The Tree Of Life!

I may have mentioned this before, but I do have a bit of the amateur genalogist in me! I started researching my family tree around 1990, and not long after probably started researching my wife's side of the family as well. Back then though, it was straight-forward. A visit to New Register House in Edinburgh, then back up to the North-East, trawling through Census records and Parish records (combined with the IGI) on microfilm. Some scanning through old newspapers, the odd local reference book, and of course scouring cemeteries for headstones.

I haven't done that type of research for several years now though, because the Internet changed all of that. At least, my discovery of the Internet. Four of five years ago, I took the liberty of uploading my family tree to several genealogy sites such as Ancestry.com, Genes Reunited (when they got going) etc. Since then, I haven't had to do any research, the information has come to me. Let me explain further:

• People anywhere in the World, can log-on to any of those sites and enter a name, possibly just a surname.
• They find a match.
• They look for the E-Mail address of the person who uploaded that name.
• They E-Mail me saying that they are descended from the individual in question.
• I respond with a sort of, I'll show you mine if you show me yours.
• Information is exchanged, and I add that new information to my tree.

At this point, I should re-upload my tree to show the new names on there, but this is something I haven't done for a year or two, but still I add and add new names to my tree. At this point in time, I'm just shy of 11,000 individuals dead or alive. Mostly dead I'm afraid. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep adding people. You'd think there'd be a ceiling of some sort, where the names just dry up, but not neccessarily. You'd be surprised how many descendants one person can have, for instance, take the wife's Gt Grandfather, Alexander Maver b.1855. My family tree software enables me to see that he has (or had) 254 direct descendants, and those are only the ones I know about. There might be more. I really should re-upload my tree, I think I'll do it now!

The Sacred Art Of Keeping A Secret!

Secrecy! Every family has its secrets! They may be dark and sinister, or they might be stupid and pointless like the ones my family have. Over the years I've managed to prise some family info out of my Grandmother which she was sworn to secrecy over, probably 60 years ago or more. But, the world has moved on since then! Yes, it appears my Great Grandfather had a child by another woman before he was married. My Grandmother knows the identity of the child, but cannot reveal it. Honestly, the World could end if she were to reveal this terrible secret which has been her burden for so many years.

The other big family secret is the identity of my Grandfather. I started researching our family tree when I was about 19 and immediately questioned my father who said he had no idea. When he was away to work I went looking in his desk and found a piece of paper with a little family tree sketched out on it. It said my Grandfather's name was Eric Boon/Boone. I'd never heard the name before that day. I questioned my father further and he said I'd have to ask my Grandmother. When I broached the topic with her, to say she was reticent to talk about it would be an understatement. My Father is a product of the post-war celebrations, in my mind anyhow.

The story, as far as I could make it out, was as follows: My Grandmother was 19 and in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). The year was 1946 and she was stationed at the Bridge-of-Don barracks near Aberdeen. There she met the dashing (5 years older) Eric Boon, Tank Seargeant, who had seen service all over Europe during the War. I'm sure she said North Africa, Italy and France. Anyway, he'd sweet-talked her with marriage proposals and all that and she got pregnant. Then she found out he'd been seeing other women as well, fell out with him, he still wanted to get married, but she gave him the brush off. Besides that, all she knew was, that he came from Leeds and he was about 25 at the time.

Anyhow, several years later, when quizzed again, she tells me, his name was actually John (as is my fathers) and that Eric was just what they called him, because there was a famous boxer called Eric Boon, at that time. It was suggested that the boxer Eric Boon may have been his Uncle. There isn't much to go on there really, I don't even want to meet my Grandfather, presuming he's still alive. It's just that as a genealogist, it's tracing the line that gets my interest. The challenge of tracking back the family line, and believe me I've tried numerous avenues with no success, which suggests to me that perhaps even what little I've been told isn't entirely true, or essential details have been omitted or corrupted.

Anyway, that's just my family. My wife's is far worse when it comes to secrets, but if I start writing about those I could land in big trouble. So, if you have a dirty family secret, please feel free to leave a comment about it, so that the rest of us can know that it's not just our families that are weird!

Wave Upon Wave Upon Wave!

I'm currently half-way through reading David Miles "The Tribes of Britain", and it's fascinating reading. I guess that it's particulalry tailored for me in the sense that I'm a keen genealogist as well as deeply intersted in history. Probably should have done a history degree, still might!

The book examines the inhabitation of the British Isles from pre-history right up until the modern day. What is truly fascinating, is just how wrong our ingrained perceptions of our own history are. For instance, the Roman invasion of Britain. It would not be uncommon for many British citizens living today, to suppose that they had some Roman ancestry, seeing how the Romans invaded Britain and ruled it for almost 400 years. Well that assumption would be mistaken, for the majority of the Roman army weren't Roman in the sense we would regard them to be. The majority of the army were legions from Northern France, Belgium, Spain and North Africa even. There were very few Italians in there.

Secondly, the Romans formed garrisons across the country, with some men undoubtedly taking local women for wives, but it's doubtful that men who were already married would have brought their families across with them. In all likelihood, recruits from British tribes would soon begin to form local garrisons, avoiding bringing more troops across from the continent where they were engaged in fierce fighting with the Germanic tribes.

The Norman invasion follows a similar pattern. While many individuals possess names of Norman origin, it is unlikely that they are descended from any of the knights who accompanied William the Conqueror to Britain. Those knights were aloof Frenchmen, the majority of whom married the daughters of their fellow knights, and kept it that way for centuries. They merely replaced the Anglo-Saxon Chieftains who ruled previously. Their input to the gene pool was minimal.

Even the Viking incursions into the British Isles, which occured sporadically over 2 centuries, but intensified towards the end left little impact genetically, even in the Scottish Isles, the DNA demonstrates only 25% of Scandinavian genes.

The fact is, that the majority of the British people are mainly descended from the original inhabitants of the British Isles, who were not even Celts as you would suppose, I'm talking about the original Neolithic and Iron Age inhabitants, who only adopted the Celtic customs and dress. Yes, even the English when tested demonstrated 80% DNA belonging to the original Brtish tribes. That other 20% has in all likelihood been brought in by foreign traders who settled in this land since the Norman invasion, particularly those from Flanders and Brabantia, who brought their much needed skills over here.

So, where does that leave us genetically? Does it really matter? Perhaps our most recent peaceful influxes from overseas will have a much greater impact than anything that's gone before. It's getting to the point, here at least in NE Scotland, where the local people may soon be a minority. You might think I'm joking, I'm not, and at the risk of sounding xenophobic, I don't think this country can handle the number of immigrants coming in if it's sustained at present levels. It will reach a tipping point! And when it does, I'll blog it!