So who do you think you are?

Number24

This thread is a lot like the TV series: what do you know about your ancestors? What did they do and where did they live?

My father's side of the family lived for hundreds of years within 200 meters of where I sit now, on a farm in the Ålesund region in Norway. They were all farmers and fishermen.

My mother's family came from the Lofoten Islands north of the Arctic circle. They had a shop, but the family was traditionally fishermen with a small farm.

So - who do YOU think you are?

Chriscoop

I know who I am.. I'm the author of all your pain 24
Great idea for a thread

My family history is quite typical I think for an English family, on my father's side the family name came with the Norman invasion and were at one time landed gentry.
My more recent family, on my father's side were military men my grandfather was three times forces boxing champion and was with the now defunct "kings own Yorkshire light infantry" he went on to become a chief physical training instructor. My father and his brothers were all born on army bases around Nottingham and Yorkshire, his wife was a serving wren in ww2.
On my mother's side her father was part of the eminent family of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, in his early days he won the shrovetide football match played there 4 times and later went off to India, coming back before ww2, he joined the raf based in Derby and flew a hurricane during the war, his family deemed he married below his standing and he was ostracised, inheriting only the old family hunting trophy which always went to the eldest son. I have that now. The family hasn't really moved far and a large number of people bearing my father's side name still live around a village of the same name in West Yorkshire, which is on land awarded to the original Norman night after the conquest.

Thunderpussy

I obviously come from Royal blood, likely placed in this family for safety !...........

This is ancient history, as like many familes we haven't really moved far but my
Mum's family is of Scottish lineage while my Dad's is of German, so with the mix
of German /N.Irish, I'm almost a double for Michael Fassbender.

Chriscoop

Thunderpussy wrote:

I obviously come from Royal blood, likely placed in this family for safety !...........

This is ancient history, as like many familes we haven't really moved far but my
Mum's family is of Scottish lineage while my Dad's is of German, so with the mix
of German /N.Irish, I'm almost a double for Michael Fassbender.

I thought it was Liam Neeson? are you reminiscent of all leading actors? Is there much evidence of Irish defended from the Spanish armada?

Thunderpussy

The anglicised form of my surname is Baldwin, so I'm probably related to
Alec Baldwin too. Although basically I'm a mix of Scottish, Irish and German
blood, ........ no wonder I have anger issues. )

Jameskenpo71

Great topic ,

Christmas 1998 my wife paid for my family history to be researched, we discovered one of my ancestors was a Knight Templar who fought in Spain at Las Navas De Tolosa 1212 .

This is from the family pre 1212
Then when my ancestor joined the sword brethren... the Temp!ars he was in charge of defending 8 towns so his coat of arms has 8 baskets signifying the 8 towns he defended



We wrote to the Windsor herald (the Queens herald who allowed us to bear our coats of arms



My family Coat of arms is a hand holding a sword ...funny enough the sword as always been my favorite training weapon in the martial arts even though we train with 9 others ...

It was an amazing gift.

Kind regards

James -{ -{

The Domino Effect

Thunderpussy wrote:

I obviously come from Royal blood, likely placed in this family for safety !...........

This is ancient history, as like many familes we haven't really moved far but my
Mum's family is of Scottish lineage while my Dad's is of German, so with the mix
of German /N.Irish, I'm almost a double for Michael Fassbender.

Interesting TP, the only other half-German/half-Scot I know of is a certain orange-faced president-elect whose name I shall not invoke here. You're not related, by chance, are you?

Ammo08

On my fathers side, my ancestors came to the colonies in 1700 from Wales. They landed in Boston and made their way to western Virginia. They fought in the Revolution against the Crown in numerous battles in the South. In about 1790 one of my ancestors came through the Cumberland Gap and settled in Tennessee north of Memphis. They fought on both sides in the War Between the States. My maternal grandfather was a cavalry trooper in the Indian Nations in the 1890s and my dad was born in 1901 and served in Nicaragua in the 1930s. He was a machinist, farmer, and a mechanic, and for a short time a Deputy US Marshall.

My mother's maternal ancestors came Ayrshire, Surrey, Coventry, and Ireland sometime just before the Revolution. They settled in Georgia and Alabama and eventually Memphis. I have 7 siblings, 5 still living. My maternal grandmother was friends with William Faulkner, whom she considered to be a reprobate, but at least he could write. My maternal grandfather fought in the Great War in the Battery A, 115th Field Artillery, 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment. HIs father was from Ulster, although we know almost nothing about him.

Up until my father and my maternal grandfather all of my ancestors were farmers.

always shaken

wow some great stories here ,I especially like jameskenpo71 ,regarding the KT . my own ancestors survived the great plague of London (black death) the great fire of London , all the Napoleonic wars ,WWI WW2 ect ect ,I think its bloody amazing im here )