How did you start down this road? .....

[emanday]

Well! It started because two generations of my family had been "fueding" in the sense that my maternal grandmother was deemed to have "married beneath her station" and was pregnant with twins to boot! (one of which was my mother). So my grandfather was ignored by her family and she was ignored by his family. Conversely, the kids, eventually six in total, were welcomed by them providing the offending parent was not present! I hope you are following this - it gets worse. They were all Catholic, by the way - that comes into the story...

My mother, the almost illegitimate twin, then grew up and - horrors - married a man of the Protestant faith whose entire family belonged to the Orange Order! Now my grandfather had managed, by that time, to get excommunicated from the chapel for kicking the priest out of the house. The reasons for this are an entire other story.

So there they were, my grandparents families not speaking to each other, my parents families not speaking to each other and us three kids visiting relatives of each "faction" only with the appropriately welcome parent! The big family get-togethers that were the normal for Scottish people didn't apply with our lot, so us kids never really got the chance to hear all the stories about this cousin/uncle/aunt, etc... that I knew all my pals got to hear.

Right now, I'm discovering relatives from Easdale and Luing islands and other places in Argyll I never knew about. I've always loved that part of Argyll and even went to live on Seil (the island next to Luing and Easdale) for four years. Now I know what it was that drew me there.

I know, I'm going on a bit, but I started to look for family I might have the chance to reconnect with and ended up discovering a history that has become a compulsion. There is so much more out there to find yet so I'll keep on looking.

The Lord only knows how I'm going to follow my late husbands family back - his (known) heritage reads like the United Nations!!!

[Fergie]

Loved your story. I like this site because of stories such as yours and have a lot in common with people on this site but have made a couple of connections through genes reunited. One was a descendant of my gg.grandfather who I couldn't trace on Scotland's people. Spoke to my 78 year old mother who when you jog her memory remembers lots. She thought he could be the one who went to London. E. mailed GR member with same name in her tree (born Scotland 1836) and bingo same guy. I filled her in on her Scottish history which she had not got round to doing and she told me about the London branch of the family. Turned out he was a sculptor who carved the lions on Holborn Viaduct and worked on the Victorian buildings in London. He was never short of work and did very well for himself. When I told my mother the story she remembered her grandfather (nephew to the London one) talking about walking all the way to London to see his uncle when he was a young man. Her family laughed and didn't believe him but he said he had no money and had to walk and hitch lifts. I looked up the census in London and found another relative from Glasgow visiting in 1871. I also made a connection with the Banffshire/Aberdeenshire side on GR. A descendant of a sibling of myggg.grandfather. I am looking for closer connections but no luck so far. Every little bit of information makes you hungry for more to try and fit together the jigsaw doesn't it. We had a great Catholic/Protestant mix in my grandparents in that my Belfast granny (RC) who lost her first husband in the first world war came to Glasgow to stay with her aunt in the 1920's to escape the pandemonium in Ireland and met my Scottish (Kirk going masons) grampa from rural Banffshire. What a happy marriage and a great example to their two families who took them to their hearts. The wedding reception was in a pub on the Falls Road in Belfast and Jock got drunk with the rest of them and loved the Irish. Mary and him took holidays in the North East of Scotland with his relatives for many years and they were always well received there too.
I was lucky but my husbands family 50-100 years ago had huge fall outs over religion. Thankfully I think on the whole Scotland is now a lot more tolerant. One of my "brick walls" in the 1830's was a couple who married when they were 16/17 one Irish one Scots and my mother vaguely remembers her grampa (he had dementia) telling her that they were run out of Ireland at the point of a gun. Who's gun we don't know so I would love to piece that together! They settled in Scotland and had at least 8 kids in quick succession. Happy searching, regards, Fergie

[rye470]

I've just found a receipt that shows the exact date that I started on this long and winding road.

I decided tonight that I just HAD to go through all the bits of paper that have accumulated over the last few months, and do some filing. I've been at it for hours. Anyway.......

I found a receipt from Johnstone registry office for 9 Pounds 82 Pence (I don't have a pounds key). This is for my first two certificates, my grandmothers birth and her parents marraige. The receipt is dated 11/6/1982.

Four years after my grandmother died (1978), my company opened a branch in Johnstone and I transfered to that office. I knew that my grandmother had been born in Johnstone, but my move prompted my father to tell me a lot more about his mother and his grandparents. Something I found a bit odd, as I was raised in Linwood which is about 2 miles from Johnstone.

I was intrigued by the stories that he told me, and that I was daily walking the streets that she had known as a child. And that's how it all started.

Funnily enough, it's one of the branches that I have barely moved on. It was only in 2004 that I found her fathers birth details in Co. Armagh, though I had found quite a bit more on her mother's side.

I am coming home in August and so looking forward to meeting a niece of my Grandmother's. Only a year ago I made contact with someone who is the Gt Granddaughter of my Grandmother's brother. The really strange thing is that she was born, raised, married and still lives, half a mile from where I was brought up. We went to the same schools and her brother knows my sister in law. It never, in all these years, occured to me that there might still be some family in the area. How daft is that?


Christine.

[emanday]

Thankfully I think on the whole Scotland is now a lot more tolerant.

It has improved a lot. My two kids were both born in the early 70's and raised in England and didn't have to answer the fabled question "Are you a Billy or a Tim?" when moving to a new area. As I understand it, this question is still asked of newcomers in some parts, but certainly a lot less often the it used to be.

[Fergie]

Hi, emanday,
There are still a few idiots around wherever you go but racism or tribalism or ejits looking for a fight are everywhere. 25 years ago I went for an interview for a job in the North of Scotland and when the guy heard my Glasgow accent he asked, "Well is your husband a Celtic or Rangers man?" I had my answer ready and smugly informed him that my husband supported Partick Thistle! That took the wind out of his sails and I got the job. Regards, Fergie.

[ASGROOMBRIDGE]

Hi Emandy,

I well remember going to school in Annan in late 50's early 60's when the prodistant children went one side of the street and the catholics the other, being Church of England I fell in no mans land and had friends in both camps. I have not lived in Scotland for 35 years but visited last year and my husband was surprised to see an exhibition on the divide as I dont think he ever believed just how bad it was in some places.

When I was eight we visited an aged Aunt living in a tennament in Parkhead, it was a really hot day but I was not allowed outside as Celtic and Rangers were playing tht day.

regards,
Audrey

[Kymbo]

My story goes as follows:

Having lost both parents in their prime, I was curious about their past & that led to their ancestors. Of course I wasn't interested in family history when they were alive, when I could have has volumes of oral history.
My first research was in the area of Nassington Northampton England for my BALL line & their immigration to Australia. That was fairly easy. Then I thought I'd look into me ELBORN line. All leads directed me to Birmingham England. Still didn't know I had any Scottish connections. Viewing my GG Grandfathers death certificate, which states he was born Glasgow Scotland, I decided to dig in that area. Knowing death certificates are probably the least accurate I took a punt.
Sure enough my GG grandfather Thomas Elborn was born, along with 3 of his sibling in Birmingham to Samuel Elborn & Rebecca Eaton. Then it is thought Rebecca died before 1833 (waiting on images from LDS Utah for that). The Samuel Elborn marries a Jane Anderson in 1834 & they have a further 6 children. Not sure if Rebeecca died & Samuel & 4 children, then moved to Glasgow or if Rebecca died just after they arrived in Glasgow.

This Scottish connection will hopefully tie in with the "unknown" photos I have which were taken in Jamaica Street, Glasgow.

There is still a huge puzzle of an item I found in my fathers belongings. It appears to be a chatelaine. Any information would very much appreciated.I'll see if I can upload some pictures.

Kym
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http://talkingscot.com/gallery/displayi ... p?pos=-602
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[Kathy]

How did I get started with the genealogy obsession.

My nephew was asking a lot of questions, and I knew I was becomming the oldest to ask !!

And my husband was watching a lot of football on TV.

Now I'm hooked.

Kathy

[emanday]

There is still a huge puzzle of an item I found in my fathers belongings. It appears to be a chatelaine. Any information would very much appreciated.I'll see if I can upload some pictures.

It was certainly something that would have hooked over the "lady of the house's" waistband. The two hooks would probably have had small useful items on them, like small scissors, a pencil (usually in a decorative holder), a penknife and maybe even a small needle case with emergency thread in. My G-Grandaunt had one made of silver which is now with a second cousin and is highly prized. She is a lot older than me and remembers that her Grannie McPhee always wore it and was always making good use of the bits and bobs hanging from it.

[nellie17]

i was interested as a child i remember at my parents wedding in 1984 that dads family was very funny. My mums family were always fighting with each other butsome families do have em.

I remember at the age of 7 or 8 (1984) that my grandfather came to visit us and he brought along my Great Great Grandfather William and my Great Great Grandmother Annie and they gave my father a family tree that was drawn up and i looked on it to my horror i wasnt on the tree but my youngest sister was. It turned out that cause i was not biologically my dads child i was not on there but he was my DADDY and so why wasnt i on there. Well i wasnt an Elliott but from 4 years old i was and thats what counted right NOT the case in my GGGgrandmothers eye i was not an Elliott. so i held a bit of grudge against her and we moved to Victoria from Convict Tasmania and settled there and met so many of dads side and spent a few years there when we returned to Tasmania and only to get teh phone call that GGgrandparents had passed away dad went to the funeral. Then i met my husband and we married after 12 years together doing everything backwards 2 roosters and a hen come along and we got married. In this time my mother inlaw haddone 20 years searching on her family and hubby an i sat down and i said to him wouldnt it be funny if we were related.

I got the old drawn up family tree i knew all the info was right i just wanted to make sure and lone and behold i find old rellosof hubbyson there and well i have been hooked for 7 years but for the last 3 years i call it my full time job as well as being a mum of a chook shed.

Most of our rellos are Tasmanian so i hope one day to have my Early Tasmanian all listed. Some of us are convict some are not.

Then i find out hubbys family camefromscotlandso im now herehopingtofindsome more info seeing as i live on the other side of the world.

Nellie