General Chat

repeat today BBC1 16:45

I enjoyed finding out about the family of Ruby Wax.
So sad though, that Ruby didn't have this information when she was growing up. I wonder how much her mother knew about her grandmother and her aunty. Grandmother died many years before Ruby's mother was born, in fact Ruby'y grandfather was a young lad when his mother died, perhaps he didn't know much about her illness or cause of death either.

I can't remember the name of Ruby's mother, but besides the family history of mental illness, it seems that her parents had also died quite young, she must have had a very difficult life, especially after losing contact with her seemingly only living blood relation, Aunt Ella.

One of the saddest stories I've heard, as usually when a sad part of the family history is discovered and or presented, it is followed by a " --- however, great, (or great, great)(uncle, aunt. mother, father etc. went on to ---- "some sort of happier life.


i hope that Ruby remains healthy, and is able to cope with what ever the "aggitation" throws at her in future.

I traced heart disease in my OH"s family back to his paternal ggg grandfather who died in 1857 at the age of 32.
( prior to 1855 there were no statutory death records and causes of deaths are not known)
At least 1 descendant in every generation that followed died prematurely from the same disease. Some were very young.

My OH's paternal great aunt died at the age of 6.
His grandmother was just 49.
Her daughter, who was his father's sister, died aged 21yrs

OH's father had a major MI when he was 46yrs which resulted in a triple heart by pass
OH himself had a massive MI at 40 !
Modern medicine meant they both survived but at least we know the risk and what to look out for.

A "new" familial trait has surfaced in my own family
Vitiligo
My older brother and sister both have it. They each have one child with it and now they both have young grandchildren who are also starting to lose skin pigment.
Oddly one of these grandchildren was not born to the child with Vitligo

We have no idea where it comes from?

In my paternal line there is a lot of heart disease, four people have had to have pacemakers fitted and my youngest brother has atrial fibulation?

It's good to know what things to look out for.

My dreadfully thinning hair surely comes from my maternal family. My elderly great aunts returned to Norwich when I was 12. I remember them crocheting themselves little caps to keep their heads warm and cover the bald bits. I think I will pass on those fashion accessories lol

Lizxx

I found it very interesting too.
My mother and grandmother both had mental health issues.
From family research, it is apparent that my mother's great aunt ( maternal) also hadproblems
All of them showed signs before they reached 30yrs old
So far, neither myself or any of my 4 siblings have shown any signs of it and we are all now in our late 50's and 60's

From other research that I undertook..
Type1 diabetes must stem from the same maternal line.
At least 6 or 7 current family members over 3 different generations, live with the condition.
They include my daughter and my sister's son
All of them are direct descendants of my maternal gg grandparents.

I have just come on to this thread and was interested to see Maggie's comment about Lyme disease. It was found recently that Kris Kristofferson has had Lyme disease for years, he contracted it while filming something.

So he wasn't always stoned then!

I'd heard Ruby talk about her battle with mental health and the problems she'd had with her parents, especially her mother, before. I think if she had known about her ancestors it would have given her a better understanding, not only of her own mental health problems earlier on, but also that of her Mother's...but thereagain mental problems were rather a taboo subject back in the day.

I liked the fact she was going to get headstone for Olga <3

Interesting programme taking a different slant on Genealogy :-)

A very interesting and thought provoking programme.

My sister had eczema, one of her sons had eczema and hay fever the other slight asthma. My mother said it wasn't in her family so must be our dad's.

Wrong - I am collecting all the BMD certs. of my pedigree and 1 gt grandmother on dad's side and a gt gt grandfather on mum's maternal line and a gt gt gt grandmother on her paternal line died from asthma. It was in both families, thankfully I haven't had any problems related to this and my children are both OK.

Just shows what you can find exploring your family tree. :-D

I thought this story was very interesting although dreadfully sad. The way the mental health issues have followed through the family must make Ruby concerned that the same thing could happen to one or more of her children or future grandchildren.

Lizxx

I loved the programme just show that we can inherit some thing from the past.

My cousin found out he had diabetes we were talking one day and he said God knows where this came from one else has got it in the family I was able to tell him that our great grandmother had it and there was someone else in another branch of the tree as well

I agree, Guinevere, but perhaps they felt they were protecting her.

One of my nephews was diagnosed with depression over 25 years ago - the only one in the family as far as we know (we'll ignore the train de-railer who was removed from prison and put in an asylum, as the Government paid for prisoners, Local Councils paid for asylum incarceration - nothings changed)

He lives in the New Forest - was brought up there.
Three years ago, he had a tick, which left a dodgy 'bulls eye' mark when removed.
He went for a blood test - which showed no recent Lyme disease - but DID show old - very old Lyme disease.
Further tests - he'd been taking anti-depressants for years - when, all this time, he'd had Lyme disease :-(

Very sad. I admire Ruby even more now.

So sad that her parents couldn't talk about their experiences.

Wow! Torn between awe and sympathy!

They used to say 'madness', or as Ruby put it 'agitation' was genetic.
Makes you wonder whether it's a slight mis-wiring of the brain.

Mind you, her mother had every right to be agitated.
Makes the whole nasty business more 'real' when you see photo's and hear their stories.

They saved the best until last. Really good

Now that was very interesting and explained a lot for Ruby

I enjoyed this one very much and how she was so interested in all that was found
:-)

Love Ruby. <3

Witty, intelligent and articulate, should be a good one.

....

Looking forward to finding out about her family.

Think it will be very interesting.

Nudge :-D