Genealogy Chat

I am sure most familes have the odd "story" to tell. Well I had four "stories" that had been handed down, and one "secret" that was never told.

Whilst I have been researching I have rubbished two of them, and discovered the "secret", which leaves me just two more to go.

The above has taken me the best part of 5 years, so i do not expect to complete my investigation for at least another 3 years.

With the help of the wonderful people on this site, and my own bull dog attitude I have proved that a story told more than once is greatly exagerated.

The latest victory I think was something said in jest and once retold became "fact". This has taught me to take with a large pinch of salt, any family story.

Kathlyn

Yes we all had them and my mum was very consistent with her family stories that have cost me money disproving. She even said her birth was 1908 and a long winded story on how she played her mum and dad when she wanted to marry my father in 1929. She said that when the banns went in she was 20 so needed parental consent even tho when they married on Christmas day 1929 she would be 21 , the cert too gives her age a 21 she LIED cos she was born 1909and was just 20!
apperently gran was preggers when she married But mum wasnt due till Jan 1910 but was a premie!
Lots of family myths tied into truths that have been twigged to protect .

It can work the other way round too though. My Mum had a story that her uncle Denis had returned from Canada "with the mounties after him"! As she hadn't seen him since she was a child I thought my Grandad might have been having a joke at her expense. But it wasn't far from the truth as it turns out!
Jan

My gran always told us her mother was Spaniard which accounted for her short stature and swarthy skin evidently.

I thought she was right at first because I couldn't find great grandmother's existence prior to the marriage in 1902 but like 'Soft as' I was like a dog with a bone and when the 1911 said she was born in Kensington I renewed my efforts to find her. Got there in the end but not helped by the fact that she changed her christian name - registered Maria, 1881 as Eliza, 1891 as Maria, marriage in 1902 as Charlotte (!!!) and death as Charlotte Maria in 1948. And not a 'furriner' anywhere on the tree!!!!

And as a young teenager with my first boyfriend she was very fond of telling me that I should 'save yourself for your wedding night my dear, its the most wonderful night of a woman's life'. Either my Dad was a month premature (assuming her wedding night really was that great!) or she was telling me porkies......

according to my Dad we are related to Oliver Cromwell - he's always known as Uncle Ollie in the family!!! there could well be some truth in it though because apparently his real surname was Williams, same as ours and he had quite a connection with our village, Whitchurch in Cardiff - don't know if I'll ever confirm it or otherwise so it remains just a story for now

Up until she died at the age of 80 my grandmother always believed that her mother's death was caused by a fall. She actually died of Meningitis.

Mum also said that grandad who died in 1939 died from brain tumour caused by a blow he got in an accident at work
I got his death cert and NO SIGN of brain tumour he died of lung problems that seem to be endemic in this side of the family. My MUM and her younger brother both has emphysema and bronchial problems

My gt grandfather's wife passed away and some hankie pankie with the 26 year old cleaner led to the birth of my grandmother and four months later he married her at the age of 56.

It really was a case of putting the cat amongst the pigeons when I passed this on to the family as they were told granny's birth was a year later.

Great grandad still managed to father another five children before his death aged 62 and that was as well as five children from his first marriage................wow, was it something they put in their tea?

The grandfather of my cousin's husband used to joke that his own grandfather used to reckon he was "more than at home with The Raj". Nobody took a blind bit of notice till I discovered the chap was a Captain in the Royal Scots Fusiliers in India in the 1840s, as had been his father before him, and three of his four sons had followed him.

Though I agree, most family stories are exaggerated.

No Frank, if they'd put anything in his tea (or beer!) it would have been to prevent it happening, not encourage it. They had nothing else to do for amusement. Not like us nowadays with Genes Reunited for our fun!

Family stories can be true, but quite twisted and embellished over time. The story told me about my Grandfather was that he had lied about his age to go to WW1 then wasn't able to go to fight in WW2 because he was to old according to his army records on which he had lied.

This story frustrated me especially when I found his birth records and saw his birth certificate he was 18 years of age in 1914 so had no reason to lie about his age. Then he was in New Zealand in 1939 and the British and New Zealand army considered him more Valuable as a training officer. So he stayed in NZ and trained troops. Again nothing to do with his age.

Having disproved this story related to my grandfather it still bothered me and only recently did I solve this mystery.

When my Mother told me the story I was still a child and when she referred to Granddad I had assumed that she was meaning my Granddad when in fact she was referring to her own grandfather my g grandfather.

I knew he had fought in the Boar War and when looking at his age realised he would have lied and said he was younger to be able to go and fight.

I am now checking out some other stories and not limiting them to one generation.

Amusement........Genes Reunited ?

At my age my great grandfather was amusing himself by siring the next line of his brood to his second wife.

I don't think my OH has put anything in my tea but I'm presently amusing myself by checking out great grandfather's handywork on Scotlands People.

............I suppose that's technology and progress ;))