General Chat

Well according to Ancestry.com I am a descendant of Joan Of Arc:-)))
sounds like tosh to me!lol
But there again I am rather saintly:-))lol

Could I just mention that I come from a very distinguished line of agricultural labourers traceable back to 1768.

And, with a little bit of luck and imagination, the line has the potential to lead back to a revolting peasant circa 1381.

It is my dream, nay my destiny, to trace my lineage back to the serf who scrubbed the deck on that very same Normandy ferry that brought Duke William to the shores of England.

Roxxane your every bit a saint honey and keith
peasant farners will do me too.
in 300yrs time all what Hittler did will be hidden
from history--and you'll see people proudly anouncing
their relationship to him------some even denie what
he did now-----the truth of history--there is no truth
like the truth of ancesreral linnage--there is no
proofe --ive never met no pixies or fairies to confirm
the kings of englands coming from the little
people---
All your kings and nobles were hoodies gangsters
who terrorised areas and supressed peoples and
the church kept 'em supressed for hand outs
from these vicious crimminals

colin F

Been away for a day so only just got back to read messages.

I don't think I misunderstood Colin but I'm sorry if I did. You appeared to be saying that all long genealogies shared the same ridiculous fictions.

People did perhaps have funny ideas in the past........and some still do. I've come across trees leading back to Adam and Eve and all sorts of other people whose existence is debatable.



I don't think it's a case of being proud of any particular ancestors Colin so much as finding any information interesting. In fact taking pride in anything someone else did would be pretty silly I think since, in my opinion, we are all responsible for our own lives and all of us a mixture of some nice people and others who were very unpleasant.

It is interesting to discover that it's estimated that a very high proportion of the population of England is descended from Edward III. I certainly hadn't really ever thought about that until I got interested in medieval genealogy. I was always interested in history at school but it just takes on a slightly different slant if you stop and think that the people you've read about probably belong on your family tree.
Using the same sort of maths but without any records to back it up you could also argue that everyone is also likely to be descended from most people alive at the same time as Edward III. That then means if you go and stand in any cathedral or castle anywhere it is highly probable that your ancestors either built it or lived or worshipped there.

That to me is the whole point of doing the research. I like to feel the link with the past. Those of us with a line which does lead back a very long way can name people from then but I also feel very interested in the places where many unnamed ancestors must have lived. I have families who lived in particular villages back to when parish records began and I can be pretty sure that some of their ancestors must have been there hundreds of years earlier. I've been very interested in finding out about the lives of all sorts of people.

As for Pixies and Little People........I'm not sure whose tree you've been looking at (LOL) but I've not met any serious medieval genealogists tracing anybody's family history back to fairies! As for the Kings of England supposedly doing that, where have you been looking!

There does come a point when documentary evidence runs out but (checking a very reliable source) the earliest ancestor I've found for King Alfred is a King called Cerdic who was King of the West Saxons between 519 and 534.

We all have the blood of nobles and serfs. We are all mongrels with ancestors from further afield than most of us ever realise. I had never found an ancestor from outside of England until the medieval lot. They lead to people all over Europe, into Central Asia and possibly from Africa.

I think if more people understood how much and how closely we are all related the world might be perhaps a happier place.

I wish everyone luck with your own research. May you all find ancestors who interest you.

Sue

Yes, I am with Keith on this one. I am decended from a very long line of Ag. Labs. I have tried my best to find royalty, wealth, and fame, but it always comes back to the land.

I have scrubbed out a few family stories though, like my paternal great grandmothers 2nd husband had been the mayor of Liverpool......like great my maternal great grandmother was related to a very famous singer. ......like my maternal/paternal side of the family came from a rich Russian/Danish/German!!!! shiping family.

I am now more interested in how my long dead forebearers lived their lives. I have discovered that my paternal great grandfather was killed when he fell off the roof of the building he was working on in1883. Obtaining the death cert. which was issued by the coroner, was sad and gave me the opportunity to try and understand just how difficult it was for families who lost the head of the house.

I am still looking though, so watch this space !!!!!!!!!!!

Kathlyn

Colin, you come across as if you have a bit of a chip on your shoulder. There are and always have been good and bad in all levels of society from the highest to the lowliest. Not all kings and queens were tyrants and not all serfs were the salt of the earth.

I would be proud if I found a link back to royalty or even nobility. I have always been passionate about pre Georgian history and to be descended from people about who I could learn so much more would be brilliant for me. But I am just as proud of the labourers and weavers and criminals that I am already descended from.

I'm glad it wasn't only me getting that impression Uggers.

I was thinking perhaps I'd read more into Colin's comments than perhaps he'd meant. It is so difficult in forum messages sometimes to get the "tone of voice" intended.

I think I should mention at this point that it was the line back from my ag lab grandfather (who lived in a cottage with no bathroom and an earth closet down the garden) that led back to the Earls of Lincoln.

Meanwhile the other side of the family, which I am sure felt itself superior, has had numerous Black Sheep and scandals uncovered!

I personally wasn't born into a posh family and knew nothing about any ancestors grander than a few yeomen until a couple of years ago.

I think the point I'm trying to make is that none of us know where our research is going to lead us. That is the fun of this hobby and everyone's tree is going to head off in a totally different direction.

If my humble potato picking grandad can be the direct descendant of Kings and have a line going back to 380 AD then anyone's could!!!

It took me years to find this out but that was partly my fault because I had rather ignored that line as not looking very interesting! I also don't live near enough to Lincoln to have gone to the Records Office.

Sue
x

True Colin......I have distant relations who have trees with my family on going back.....in one case to the 800's and including the Darnleys, Mary Queen of Scots and a Knight who was prominent in the lowlands of Scotland......the only problem is, I can go back to the late 1700s and they were lowly weavers....living in a little weaver's cottage.......the others have them owning Weaving Mills....

......all I can say is it is the quickest transformation from riches to rags I have ever seen.......lol....

I have found during my research into my OH's family a line who were very wealthy owning many houses and estates in Wiltshire and Devon one of them being a judge, however one of the sons (my OH 2 x g grandfather) for some reason left his family and wealth behind, moved to Cornwall and was a tidesman and his sons going on to be ag labourers. There are other genealogists who have sites dedicated to this family but wanting to check the facts for myself have I bought all the certificates, got copies of the parish records, wills and other verification. Wish I could find out what made him leave it all behind though!

Kathlyn, know how you feel. One contact assured me I am related to the John Taylor who succeeded Brigham Young as First President of the LDS Church.
Another umpteen times g grandpa's sister MIGHT have had a nephew whose widow married the Quaker founder George Fox.
As neither astounding fact qualified me for remission of Council Tax, the connections have been forgotten.

I'm just pure white trash and proud of it.lol. but extremely jelous of you noble lot. doffs cap to you all.