General Chat

The biggest discovery was finding that my 6 x great grandfather was very wealthy owning lands in most of South East Essex. This came as a shock, as we were a family ,who were comfortable, but not wealthy by any means.
I then got a copy of his will, and the money he left and land was quite considerable.
Then finding how many of my family had died in WW1, and a couple in WW2, was very upsetting.
Apart from the 'shot gun' weddings, and some illegitimacy I think this was the only surprise.

Wondered if any of you had ever seen this:

It just all depends on how you look at some things..

Judy Wallman, a professional genealogy researcher in southern California, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that Congressman Harry Reid's great-great uncle, Remus Reid, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889.

Both Judy and Harry Reid share this common ancestor.

The only known photograph of Remus shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory:

On the back of the picture Judy obtained during her research is this inscription: 'Remus Reid, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the Montana Flyer six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.'

So Judy recently e-mailed Congressman Harry Reid for information about their great-great uncle.

Believe it or not, Harry Reid's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research:

"Remus Reid was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory . His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Remus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."


NOW THAT's how it's done folks! That's real POLITICAL SPIN

Persephone

haha - can just imagine those "spin-doctors" writing that

Persey

That's incredible! Now that's what I call really manipulating the facts!

Best wishes,

Margot.

PS I found out the other day that my Great Grandmother had a baby out of wedlock,but it died very young.She didn't put the father's name on the certificate,but got married the next year to my Great Grandfather.In my family,that is a big deal! No-one ever had a child out of wedlock!

Last year I found out two of my grt grt uncles were done for incendiarism (arson) in the 1840s. One turned Queen's Evidence on the other so one wasn't charged, the other got a death sentence. It was commuted to transportation with a couple of days to the date he was due to hang.

In Australia, he was even more entertaining - was done for being obscene in church, for chatting up women, for starting a riot and appleid twice to marry a fellow con (prostitiute) despite the fact he still had a wife and child in England.

Another unexpected was finding I was descended directly from the post Civil War vicar of the next parish to where I live.

We also found I have one line of my mum's family marry into one line of my dad's (Unbelievable as this is the biggest county, and both came from opposite ends).. and they settled down and lived here, in the very parish where I live. When I moved here a decade ago I had no idea I had any ancestors here at all. Dad's family were in this village from the 1790s-1860s. Mum's were here from around 1700 onwards.

i have realy enjoyed reading this thread
i found out that my gt gran was not married althoughshe had four children two of them were not known about one died young all four were born and lived in the workhouse i have traced gt granchildren of the unknown sister there must have been a reason for not speaking about her i wish i knew why
sally

That the story was true my grandmothers brother age 12 was emigrated to Canada by Barnardos but not because he kept playing truant but because my gt grandmother was a prostitute! (They kept that bit quiet!)

This is a really good thread.

I have found that one of my gt gt grandmothers had 6 terraced properties built in one street. One of which she had as a tobacconist/sweet shop. She must have been quite wealthy as she also had a coal delivery business. When I asked my nan where did her grans money came from, I was told she worked hard for it. I guess that told me.

Having found another ancestor died aged 25 leaving two young children I sent for the death certificate. She had been knocked down by what was called a Hansom cab., In the newspaper report witnesses said the wheels had gone over her stomach, she was 5 months pregnant. She had re-married the previous year after her husband died, she had also lost her 4 year old daughter 6 months before her husband. I have to admit reading the article brought tears to my eyes.

I have also been able to read more about how my gt grandfather died in the mining disaster at Cresswell which happened before I was born. It was quite upsetting to read that several of the men were entombed for several months before their bodies were recovered. One man involved in closing the mine off did so knowing his own father was still in there, how sad is that.

One frustrating part of my research is not being able to identify for certain the father of my gt grandad. My nan has told me that her dad was illegitimate, she told me his dads name and occupation and that her dad was told his dad had died when he was young. Having checked the records, there is only one possible but he died much later. I think my gt grandad was lied to about his dad being dead. I just wish I could prove the connection.

Going through baptisms records last week I was amused to read one record where after the fathers name it said, our drunken schoolmaster. The ministers didn't seem to care what they wrote. On a couple more where the child was illegitimate, after the mothers name it said a notorious whore. How christian is that?

Look forward to reading more stories.

Chris

Oh Chris, your post made me cry and then laugh, such a good thread.

Lainey

Hi all,

Persephone, goodness what a snow job! No wonder it can be hard tracing the right version of a family tree!

Hogzilla, how funny, the uncle that was transported sounds like a real character! Have you been able to follow him on to see what eventually happened to him?

Gosh some of these tales are so sad, life was so hard then... at least we are all trying to preserve history a bit when you think about it, so our family will know what happened.

I think the deaths in the Wars also are so sad. I have had one chap who was the oldest son in a well to do family and obviously (buy the newspaper articles) his father's pride and joy. He survived Gallipoli, was emntioned in dispathches for braverely, was shot, recovered and then was eventually killed in Pozieres. His mother and father errected a monument in the local cemetery. It was very sad reading about how proud they were of his enlistment and rank, then again when he was promoted and again after his bravery, then their sadness at losing him. All of his brothers (who also all fought but survived) all had sons, one in each family of which was named after their lost brother.

I hope we keep this thread going, it is so interesting to read everyone's experiences..

Mum's gfather was born in London to a genteel family with a well documented heritage. At the age of 22 he was the latin master at Chesterfield Grammar School, then at the age of 24 he became the schoolmaster of a historic school in a small village in north Lancashire. He held this position for 13 years, during which time he married a local girl and started a family.

Some years ago a book was written about the village, which talked about the school, giving a list of schoolmasters. On another page was discussed the quality of the various masters.
It said that the one during this time had not been a good choice, and after 11 years in the post, he was required under threat of dismissal to
'never enter into public houses or beershops under any pretence, nor to frequent sales unless having business there'. He resigned 2 years later, at the age of 37, and eventually became a railway worker. What a sad downfall for such a clever man.

Several family members purchased this book, but upon realizing who was being thus described, one gdaughter, an older lady, threw the book on the fire!
Luckily I still have a copy!

DS

It must have been a big shock to the family to learn their respected ( or so they thought ) relative had succumbed to the demon drink.

No wonder there was a push by the Temperance Society of men who were affected by it

Google Temperance Society in Britain ( Spartacus.schoolnet .co.uk) . Scroll down and read how our relatives were living and why they drank so much.
It attributes the pauper lunatic and idiot children to the drunkeness of parents. It makes interesting reading