Hey Pop -- that is, if you really are my Pop
Grannie and Granddad. What she didn't know didn't hurt her, I can only assume
I am the last of my line. If my 30-ish niece marries (again) and decides to change her name, there will be no more Lidsters in my branch of the family. I suppose at one level that’s kind of sad, but I lose little sleep over it. I don’t know how my brothers feel in that regard. Do they believe we let down the side? I think my father kind of thought that we had. But, that was his problem.
Some people put a whole lot of stock in familial heritage. They put massive efforts into researching their family stock back to the 47th generation; they join heritage groups; they hang out at the local LDS Church genealogy libraries, and they scan the Internet. There are hundreds and hundreds of sites that will help you in tracking down your kin from days of yore. I don’t much see the point, you know, unless you are looking for congenital illnesses that might have impact on later generations. My ex has MS and it was very important to her to find out if she carried the gene -- the jury is still out on whether MS in genetically transmitted, but she did find out, to her dismay, that it was present on both sides of her family -- and did her only child stand in jeopardy of getting it.
Sometimes there can be interesting six degrees of separation things, I suppose, like the revelation that Dick Cheney (shudder) and Barak Obama are actually cousins a few zillion times removed. That should make for an interesting family reunion, much like those held by Thomas Jefferson’s ‘other’ descendants. I guess Barak should only hope that Dick doesn’t offer to take him hunting.
In my case, in that regard, I was in conversation with a Jewish friend of ours. Her maiden name was Goldring. Her predecessors came from Buckinghamshire, England. So did one branch of my family. And it is the only branch of my broader family that actually has a published family tree going back to about the 15th Century. I recalled that my maternal grandfather had told me that there was a Jewish connection in the family, which was why we were distantly related to 19th Century Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. Well, I scanned my photocopy of the tree and there it was (don’t remember the date, but sometime in the early 18th Century a ‘Pontifex’ (family name) married a young lady named Goldring. “Cousin,” I cried out and embraced her.
Of course, the whole thing about genealogy was rent asunder in recent years due to studies in DNA. And, those studies have revealed that it would be a very wise child who knows his father, because his father, grandfather, great-grandfather etc. might not have been who he thought he was. The highly titled might just find they have a gamekeeper or costermonger in their heritage. Personally, I think that would be cool. I was always hoping for pirates, highwaymen, royal whores and assorted other blackguards, knaves and jackanapeses in the mix.
So, I thing genealogical research, while it may be fun, is a kind of a mug’s game, and probably no more valid than a belief in that if you are playing Monopoly, you are somehow, by default, involved in the stock market, or assuming that the purchasing of lottery tickets should secure you a little retirement nest egg.
On the other hand, I really liked, and maybe even loved my grandparents, so I kind of hope I am a lineal descendant, despite the fact that Granddad, as a young man, was too rich and too horny to have behaved himself in regards to siring progeny on the other side of the sheet, as it were, so a body never knows who is actually kin. Supposedly I have a Native Canadian aunt out there somewhere (all his children deny this, except for one son, who spilled the beans to me) and I’d like to meet her.
By the way, Granddad was a very respectable older gentleman. At the same time, he taught me an awful lot of invaluable woodland lore (which has stayed with me) when I was a kid.
“So, Granddad, how is it that you know the forest so well? It’s almost like you spent a lot of time there.”
Labels: genealogy, who we are, why do we care
posted by Ian Lidster at
9:45 AM
14 Comments:
My brother did a very detailed genealogy on our family (with several glaring mistakes that even I know of) but frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn because their names don't tell me anything about them: their passions, pastimes, values, even in most cases, what they looked like.
Then he and his wife flew off to New Zealand to visit a distant cousin whom I'd never heard of, which struck me as a bit odd since he has never had much interest in his only sibling.
I guess the whole thing is interesting, especially if famous people are involved, but what does it prove, really?
That said, I am endlessly grateful to my ancestors because without them, I would not be here. And I would like to know more about them, but I mean the human details, not just the names and dates because I already know that my family lines go back way before my own birth. Tell me something new, and I'll muster some enthusiasm.
Benjamin Disraeli, though. That's hot! :)
I suppose for some it's sort of like a mathematical exercise in some way. The challenge of genealogy, another puzzle.
We Australians tend not to explore our genealogy too closely.
My husband's family name is dying out too. It's very rare name but a lot of girls in his family are wrecking things. We have a son but he's not married. My daughter kept her name after marriage but it dies with her too.
This post really made me smile. I have a cousin who is very interested in tracing our lineage. I find it a little sad that his only son is gay, & has no intention of siring any children, supposing he found a willing female. So my Uncle's line of the family will die out.
On the other hand my husband's line is about to die out, unless our son has children, but there is doubt that his grandfather was of the name his mother took, so goodness knows where he came from!
My last name is unusual enough that people ask me about other people with the same last name. Interestingly, none of them are related. That I'm aware of.
My family doesn't place an interest/value in things like that 'cus the likely hood of pirates and high(wo)men is so high as to be blush worthy.
And no one wants to admit to be related to the other ones that are still running around, either!
My mother did a lot of that but I never had much interest in it. So.. my ancestors were a bunch of working class people from the southern part of London.
Ultimately, who cares? :)
I just remembered one kind of endearing, albeit apocryphal story about my ancestors that I heard in childhood.
My mother's great great uncle fell in love with one of the daughters of Franz Louis Joseph, the last Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the young couple eloped, after which my ancestor was disowned by his Orthodox Jewish family for marrying a "shiksa."
I don't think Judaism recognizes Archduchess as a title, although they do have their share of princesses.
I guess I was naive about this sort of thing, but after my daughter was born, my mother said something like, "I'll always love her best because you know your daughter's children are your true relatives." I'm pretty sure my brother's sons are his, but truth be told, unless you have a DNA test, you never really know. I also found out that in the "Olde English" ways if you had the same mother you were considered siblings regardless of the father whereas if you shared a father it meant nothing except a fight for inheritance.
Grandparents are so special arnt they.
My Dad doesn't lose sleep either over the fact there will be no more Thomson's of his lineage. It makes sense that families die out just as certain animals in nature do. I'm sure most families have skeletons in their closet somewhere...
The geneology-enthusiasts in my clan (of which there are many) have catalogued my relationship to almost every single human being within a hundred mile radius -- look back far enough, and everyone is a cousin to some degree, either by marriage or blood. I had to leave the island to find a fellow I could marry, and even then, we discovered that our ancestors knew each other in the late 1800's.
I love history (which is lucky, given my occupation) but some things ought to stay firmly placed in the past.
ian, i so enjoy your writings. they almost always give me a good laugh, or at least bring a smile to my face while i'm reading.
i had thought about researching my family tree once, but now, nah, doesn't even really matter.
Interesting post, Ian. My husband and to a much lesser extent I have dabbled a bit in genealogy (he was a History major) but it never once occurred to me that "it was the postman" might totally mess with our lineage. As for the last of a line, that's it for this lne of the Pratts. Both my brothers and two male Pratt cousins are childless. Phew.
Great post Ian, as usual.
My father was an only boy, and my brother, also an only boy, has no children ... so this line is dying ...
We must be dinosaurs ...
The Scot always told me...you can only be sure of the Mother. Although nowadays that could be put to the test (tube). From those that researched apparently I could have connections to Henry VIII on the wrong side of blanket, But then I guess so could a hundred more people. But I do(did) have the red hair and the temper. Then again I don't think any DNA testing would be allowed. But its all fun, these skeletons etc.
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