Dear friends. Another month, another Tell Us About challenge. This time it's Family History, posed by Jill of Grownup Glamour.
I will spare you my family tree. I go back quite a long way in history with both the maternal Lovis's and the paternal Tyler's, but they were a very ordinary bunch. No royalty, baronets or celebrities.
I uploaded my DNA a few years ago, as soon as it became possible. DNA fascinates me. I'm always thrilled when long term cold cases are solved, thanks to evidence being carefully preserved.
I've had quite a few DNA matches but apart from a cousin on my father's side, they are all very distant. It's hard to place them in the family tree because you don't get many clues. I enjoy the detective work involved in researching and placing them.
I don't contact the matches, so I was surprised when a second cousin twice removed got in touch. She was interested in my great grandfather on my mother's side. She told me she was related via his first wife, with whom he had a daughter. It was news to me he had a first wife and daughter. She was planning to find the great grandfather's grave in Plymouth and wondered if I knew where it was.
THE BIG DILEMMA
I had a dilemma. The ancestor concerned died a long time ago but I know of him from my grandmother's memoir, hand written for me. He was a drunken brute. She and her brother Tom confronted him when they saw him with another woman, and told him not to go home ever again.
It was the first time any of his family had stood up to him, and like all cowards, he backed down and did not return home.
I decided to spare Carolyn this sad story. In the end she drew a blank with locating his grave.
Now let's see how my blogger friends got on, starting with Jill from Grownup Glamour in Australia, who set this challenge. She explores her family roots and like many Australian families finds there is a mix of early free settlers and convicts. Read her post.
Suzy from Suzy Turner, a Yorkshire lass in Portugal, uncovers her ancestor Sammy Morton. This reveals a surprising past that inspires her creative ventures and sparks connections to pop culture icons like Adam Ant. Find her post on her updated blog
When Sue from Women Living Well After 50, looked at this month’s Tell Us About prompt, she didn’t think she would have much to write about. Then she discovered a surprise ancestor in her family tree and is planning to do some digging..
Australian blogger Debbie from Deb's World had unexpected visitors that led to an unexpected, and surprising, family history connection. Cue lots of information flowing backwards and forwards and DNA testing, with results awaited. Read more at
US blogger Marsha from Marsha in the Middle had a great-great-uncle who may have been the eleventh President of the United States. She also thinks her dad could have gotten into West Point if only her Grandma Rose had pulled some strings. Read more about what Marsha thinks she knows on her blog!
Penny from Frugal Fashion Shopper in the UK goes slightly left field and instead of writing about a distant ancestor found in the family tree, tells us about the process of writing a story about her mother, and a mystery….. She hopes that this qualifies as family history!
I hope you enjoyed the varied selection of family histories. Pop back tomorrow and join me for the best of the March book releases. And on Saturday for another month in the life of my garden.
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We had a similar but more difficult dilemma as it involved living people. My Uncle had a child with a women he was engaged to. A fee months later he married my aunt. This daughter came looking and found my cousin who does a lot of family tree stuff including DNA was put on the spot. Did she tell our cousins or not. In the end we made the decision to let them have the info and if they decided to contact her it was up to them. Bernie from Www.equipoiselife.wordpress.com
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