All Those People With Interesting Lives...

Sometimes I get a bit blah about finding family on Ancestry...I like the interesting people who died at the siege of Alnwick Castle or those who lived in tiny remote Scottish castles perched on the very edges of steep cliffs...their unpronounceable names inscribed on a visitors information board along with dire warnings about cliff fall and disturbing the nesting sea-birds...

Some have entered the history books because of the lives they led or the crimes they were accused of...poor Sir Peter Empson who fell afoul of Henry V111...found guilty of treason he met a terrible end. His sister Anne is a direct descendant of mine...oddly enough, Sir Peter is my step-daughters sixteenth great grand Uncle...we both thought that was incredible, that she and I are related...coincidence maybe or maybe not ,depending upon whether you are a believer in coincidences ...

Some of those far off Scots married Icelanders...and others married into the old Irish clans...their exploits are often seen as the work of imagination but some appear in the Annals...the battles they fought and lost or won...

I love the carefully written records from parishes noting who was Christened, Married and Died...the names crammed tightly together to make the best use of the parchment they'll occasionally include the man's occupation, Weaver of this Parish or Husbandman...I came across one set of records this afternoon where the curate had illustrated the letter A for April with fancy curlicues and what looks much like a butterfly...thought of him bent over the page in the year of 1609 with a minute or two to spare from his day, carefully ornating the letter then sprinkling sand over the ink to dry it quickly and stop it from smudging...

I wonder if a local outbreak of Cholera or Smallpox killed the six members of one family...one after the other they succumbed in the same month of the same year...then the husband re-married the following year to a widow with five children and she bore five more with him...I hope they were happy together and wonder if his remaining children were able to get along with hers...that particular family named two of their five children with the same names as those who'd died...macabre to us, but perfectly acceptable and normal in the early 1700's.

He too was a weaver of woollen cloth...I know that from finding a record of his time as a Churchwarden...

For every record available, there will be twenty more still held in dusty basements or old wooden chests in country vicarages...for each ancient fortified house or small castle I look up on the net, there'll be conflicting information as to who lived there and what became of them...

It isn't purely about dates and seeing how far back in time you can go...of course if you discover Sven of the Forked Beard was your Gt x 16 uncle that must be a feather in your cap...but for me it is the lives my people led...whether in a cottage in a small Yorkshire village with a weaving shed built on the gable end or a pauper who lived out their old age in a Workhouse...or a young man who rode into a battle long forgotten, terrified out of his wits with the screams of men and horses to fall dead by his enemies sword swipe...

From tiny windswept castles built on rocks to stout fortified homes where the occupants were heavily involved in smuggling good French Brandy...Mariners who sailed to and from the West coast of Africa and the Vet who spent his life researching the cause of Anthrax in Wildebeest...

All those tales waiting to be unearthed and told again.

[redted]

I was going to start a search for my past family but it seems very confusing,and as soon as I decided to have a look on one of the sites,they wanted money for me to search,so I thought this could get expensive,so didn't bother.

[Hidden]

That's wonderful vashti. I could see your ancestors very well. Do you know what poor Peter Empson did and how he died? I am curious now. x

[pollyjj]

Hi Vashti I just love reading your posts, they are always so interesting, thank you.

polly xx

[Dragonmum]

Vashti, you must have lived to a grand old age if Anne Empson is a direct descendant!!!!!!! Kidding! I love these stories and you must have a steely determination - I'd just get bogged down or it would take over my entire life. Strangely, my Grandmother lost two children aged 3 and 5, she went on to produce a further eight (poor soul) and two of these were named after the little ones she lost. Please keep the info coming on these forbears of yours, they're a colourful lot - no wonder you are blessed with such an original mind. Have often wondered whether Ancestry.com is ruinously expensive but not yet gone into it. I, too look forward to your posts and relish them. Keep them coming please.

[Hidden in reply to Dragonmum]

I wrote you a long reply then it disappeared! Ancestry often have a free two week trial period...you could try that and see if you like it!

[helingmic]

vashti, In my opinion, an interesting life starts with the passion that we develop ourselves.

When I was little, my mum explained that she had a first boyfriend during the 2nd world war. He was an artist painter. He gave refuge to Jewish families and to the Theosophical Society. My mu grew an interest in the T.Soc. I went to some lectures which were different from the mundane (My Greek teacher was dead against them and thought I was out of my mind for even going to those lectures – unfortunately she committed suicide for being unsatisfied with her own life).

TheTh. Soc had its centre in Adyar, India. I grew acquainted with yoga and Indian art. Eventually I wanted to go to India. I was very fortunate to meet an Indian boy and his mother. She told me that I should either learn an Indian language and choose amongst the 200 languages spoken there, or learn English. Of course, I learned English.

All this made for a passion and eventually lead me to not move to India, but to England!

Over my life, my passion has changed, because life had its inherent problems of … living.

Still, I believe that it’s best to develop a passion for something.

Here’s what Gandhi said (from the website pickthebrain.com/blog/5-mus...

“If you’re going to be biased, be biased towards making something happen today. Tomorrow never comes, any progress to be made, must be made today. It must be made right now!”

I like this. He also said that one should have a strong belief in something and live by it and stand by it.

That at least will create an interesting life!

Cheers, Mic

[Hidden in reply to helingmic]

Two of my maternal Uncles were members of the Theosophical Society...the others members of that family were all staunch Roman Catholics!

[helingmic in reply to Hidden]

Good for all of you and yourself, just look at yourself? amazing!

[Nikkers]

As you know Vashti, I am an indexer, so have access to records that maybe others do not? I've found some interesting ancestors in my tree - a couple that were married in Newgate prison. A cousin (removed) that was sent to Australia for stealing a pig. Another, that was married 3 times and had 32 children altogether and found that I'm distantly related to Barnes-Wallis (who created the bouncing bomb) and the famous Australian cricketer Sir Don Bradman. I know what you mean about the way they used to name a new born after one that had dies. In one of my families (1600's) they had 3 boys all named Thomas, naming each one after the previous one that had passed. They also used names for girls that we, today, would only use for boys like - Philip, and Peter.

The babies born out of wedlock years ago were labelled as "Base " children or "Bastard" children on the records, but in many cases the Mother had the bravery to include the Father's Surname on the record as an extra first name for the child! Don't hear of many doing that today.

As fascinating as it is, it's very time consuming and you can get quite addicted to it if you're not careful - as you know. When I offered on this site to trace family trees for anyone, I was inundated with requests. So it seems that people are more and more curious about their past now than they were years ago?

[Hidden in reply to Nikkers]

Two of my people had a Clandestine Marriage at Fleet St prison! I found two records the other day for babies referred to as being 'baseborn' ...nothing to do with me but they were on a record from one of the London churches dated 1609...Shoreditch I think.

32 children is just silly...however did the Father remember which were which...lol

I can spend hours reading the records on-line and then researching the information I'm unfamiliar with...

Addictive? Most certainly!

I wonder if more people are interested in their family because it's a certainty in an uncertain world...

[Dragonmum in reply to Hidden]

I think you've nailed it there Vashti - in an uncertain world the past is full of recorded certainties.