grandad died about 12 years ago, but was probably the most outstanding man I've ever had the honour to know.
And now I've blogged on your blog, sorry!
Wow! Cool. The one interesting story I know is that my great-grandmother was living in Russia during the revolution and their house was invaded, and she saw her twin sister get shot while she was hiding under the bed. She was maybe 12 years old at the time.
My dad was friend's with Monique Lhuillier's family in the Philippines. Oh, and my mom went to school with Enrique Iglesias's mom, too. My aunt used to throw rocks as his (Enrique's mom). Those are about the only interesting famiy-related things I have to share. =(
That is pretty amazing - I may be just a tiny shade of green right now :P
If I had the money and the patience I would definitely research my family more...but I have a feeling I know what I would discover...
Since I'm Irish and Scottish, I'm thinking the family lineage contains a lot of religious booze hounds, and that's about it :)
Very cool.. i would love to go back and do this, from what my grandparents have told me already I think it would be really neat to do.. Now all I have to do is find the time!!
For my side of the family we have a record back to around 1830. The most interesting character is the smuggler who was caught in around 1840.
On my wife's side there was a record going back - I am not sure how far, but it tracked branches to Australia and Canada and back again. Incredibly, this record seems to have been destroyed after the death of the person who was working on it. A real shame.
Your family sounds like a really interesting bunch!
I know very, very little about my family - neither of my parents are comfortable talking about the past, and to be honest, in many ways, I'm happy with that. Besides, i don't think they would be as interesting as your family.
Puss
My grandmother's husband's hobby is genealogy, so I've got quite a few!
My favourite, however, is that I am descended from Charlemagne.
Twice.
Hmm. My uncle did a genealogy thing for our family. Not really sure what he found though.
I do know that in WW2 my Great grandfather changed his name from Hienlien to Henlen (so it sounded less German) because he would have gotten locked up in a POW camp in Oz.
I think geneology is fascinating, too. Are you writing your research? My grandfather did a huge geneology for us, and it's really interesting to read. I hope to add to it, someday, and not be one of those people he wrote about several generations ago saying, "Nothing more could be found about them, but it's reasonable to think they went on to have happy, commonplace lives."
sigh.
Also, I'm a bit late to your last post, but if you're interested in getting more traffic, you might look in to BlogExplosion.com (It takes a while to get signed up, they have to verify you have a legit blog, etc.) But let me know if you do, and I can show you some of the ways it helps direct more traffic to your site.
oooohhh a family with a checkered past! fun! i will have to think about this one. i don't have alot of info, but my cousin does.
How cool is that? I'd love to find out about mine - they are spread all over 2 continents... I only know as far back as my great-grandparents....
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