Your ancestors? Who were they and what are their stories?

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vonn said:
You are better man than I. Unfortunately I will admit to having prejudice. I know it's wrong, and it makes me a bad person, but it's a history I can't quite shake even though I know the existing generation isn't responsible for the mistakes of the past. At least I can see I'm a hypocrite. Maybe one day I'll mature enough.
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From your earlier post you were born in China right?

I think that would be the difference. I was born in Australia and as long as I have remembered have always considered myself an Australian and an Australian only.
I also never met my grandmother- she died a few years prior to my birth.

I've been fairly insulated from the history which is why I don't think I have inherited the same feelings that you have.

I think if I had spent more time surrounded by the people who experienced it or in a country that remembers the war more strongly than I'd feel the same as you.
 
The_Reaper said:
From your earlier post you were born in China right?

I think that would be the difference. I was born in Australia and as long as I have remembered have always considered myself an Australian and an Australian only.
I also never met my grandmother- she died a few years prior to my birth.

I've been fairly insulated from the history which is why I don't think I have inherited the same feelings that you have.

I think if I had spent more time surrounded by the people who experienced it or in a country that remembers the war more strongly than I'd feel the same as you.
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Born there, moved when I was 4 in 98.
 
Came largely from areas who nly believed in keeping records rlatively recently (1750s)

Miners weavers ag labourers with the odd poacher and gamekeeper here and there. Ggf was chairman of the council for a small village Pop around 500 in yorkshire hills
 

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Nothing too famous as such but on my maternal Grandmothers fathers side I have traced her fathers ancestors back to a village called Pagham in West Sussex in England for many generations with the final link being a place called Felpham, also in west Sussex to about 1715. the surname is Rishman.

On my maternal Grandmothers mothers side it goes to a place called Hambledon in Hampshire to 1785. Hambledon has one of the oldest Cricket Clubs still in existence. The surname is Prangle. My Grandmothers mother was the midwife for the city of Arundel in West Sussex, another city with cricketing connections being the venue for the 1st game of the Ashes tour.
 
A very distant relative of mine seated in the middle of this photo.

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Another distant relative second from the top left. Chief Dr on the Titanic.

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It makes is easy to track people from family lines when a name is specific to small regions in places like Ireland. Quite often anyone carrying that surname can be traced back to that part of the land regardless of where they ended up else where around the world.
 
John said:
On my maternal Grandmothers mothers side it goes to a place called Hambledon in Hampshire to 1785. Hambledon has one of the oldest Cricket Clubs still in existence. The surname is Prangle. My Grandmothers mother was the midwife for the city of Arundel in West Sussex, another city with cricketing connections being the venue for the 1st game of the Ashes tour.
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They stopped that unfortunately. Absolutely fantastic location. Would love a house down there.
 
Kangaroos4eva said:
I'm interested in reading the stories of the ancestors of posters and their minor or major impact on history or a country etc. Were they part of the first fleet? Did they participate in any major events or battles etc. Please feel free to share the journey of your family and ancestors.
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Yesterday I was given this photo of my Great Uncles who set off from Beetaloo Valley, South Australia for The Great War.

Walter Phillip and Melville Wesley enlisted together on the 23rd May 1916 in Adelaide.
The photo shows them circled with Melville on the left and Walter on the right. Note the two [beer ?] crates, brickwork, button badges, ties, 'polo' neck, hats, cigarette, fob watch chains, putees, hair styles and shiny boots.
Melville died in camp [ North Adelaide ] and Walter was badly wounded in the Battle of Malt Trench on the Western Front.

Did You Know?
At almost 65%, the Australian casualty rate (proportionate to total embarkations) was the highest of the war.
Source: Patsy Adam-Smith, The ANZACS West Melbourne, Vic, Thomas Nelson, 1978
 
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topjars said:
Yesterday I was given this photo of my Great Uncles who set off from Beetaloo Valley, South Australia for The Great War.

Walter Phillip and Melville Wesley enlisted together on the 23rd May 1916 in Adelaide.
The photo shows them circled with Melville on the left and Walter on the right. Note the two [beer ?] crates, brickwork, button badges, ties, 'polo' neck, hats, cigarette, fob watch chains, putees, hair styles and shiny boots.
Melville died in camp [ North Adelaide ] and Walter was badly wounded in the Battle of Malt Trench on the Western Front.

Did You Know?
At almost 65%, the Australian casualty rate (proportionate to total embarkations) was the highest of the war.
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Problem was that they fought so well that naturally the to and from HQ were naturally more inclined to throw them forward. There is a stat somewhere re average ground captured by Australian vs other troops which is extraordinary.

Great photo, thanks for posting. A great uncle of mine fought in the Boer War (and after that Gallipoli with his other brothers and my gf in Palestine). Bit of a forgotten war that from an Australian perspective ex Breaker Morant.
 
Chief said:
Once you go back past people you know, such as grandparents and maybe great-grandparents, does it really matter who your ancestors were?
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Maybe Chief, depends on your point of view I guess.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/educatio...ended-Oxbridge-since-the-Norman-Conquest.html

Students with traditional surnames such as Darcy and Percy have dominated the roll-calls at Oxford and Cambridge Universities since the Norman Conquest, a new study has revealed, sparking concerns over social mobility.

Despite the upheavals of the last 800 years, there have been Darcys, Mandevilles, Percys and Montgomerys at the two elite institutions for 27 generations.

Researchers found the same names which were associated with great wealth and privilege under William the Conqueror are still found at the top echelons of society today.
 
I suppose if you're one of the fraction-of-1% it means something, purely for the money. What about you and I and the rest of us plebs?

We've all got an ancestor who fought in a war or was a copper in London at the time of Jack the Ripper. My own ancestor was on the 2nd fleet. Another lost half his foot in, I think, WWI. Why should that mean anything to me?
 

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Chief said:
Once you go back past people you know, such as grandparents and maybe great-grandparents, does it really matter who your ancestors were? What is it that draws people to study their family tree?
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Its the thrill of the chase for me.
It all started with an Australian newspaper cutting that named the vessel that my GGG Grandfather arrived in Australia on and then it became my mission to understand his life and his parents lives. Its been a massive journey of discovery (like the photo above) since.
I was even fortunate enough to find the headstone of my GGGG Grandfather who died in 1792 when I visited Little Petherick in Cornwall.
I've found the older I have become the more special snippets of my familys history have become all the more vital.
 
topjars said:
Its the thrill of the chase for me.
It all started with an Australian newspaper cutting that named the vessel that my GGG Grandfather arrived in Australia on and then it became my mission to understand his life and his parents lives. Its been a massive journey of discovery (like the photo above) since.
I was even fortunate enough to find the headstone of my GGGG Grandfather who died in 1792 when I visited Little Petherick in Cornwall.
I've found the older I have become the more special snippets of my familys history have become all the more vital.
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Yes my parents got the bug for a while, but I haven't heard them talk about it for a year or two.
 
I was really lucky that I once provided transport to veterans who lived in the country and needed to attend medical appointments in the city. From tunnel rats in Nam who could of killed thousands of NVA with one bomb, but was ordered not to, to a ninth div guy who directed artillery on to the Africa Kor as it attacked the British 8th army at El Alamein.


My opinion is largely based on the wisdom they shared from living full productive lives always remembering the mates forever young that never came back. Being grateful is a marvelous and beautiful quality.

And my fathers service. Many of us have lived with our fathers pain from the PTSD war afflicts almost all enlisted ranks. We all deal with that differently.

There's an accountant at a German camp up in court now for his involvement in horrendous policies of that era. If his side had won, it might of been my father up on war crimes.

Chief said:
My own ancestor was on the 2nd fleet.
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I heard Phillip was pissed when that convoy arrived. He desperately needed food clothes and weapons. But only enough food arrived to feed those that survived that death fleet. I heard here was the beginnings of the NSW police corruption problems that afflicts us today (i was taught this by a police academy tutor) When a redcoat faction started up their own crime syndicate.
 
Chief said:
Why should that mean anything to me?
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Ancestory.com is owned by one of those barely Christian more crazy than normal churches because searching for your ancestors is some sort of rite to salvation.

It's you path to you afterlife, better get searching chief
 
Chief said:
Once you go back past people you know, such as grandparents and maybe great-grandparents, does it really matter who your ancestors were?

What is it that draws people to study their family tree?
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Oral traditions often make people interested in going a long way back.

If a person is told a story as a child about the family generally it will stick in their mind. As they grow older the story is still there and curiosity takes over and they want to know more about it and the person.

I'd also think that people who enjoy history in general are also people who study their own family history.
 
Chief said:
I suppose if you're one of the fraction-of-1% it means something, purely for the money. What about you and I and the rest of us plebs?

We've all got an ancestor who fought in a war or was a copper in London at the time of Jack the Ripper. My own ancestor was on the 2nd fleet. Another lost half his foot in, I think, WWI. Why should that mean anything to me?
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If you're not interested, then don't look it up. It's not like it's compulsory or anything.

I'm not interested in ballet, but I don't go to BigBallet hassling those who are.
 
Illinois Nazi said:
If you're not interested, then don't look it up. It's not like it's compulsory or anything.

I'm not interested in ballet, but I don't go to BigBallet hassling those who are.
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I'm just trying to fathom what the attraction is.

No need to get upset.
 
Chief said:
I'm just trying to fathom what the attraction is.

No need to get upset.
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I think the attraction is reading about the journey your ancestors took for you to be here today. For example what if my mums side or dads side never decided to leave England for Australia? I probably wouldn't be here today. I have ancestors that have come from different parts of Europe and it's interesting to think about the journey it took over many generations to get to the point where my parents produced LennyStarkiller
 
Well I'm glad they did Lenny.
Ive written a short story on my Cornishcousins
One jumped into the ocean...died, one got sliced in half by a piece of slate when he was involved in creating a cutting ( for a rail line ) died, another.12 year old boy (ancestor) was found lying face down in a pool of copper dross/water died, another dropped dead of a heart attack when having food in an establishment, whilst another tried to cut his own throat.

I think that's enough gore for one post :)
 
topjars said:
Well I'm glad they did Lenny.
Ive written a short story on my Cornishcousins
One jumped into the ocean...died, one got sliced in half by a piece of slate when he was involved in creating a cutting ( for a rail line ) died, another.12 year old boy (ancestor) was found lying face down in a pool of copper dross/water died, another dropped dead of a heart attack when having food in an establishment, whilst another tried to cut his own throat.

I think that's enough gore for one post :)
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We have a written account of a head of the clan hanging himself so that the British couldn't seize his lands. Apparently his wife had some British connection through her father so his death ensured she and his son would get to keep their home and all their land. The ultimate sacrifice.
 
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