Ancestors who catch the imagination?

[benny1982]

Hi

Have any of you had ancestors who have caught your imagination, and become attached or slightly obsessed with a certain ancestor?

I always get obsessions with an ancestor who had a colourful life, such as they married 3 times or moved around a lot. I have become attached to Thomas Roberts for being married 3 times, and moving around, plus a 25 year army career. I have become attached to all of my London ancestors for being born there but I think the one I am most interested in is William Thomas Coombs born 1828 in Soho. Until he settled in Fitzrovia, W1 in 1856 he lived all over the capital. Born in Soho, grew up in Marylebone, lived in Westminster in 1851 and married in Hackney in 1856.

Others include William Wilson, Sarah Brain, Mathias Butler, Mary Ann Walder, Ellen Edgington and many others.

Ben

 

[gibbo]

Hi Ben

Yes, i to seem to get attached to particular ones. I sometimes wonder if it is that they seem more interesting, not to say the others are boring but the ones who moves alot etc are a challenge and i find it shows their personalities. I think after researching my grandmother that she certainly had a mind of her own and didnt give a hoot what anyone thought, she just did her thing and she did it the way she wanted and i think a lot of it would not have been acceptable back then. She would have certainly given her parents more than one sleepless night!

gibbo

 

[benny1982]

Hi Gibbo

Yes if an ancestor was born, bought up and died in the same village and had a boring occupation, they dont seem to catch my attention as much as more active ancestors do.

That ancestor Mathias Butler was born in Chesterton Oxon, and moved about 8 miles west to Wootton by Woodstock, and although he was an ordinary ag lab, he was married twice, 1816 and 1831 and lived to see the 1851 census in Wootton and died in 1858 aged about 70. Because of those, he has caught my imagination and it was only a few days ago I found that he was an ancestor.

Ben

 

[gibbo]

Am i strange, going mad or is it just plain old coincidence but sometimes things happen when i research particular ancesters. It makes me wonder if they know what we are up to. i talk to myself sometimes so that probably doesnt say much for my state of mind!!

gibbo

 

[p.risboy]

Hi All,
I am attached to my paternal grandmother, who I only knew for 7 years. After researching her family I have found great sorrow but much interest.
Even though she and her predecessors never moved more than 2 miles in any direction from where they were born, they have put a lot of colour in an agricultural landscape.
She lost more rellies in 2 wars than most families deserve. And in the community she lived it was extremly apparent. And if you include those that survived, she had a lot to bear.
So I look at her picture now with great pride, knowing she had come through for those that needed her.
So since doing family research for the last few months, I can see this woman in a totally new light.
She was a fearsome, cuddly, jolly and homely women. God bless her.

Steve.

 

[benny1982]

Hi

My great, great grandmother was born in Warninglid in 1863 but her parents moved to London when she was a tiny baby and she was baptised in London. She grew up in Stoke Newington, Bow, Lambeth, Walworth and Holborn all before she had her 15th birthday, although they had just arrived in Holborn 2 months before her 15th birthday. She spent all her life in London and died in Archway, Islington in 1943. Being baptised and bought up in several areas of London makes up for not actually being born in London. She was still a Londoner.

She has caught my imagination.

Ben

 

[leefer]

My Nan was 93 when i first met her....i didnt know her at all as a kid...she was the eldest of 9 kids and went into service at the age of 15....she was a great cook,and though frail in mind and body when i first met her she said...Your Lee arnt you,she smiled and said i knew i would see you before my time is up,i cried and she smiled and put her hand on my face....she passed away 3 months later...though still upset at not ever knowing her i feel privelidged to meet my nan,i will endeavour to find out more anout nanny Barfoot.

 

[JMR]

Am i strange, going mad or is it just plain old coincidence but sometimes things happen when i research particular ancesters. It makes me wonder if they know what we are up to. i talk to myself sometimes so that probably doesnt say much for my state of mind!!

gibbo

I'm sure they not just know what we're up to, but I think in some cases they orchestrate the process. I just about hear their laughs as we try to break down brick walls and uncover all their secrets.

I never used to believe in that stuff until one wet Saturday night I decided to put together a montage of all the little children on my tree that had died so young. I had finished the montage, some I had photos for, but some I just did a little memorial sheet for, but I couldn't make the program complete the job. It just wouldn't respond. After fiddling around for hours and giving up and doing some more searches on Ancestry, I came across a little girl called Rella who died before her 10th birthday, I'd never come across her before. I added her to my montage and voila the program completed the job. No other fiddling required! They know!

Cheers,
Jill

 

[p.risboy]

I'm sure they not just know what we're up to, but I think in some cases they orchestrate the process. I just about hear their laughs as we try to break down brick walls and uncover all their secrets.

I never used to believe in that stuff until one wet Saturday night I decided to put together a montage of all the little children on my tree that had died so young. I had finished the montage, some I had photos for, but some I just did a little memorial sheet for, but I couldn't make the program complete the job. It just wouldn't respond. After fiddling around for hours and giving up and doing some more searches on Ancestry, I came across a little girl called Rella who died before her 10th birthday, I'd never come across her before. I added her to my montage and voila the program completed the job. No other fiddling required! They know!

Cheers,
Jill

I'm with you Jill,
When I'm searching for rellies and getting nowhere, and on the point of giving up for the night. I get a cold chill or a draft from somewhere, and low and behold, up pop's a rellie.
I just thought a coincidence, but it seems to happen quite frequently.
I have an open mind on everything, but these occurrences are hard to explain away, so I take all the help I can get. And we do need it sometimes.

Steve.

 

[Littlemo]

Hi All,
I"ve just said in a previous post before I read this one about how spooky this is I knew hardly anything about my Paternal relies because of the simple fact that neither did my dad. But as soon as I found my gGrandad Michael Donnelly, I felt a strange affection for him. He obviously had a hard life as he was working in a Cotton Mill at the age of 10. He went into the Army, and I had a Son also named Michael who was in the Army, but the weird part about this is that up until my Michael was born, I had decided to call him Darren or Gary, and suddenly a week before he was born for no particular reason I decided to call him Michael Weird ro what! And to cap it all I have just found out one of my GGGrandads was also a soldier called Michael, really SPOOKY
Littlemo xx

 

[gibbo]

Hi

When i first answered Ben's post, i had written about strange things happening when i research particular relatives and thought i was going mad. Glad to report i appear to be sane!! Glad others have written about their experiences and im not the only one things happen to. When i research my Aussie grandfather my cd rom drive opens and closes on its own. When i was researching my mother-in-law's family it was like i could have reached out and touched her but she wasnt there. I was close to both these people so i didnt know if it was because i was sentimental about them so i was imaginning it or whether they were helping and letting me know they were still here with me. When i told my hubby about these strange things he just said he is glad he isnt paying the grocery bill to feed them all.

gibbo