General Chat

gtx2 grfather

- father's father's father's father -- I'd ask who the &%$# his mother was. ;)

- mother's mother's mother's father -- I'd ask who the &%$# his father was. (Yeah, like I'm going to believe those submitted records in the IGI, or that marriage certificate for the marriage 7 years after their youngest child was born, and 25 years after their first!)

- mother's father's father's father ... Well, that takes us into Ernest Hill/Monck territory. I'd ask Mr Hill whether he *was* Ernest's father. And if not, was it really the 5th Viscount's black sheep younger brother? ;) And what that bankruptcy I just discovered was all about, and how come he seems to have married the young lassie from Scotland when his wife from Cornwall was still living ... or why he hadn't married her in the first place 30 yrs earlier ... and where the &%$# he was in 1861 ...

The grx2 grmothers, they seem to have been a more sensible lot.


I do agree with Theresa, it would be quite something to be able to tell them what survivors their families have obviously been, and how their lives got better. I wouldn't be judging them ... depending, of course, on the answers to some of those questions!

I would like to ask OH's ggrandmother b 1851 in a village out in the sticks in Oxfordshire how she came to marry the blacksmith born in another even smaller village out in the sticks in Shropshire. Did he shoe the horse of a passing traveller who arranged the marriage?

Never mind my Gt gt Grandfather - I have a few questions I would like to ask my gt grandfather -

How could he speak of being in South Africa and talk of conditions over there - mentioning the Boer War - when he was far too old to serve and he can be traced here.

Where was he when his second son was born in the local Workhouse - family stories say he was in America at the time of the birth, visiting his brother, and stayed for two years. (Can't prove this) Son was definately his - too much of a resemblance.

Why was I told that my Grandmother brought up this son when the 1901 census shows him living with his wife, son and two of his grandchildren.

And lastly..........two sons (children).......25 years apart............

Christine

Wonderful stories on here. So many of our ancestors had difficult lives.
Their ability to survive whatever life threw at them is awe inspiring.

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could give them a hug, to reassure them that their descendants live in easier times.

I know that there were some right meanies out there too. People I could never understand in a thousand years. Hopefully the really horrible ones are in a minority.

Margot - I have the photos from my mother's side but very little re my fathers.

Before I even speak to my great grand parents - I would've liked to know my grandmother ( I have lovely photos of her) who died when my mother was four years old.
And I would like to know my grandfather ( I have no photos of him the family would not even have owned a camera) who died when my father was thirteen and my dad being the eldest boy had to work to support his
mother and his six siblings. I didn't get to meet his mother either - she died a couple of years before I was born... and hers is the hardest Ancestry for me to trace.

Norma

My gr/gr/grandparents emigrated to Australia in 1836/7, with their three little boys. Due to an outbreak of measles, the two younger boys died and were buried at sea. The journey took more than four months.

I would like to ask them how they felt when they arrived? They must have hated the country before they even saw it - but they had no way of returning home.

I would like to ask my g.g.grandfather on my mother's paternal side who his parents were and did he have any siblings. All that is known is he
was born 1801 in Jamaica, a negro slave, and has a Scottish name...
Also, I woudlike to ask three of my gggrandparents on my mother's maternal side what it was like on the convict boats as they sailed out to Australia in the early 1800s.....

Gosh,what fascinating stories,and questions!!

I would ask my 7 Irish GG Grandparents WHY they only put down the county where they were born,and not the name of the place within it,so that I would have less brick walls to break down.Also,the names of their parents,and siblings.,and the dates too.

Why did all 16 of my GGGrandies migrate to Australia during the 1840's and 1850's?( None were convicts.)I know about the Irish potato famine,but what were the other reasons,other than the Gold Rush,and the hope of a better life? What were the economic and social conditions which directly affected them? How did they feel leaving friends and family,and everything familiar behind,to come out here?

I would ask one GGGrandy why he was (apparently) the only one out of 12 children to emigrate to Australia,and why there is no trace of his journey out here?I once heard a story that one of the Ivey males had quarelled with his father, had left the family behind,and no longer spoke to his family.Was that him?? Or was it one of his many sons??


I would ask my Great Grandmother what sort of homeopathic medicines and herbs did she use to help cure the people in Donald (Vic) who couldn't afford the services of a doctor? What were her success stories?(presuming she had some!)


Lastly,why do I know heaps of family stories from my father's side,and almost nothing from Mum's side??Ditto photos!!

That will do for starters..

Brilliant thread,thanks Ann.

I'd ask my great grandmother if she ever met my father. I'd ask her what happened to her daughter Jessie Louisa who disappeared just after her christening. I'd also ask her what her second son was called and did she know her husband had dumped the two eldest kids in an orphanage before following her to London. I'd also like her to tell me if she really did have a fling with a Russian diplomat. I'd like her to tell me who fathered the twins as they were born 10 months after her husband died. I'd have to question her about where the heck she hid herself for the 1911 census.

But most of all I'd give her a big hug because I don't know how the hell she managed to carry on when she'd lost 7 children and two husbands.

Iris,I don't know whether you watch QI on TV,but it said on there, that burning was the biggest cause of death among women.

This was because they cooked on an open fire,and their long dresses regularly caught alight.

just one question to my gran clara annie , who were the fathers of your 2 sons (half brothers) ,and why the h**l did you not tell them the names,also my 3rd ggreat gran ,were you really burnt to death, family history has it that you were a witch!!!

I would like to meet them all and request that, if they insist in giving all their offspring the same names, could they please at least give them a different middle one.

n

My G grandad I would ask ,were you REALLY born in belgium in 1854? When did you come to england, and why did you change your name and change your dob to 1850 for the 1911 census
My Great aunt I would ask, where did you bury your first husband?in 1901.

Bob

That's a tricky one, Alan.
I've just nudged this up, I'm enjoying reading the answers. I'll find a few more of my own too.

I would want to know why it was that his surname on his marriage cert was TINNIS and within 5 yrs had changed 29 times to its current derivation of Tennuci/Tennuchi/Tinnuche PLUS where did he come from

Lot`s of questions
I would ask my grt grt grandmother who her Father was, and was he the Father of her sister .
I would ask my Grt Grt Grt Grandmother after having 2 children befor she married, why did she go onto have 10 more children .
And I would ask all of them why can I not find pictures so I can see what the looked like
Lynda

Ann, I have only been doing this geneology for a couple of years, and it is what I have found to date.
A couple or so of the questions I may be able to get answers to, if only I could pluck up the courage to pick up the phone and ring the Gt. Grandaughter of the second 'wife', who still lives in the 'home' town. But, I am working on that, and it may be this week, nerves permitting.
Julia in Derbyshire

I would like to ask my Granny Mary who died in 1967 what she knew about Grandads eldest sister Jane, and why she was never talked about. Even my Mum had never heard of her despite living with you for a number of years and hearing endlessly about the rest of the family. We only found Jane, now married, named on her mother's will which turned up in some family papers years later. Is Jane one of the people on your wedding photo? Did you know she appears to have had some children before her death in 1914?

I would also like to ask Granny's ggrandfather Thomas who was born in 1797 where he was baptised, because I've searched every record for miles around where he said he was born, and there's no record.

Lol Good heavens Julia, those questions have been stored up a while I guess?