Roots, shoots and stories

 My husband's grandfather, Wladyslaw Stepek was a man with strong political opinions. He grew up in Haczow, in south east Poland at the turn of the 20th century. Towards the end of WW1 he was arrested by the Austrian occupying forces for agitating against their presence in his country. When he was released he continued to oppose Austrian rule and, after a fiery speech to his community in a local hall, he persuaded over one hundred men to attack and successfully disarm the nearby Austrian garrison.  Part 2 of 3 documents we have found, giving a contemporary's account of the Wladyslaw's speech to raise volunteers, with some of their names (own photo) After the war ended and Poland regained its independence, he volunteered to join the Polish armed forces whose task was to defend the newly established borders with Russia. Most of this took place in modern day Ukraine. Wladyslaw (highlighted) around March 1920 in group defending Poland's borders  (own photo) In the following

My 10 x great grandfather on my maternal side, Hans Hamilton, was a minister of the Presbyterian church in the small Ayrshire village of Dunlop in Scotland. One of his sons, James, my 9 x great grand uncle, born in 1559, was not only a witness to history, but played a major part in it, the consequences of which have lasted for centuries.  Portrait of Sir James Hamilton (1559-1643) courtesy of National Trust Castle Ward James seems to have been educated at the University of St Andrews, gaining both a B.A and an M.A in 1584 and 1585 respectively. His scholarliness and wit brought him to the attention of King James VI of Scotland, who, in 1587, sent him on secret mission to Ireland to get information on what Queen Elizabeth I of England was attempting to do there. In 1600 King James sent him to London to act as his agent, in connection with his negotiations for succession to the English throne. While there he bore witness to and wrote about the 'Essex Rebellion' brought about by R

 I wrote about a  favourite photo  last year. At that time I chose a photo of my dad with his mum. This time round I'm choosing a photo of my dad again - this time with my mum and ME! Source: own photo I really love this photo. I'm not sure if I'm cuddling my dad or play fighting him! But by the looks on our faces I'm sure it was great fun anyway. The photo would have been taken by my sister Margaret - my "big" sister who was a whole 13 years older than me. We are in the back garden at 76 Teesdale Gardens in Newcastle upon Tyne, where we lived from 1958 to 1964. I reckon I'm about 3 or 4 possibly here, so that would make it the early 60s. It is obviously summer going by the way we are dressed and I note the roses are blooming too. I think I have a bathing costume on. If I'm right I can even tell you the colour - it was pale yellow. I can remember some of the toys I see here - my Triang pram, my telephone and my shopping basket. The building with the fl

My husband's father, Jan Stepek,  was born in 1922 in Maczkowce, in what is now western Ukraine but in those days was part of Poland. His father, Wladyslaw Stepek was born in the village of Haczow in Podkarpacie in south-east Poland. Our research has validated the story that these Stepeks had been in Haczow for hundreds of years, as Martin's Stepek line has been traced there back to Wojciech Stepek, Martin's 4 x great grandfather, born around 1768. Photo from Wikipedia As a family, we visited Haczow in 2010 and were able to go inside the UNESCO World Heritage wooden church where Martin's ancestors were baptised and married in the 18th and 19th centuries. Martin has also revisited Haczow with his cousin Chris and met up with local people who share their interest in genealogy and the history of the now small town and who have been very helpful in translating documents and visiting archive centres on our behalf. One of these even proved to be a distant relative - although

As I've mentioned previously, my parents never shared family stories with me and I never asked. The only 'family lore' story I can think of was provided to me by my dad's brother, my uncle, George McAra. His bowling blazer carried the coat of arms of the MacGregor clan. He maintained that the McAras were part of this great clan and 'our' motto was "Royal is my line". He also told me our ancestors were kings in Ireland. As a teenager in the 1970s,  my mum even made me a poncho in the Macgregor tartan! (I'm relieved I don't have a photo of that!) My dad with my Uncle George. The Macgregor crest is on the blazer pocket, though not very clear. Source: own photo So.. is any of that true? Have I the right to claim I'm part of Clan Macgregor? And were they or their ancestors kings in Ireland? According to internet name sources, the McAra name itself was first found in Perthshire, likely dating back to the 11th century. Since then, it has been foun