You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
My grandfather and great grandfather both built bikes for a living. 😀
My uncle James was POW during WW2 and resided at Stalag XIIA
I knew nowt about my fathers side of the family until now and this is the most I have found out in all the years I have been alive.
Anyone else had an interesting find.?
My Uncle James was a champion time-triallist before the war...12 hours was his speciality - on a fixed !
One of my not very distant relatives was an original Red Indian, given that I'm British that could make me more American than most Americans?
I'm descended from Blackadars
I am distantly related to Laurens van der Post (Prince Charles' now deceased guru and Prince William's godfather)
My grandfathers uncle was Henry Bowers who died alongside Scott and Wilson on the return from the Pole and who accompanied Wilson and Cherry-Garrard on "The Worst Journey In The World"
My grandfather a few times back wrote 'Haiwatha'.
As a very tall bloke from a family of very tall folk... It recently transpired that my great grandmother was a foul tempered, but very righteous dwarf. She used to have an objection to mothers in the East End leaving their babies in prams out in the street while they sat in pubs drinking gin. So she'd go steaming into pubs to give drunk mums a piece of her mind. She often had a black eye. And she lived in the Tower of London.
One of my ancestors was imprisoned for bestiality.
Records didn't mention what animal.
Not even slightly interesting I suppose, but here's a picture of my great grandfather that we've just discovered.
[img] 
[/img]
Great uncle was an alcoholic gambler who pissed away the family land holding (farmer/veg merchants) and died in his 30's.
I'm a descendant of http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_Simpson and my great grand father kick started Boots the chemist , financed Southend pier and the Kurzel, and then pissed his money up the wall leaving my nan with nothing... I could have been sooo rich!
One of my uncles is doing our tree now, turns out we're all kinds of inbred 😳 No money or famous connections, my grandad was pretty cool but before that I think it's wasters all the way back to the cavemen.
Grandfather flew Lancasters.
Really ancient relative on mother's side turned up late to Battle of Waterloo, so Napoleon lost.
Great Gran on father's side had a bit of a fling with Oates, some months prior to his 'short walk'.
my great grand mothers god father was gearge stephenson.....it was all dow hill for use after that!
My grandfather was born Charles Handford, but his mother re-married changing his surname. So really my surname should be Handford.
I think it's wasters all the way back to the cavemen.
Daddy???
My grandfather a few times back was Bob Fitzsimmons
As mentioned in the poem 'New Year's Eve' by Robert Service.
One of my ancestors was what we would now call a human trafficker. He did a lot of this around the coast of Wales, bringing slaves / hostages back to Ireland.
Anyhow, he was supposed to be "Niall of the Nine Hostages" who allegedly brought St Patrick to Ireland.
My grandfather on my mothers side was in the original formation of the commandos during WW2. All I remember of him is a heavy drinking Glaswegian who scared the hell out of me as a kid. Only really bonded with him after I joined the army but he'd had a stroke by then and could barely communicate otherwise I would have loved to hear some of his experiences. Now sadly passed away.
My grandad did loads of family history research and found some interesting stuff. Reckons we might be related to Ethelred the Unready though how he could know that far back I have no idea. I suppose there weren't that many people around then.
paulsoxo - awesome pic!
According to my dad, one of my great-grandfathers was a bigamist with families on both sides of the Irish Sea. He died after falling off the Mersey ferry in mysterious circumstances.
Northwinds - wasters all the way back to the cavemen.
You need that on a t-shirt, it's still making me laugh 2 hours after reading it.
Several interesting characters in ours. Great auntie was reputedly the first women to drive in England. Think it may have been the first woman to get a driving licence in reality. Grandfather looked after part of George Bernard Shaws will to do with the promotion of phonetic spelling. And one who I wished I'd met was a great uncle who was a tailor who was conscripted during the First World War. On the troop ship to Gallipoli he won a fortune at cards. Wrote home proclaiming his winnings (all in IOUs I imagine) telling family to buy a shop and house. They did and he duly arrived home alive. He was so taken with his luck of winning at cards and coming out of the war alive he lost interest in the business which had been established and gambled it all away.
My great great grandfather invented the first automated printing machine in Otley, called the Wharfedale press. Although he's credited with the invention he didn't patent the idea hence it being copied millions of times over throughout the world. Stupid old bu@@er 😉
During the war when my grandfather was working in munitions in Coventry while he left my gran and family up in Yorkshire he spent his time shagging soldiers wives and god knows how many kids he sired, my Dad thinks he did similar back in Yorkshire.
Hate to think what our tree looks like, probably a Monkey Puzzle 🙁
I'm related to Marilyn Monroe apparently, although I have never attempted to verify this.
My dad has traced my mum's side back quite a long way. Once you go back a few generations your are related to hundreds of people so you are bound to get a few interesting ones.
Some of my (very) distant relatives.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Bruce_Ismay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Robertson_Bowers
An FA cup winner
Captain of Wigan RLFC
Executioner for Nottinghamshire
2 convicted murderers
One of my relatives married William Penn of Pennsyvania USA - often wondered about going over there just for fun 🙂
My great-great-grandmother was one of the Ascott Martyrs.
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascott_Martyrs ]The Ascott Martyrs were 16 women from the village of Ascott-under-Wychwood in Oxfordshire, England who were imprisoned in 1873 for their role in founding a branch of the National Union of Agricultural Workers. Following an appeal to Queen Victoria, the women were all pardoned.[/url]
Oliver Cromwell is somewhere in my family tree, albeit a couple of marriages 'across' rather than a proper ancestor.
My second cousin on my Eeeengleesh side was (he's dead now) Rear Admiral Sam Salt, was then Captain of HMS Sheffield when it was Exocetted in the Falklands. BBC interview with him somewhere on youtube for when I forget how terribly posh he spoke. 😀
Ronnie Biggs is a distant relative on my mothers side of the family!
my great-great-great-grandfather was acquitted of murder.
his elder brother wasn't so lucky.
there's even a website about them.
My second cousin, James, won the Formula One World Championship in 1976
I'm a bit Armenian. My dad's mother's father arrived on a boat in 1916 to escape what the Ottomans were doing to those they didn't like.
On my mum's side, her uncles were dwarf twins and traveled the country with a circus.
EDIT: Oh, and this is my grandad:
[img] 
[/img]
2 murderers, one convicted. The other alleged. Back in the 50's and 60's.
One "fugitive" for "what he did to that copper"
We don't have much to do with that 'side' of the family. My folks didn't really know they even existed until my Nan's funeral. And I didn't know my Nan had 10 siblings.
My brother did a whole old of research on my grandparents military service history. No end of stuff there.
My sister does a lot of our genealogy, found we are related to Lillie Langtry, mistress to Prince of Wales around 1877
Well, I've got two brothers I've never met, English, Irish, Spanish French and Flemish relatives (from the last two generations 🙂 ) and just feel that things might get a little, er, complicated if I dig too much.
I'd rather just let them all sleep peacefully, tbh.
My great, great, great grandfather was a Pirate! Drowned when ship sank in Great China Sea. Arrrgh!
I found out this year that my great grand father on my Dad's side shot and killed his landlord's agent. He avoided the gallows on account of testimony that he was mad and so were his ancesters! My dad never knew any of this!
Another relative had a book published and then banned under the Obscene Publications Act.
Another lived in the house on Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded an album and hosted supper with J Edgar Hoover.
On my Mum's side, though perhaps not exactly correct, wealthy ancestors son got rather friendly with one of the servants and was excommunicated.
Hmmm, that's about it
We had a relative named 'Homer' in the states. His wife moved back to the UK when he died, with her son. He's mentally disabled and lives in a care home. Turns out when she died in her little terrace in Manchester a couple of years back, she was worth around £5 million which all went to her son....errm, I mean the state because since he's in care, it pretty much falls into their hands.
Brilliant. Make a will, people, especially if you're very, very rich.
Forgot to mention my now deceased uncle was a figher pilot training on Harvards (possibly in Canada) then flying Gloucester Meteors. He had a few stories. Overshot the runway in a Harvard, went over a road and parked it in the front living room of someone's house. He certainly wrote of one possible two Meteor's and almost another Harvard!
Dad told me he was always going into hospital to take him home.
He was your archetypal dashing RAF Officer, like Terry Thomas. Boy did I look up to him when I was a lad!
Flying Ox, what's your grandad doing on the side of a house?!?
I found out that at least 4 generations on my Dad's side all lived and worked within a stone's throw of where I've been working in London. Nothing exciting - wallet makers and ostlers for the most part...
Traced mine back. Dad's side were all potters and five generations never strayed more than a couple of miles from Stoke on Trent.
Ex-wife's great great great great great grandfather was [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_John_Barrow ]Sir John Barrow[/url]. Interesting chap. Highlights:
- Very high up in Admiralty
- [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoad_Monument ]Barrow Monument[/url] in Ulverston
- Point Barrow, Barrow Strait in Alaska named after him
- His idea to exile Napoleon to St Helena
My grandmother always came over as all correct and proper, imagine her dismay when she discovered she was descended from a highwayman who was hung alongside Dick Turpin.
Another strain are descended from German chemists.
The family name goes back to the Vikings.
'Tis a wonder that I turned out as well adjusted and sociable as I am. 👿
Related to a number of bad 'uns on Mum's side
Seems as though all my relatives were either poor, criminals or mad
Great-grandmother on my mother's side was a suffragette, and apparently chained herself to the railings of Downing Street.
I can't help thinking it explains a lot about both me and my mother...
Great, great, grandfather was an immigrant from Germany in the 19th century. He went native and wound up heavily involved with his local cricket club and sponsored them quite heavily. Great grandad was a businessman with a taste for booze and ladies, apparently he managed to snuff it without much left in the kitty. He disinherited my father because dad didn't like cricket.
Uncle John was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Singapore in 1942 and survived the war. The rest of the family had no idea he was still alive until 1945...Uncle Bert ran away from school and joined up, fighting in the far east. He returned from the war, bought a bicycle and toured Europe, amusingly getting in touch with our German relatives along the way. Uncle Frank was a test pilot, he was disciplined by the RAF for absconding and trying to hitch a ride to the far east when he heard about the fall of Singapore. He wound up working for De Havilland and after that buggered off to Oz and became a lay priest. He's referred to as the "white sheep" of the family.
Mother's side are all Irish apparently, although one of them was a decorated pilot during WW2.
Always fancied doing this. How easy is it and can it be done for free or is it best to use a site like ancestry.com?
can use ancestry.com or genesreunited or findmypast for free, to build the tree and get hints to other trees and records.
they'll all make you pay before they let you contact other users, or see records (census records can be very very helpful).
pretty easy to put in all the people you know. starts getting interesting when you need to start searching records. and then you get an email from a 4th cousin who's already mapped out shed loads starting from your great grandad (had that on 2 lines so far).
My Dad's great aunt (or something) married one of Henry Ford's sons, and used to send back highly inappropriate and very expensive gifts to her family in the impoverished South Wales valleys, like fur coats and original paintings etc. They all thought she was bonkers, until recently it occurred to me and my Dad that she was trying to help them out financially because she couldn't send money.
They used to play with the stuff as kids.. what a shame..!
Hearing WWII stories seems odd to me - my Dad's family were all miners so never fought, and my Mum's Dad was a desk jokey in the RAF so never fought either, and died of lung cancer in the 50s. So I don't have any military stories at all.
I should go back and look up some more stuff though, whilst my folks and my aunts and uncles are still with us.
Oh and my Mum's Auntie was a bridge Grand Master.
In investigating my wife's mothers side, (who was born in Stamford), and my fathers side, (who was born in Scarborough), we found out that one 'pair' of each of their grandparents lived next door but one to each other in Nottingham in the early 1900's.
The Flying Ox - Member
I'm a bit Armenian. My dad's mother's father arrived on a boat in 1916 to escape what the Ottomans were doing to those they didn't like.On my mum's side, her uncles were dwarf twins and traveled the country with a circus.
EDIT: Oh, and this is my grandad:
Looking at the scarf and ironic helmet, was your grandad a hipster?
A distant cousin, Great Grandmothers family were "John", but I'm related to arguably Wale's greatest No. 10, Barry John.
His talent cover rugby hasn't rubbed off, but his ability to drink has. 😆
My great grandfather was one of the designers behind this:
[img] 
[/img]
Be sure of one thing, you will find many skeletons & many cupboards, my parents found out they were related - something like 5th cousins once removed (I think it means my 4x & 5x great grandfather is the same person) & probably not that rare when you consider population growth & the sheer number of ancestors you have
A protoplasmic atomic globule......