Week 8: I can Identify #52Ancestorsin52weeks

I thought quite hard about how I could interpret this theme. The obvious choice seemed to be writing about an ancestor that I felt I had a lot in common with. Having watched TV programmes like 'Who do you think you are', 'Finding your roots' and 'DNA journey' where the individuals concerned, whether they be actors, politicians, musicians etc. find out that they have pursued the same career or have faced the same struggles as an ancestor, I thought that there must be someone back in time that I've come across in my research that I have a lot in common with. But no.

I haven't struggled with poverty like most of my ancestors, who were ordinary working class people - the miners, the mill workers, the blacksmiths, the labourers. There is no chance I will end up in a workhouse or be buried as a pauper having died aged 38 of consumption, like my maternal 2 x great grandfather, Matthew Keir.

I haven't had children that I needed to send out to work, sent an illegitimate child to live with another family member or had one or more of my children die young. I haven't had a husband who died at a young age leaving me to look after eight children on my own, possibly having to remarry just to get a roof over our heads. I won't die from TB or many of the other diseases that claimed their lives. There really isn't anyone with whom I can identify in that way.

But what I can do that they couldn't is identify them. I can find out who they were, where they lived. I can research about the kind of lives that they they led. I probably know more about my ancestors' grandparents than they did. I certainly know more about about my parents' grandparents than they did. And by identifying them, I recognise they existed. And therefore I know who to thank for me being here now.

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2025 Week 26 : Favourite name #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

As well as researching my own family, one of the other trees I have spent a lot of time on is that of my daughter-in-law, Lucy. Whereas my heritage is Scots and Irish, Lucy's is English and therefore some of the names I came across were quite different to those found in my own tree. One of my first favourites was a Francis Badger who appeared in the 1851 census for England! He wasn't actually a relative, but an apprentice to Lucy's 3 x great grandfather and who also lodged with the family. I did wonder how that surname came about - did the original Badger have a funnily shaped face? or perhaps a white streak through his hair?? Or was he just an annoying person?? I'll never know, but it was fun to find him! Francis Badger's entry at the bottom in the 1851 census for England. Source: Ancestry.co.uk However, my all time favourite name - and character - from Lucy's tree is a man named Golden Bridge ! He is Lucy's 5x great grandfather and he was born in Essex...

2024 Week 19: Preserve #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

A few years ago, I came into the possession of a family bible. It was the family bible of my paternal grandparents, John McAra and Christina Walker. Until her death in 2018, the bible had been in the hands of my Aunt Inez, widow of my Uncle Will McAra. When I started enquiring as to its whereabouts, I found that it was her grandson, John, who now had it. John himself had no real interest in it at all, so he was quite happy to hand it over to me. However, it was, to say the least, in a bit of a state. The front cover was completely detached and there were many loose pages as the spine of the book was also damaged and detached. I had no choice but to take it to a book repairer in Glasgow, where it was repaired as best it could be. The bible itself had been originally published in Glasgow in the late 19th century. In Victorian times it was common for Christian families to have such a large bible in which they could record events such as births, marriages and deaths. The one I have al...

2025 Week 12: Historic Event #52Ancestorsin52Weeks

The Battle of Arbroath, one of Scotland's bloodiest battles, was fought in the summer of 1345 between rival claimants to the post of Baillie of the Regality. The Baillie of the Regality chosen by the monks of Arbroath Abbey at that time was Alexander Lindsay. This post gave Lindsay power and prestige and he was responsible for upholding the law in the lands around the abbey. However, like many men in positions of authority both past and present, he chose to abuse his position of power and his fighting men caused mayhem within the walls of the Abbey. This led to the monks deciding to replace Lindsay with Alexander Ogilvy, who had hereditary claims to the position, but who unfortunately was Lindsay's enemy ... and my 15 x great-uncle! His sister, Isobel had married into Clan Oliphant and, on paper at least, Isobel is my 15 x great grandmother! Of course, the appointment of Ogilvy was not acceptable to Lindsay, who then raised an army of 1000 men and marched to Arbroath Abbey to r...

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