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  • Another family story blown to pieces

    There is a family story about somebody dying by being caught in a machine of some sort , so I decided must get the cert, and what did he die of ?? Meningitis
    Funny how stories develop isnt it ???.

  • #2
    Val

    Most of my family stories turn out to be a mixture of truth and fantasy, involving the wrong generations and the wrong families!

    Doesn't help that everyone had the same name for fifteen generations either!

    Great great Aunt Isa, who married an American, went to live in New York and became fantastically rich.

    Um....she's on the 1901, living in YORK and running a draper's shop...

    My great great uncle's widow "married a Doctor and did very well for herself"

    No, she was a Doctor's widow when she married my GGUncle, and he outlived her.

    Great great Aunt Matty, who was born "a cripple, with a rheumatic heart, was an invalid all her life, bedridden" is running a workingman's boarding house in Liverpool for three censuses!

    OC

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    • #3
      I bet no-one will thank you for the truth, my uncle was quite annoyed that his pet theory that his granny was Jewish was untrue.

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      • #4
        isnt it funny how stories change over the years ????

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        • #5
          OOOO Val - you're all bare again!!

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          • #6
            Found a friend's grandfather for her in 1901 census - born in the Channel Islands, she had her aunts' names and the knew which order they were born in, and they were all there. But family say "no you're wrong he was Irish" (McCaffrey). One of the Aunt's has just died and his birth certificate came to light ..... born in Channel Islands.
            Mavis
            Dust is a noun, never a verb;)

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            • #7
              Family myth: gt gt uncle Thomas "ran Tilbury Docks". Erm, no, he was a fireman there for 2 years.

              As for the Jewish side, it seems everyone I know with Jewish ancestry has some saga about how they are related to the Rothschilds. Disproved husband's family tale about this when we went to the Walter Rothschild Musem in Tring, which had a big pedigree on the wall - no trace of any of his lot, which weren't bankers, but fishmongers!
              ~ with love from Little Nell~
              Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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              • #8
                My Dad told me that his father was a gamekeeper...wrong ..... it was my Dad's Grandfather who was the gamekeeper!
                teresa

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                • #9
                  It is quite funny how they really want these stories to be true.
                  I have put off ringing somebody to tell him he is completly wrong as he is convinced thats what happened.
                  Snowdrop I thought as xmas is over back to normal for me .

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                  • #10
                    Mind you Val, I think meningitis can set in after injury, so there might be a grain of truth in the story.

                    Often there's some veracity in these legends which get embellished as they are handed down.
                    ~ with love from Little Nell~
                    Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                    • #11
                      Nell its funny you say that because I have heard that too, maybe I should investigate further

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                      • #12
                        Then again, my grandma and dad told me that her father built the rifle ranges in NSW, and she travelled with him in a Cobb and Co coach (very uncomfortable) and how great-grandpa wanted to be a doctor, but his father would not pay for the exams, so ended up a builder like his father. He joined the Army in NSW, and fell off his horse and broke his arm. The arm did not set properly and was invalided out of the army.... Never drank until they gave him brandy when the arm was broken, and then became an alcoholic. Also a cousin told me he died after a pub brawl and hit his head on the pavement...

                        And, yes, pretty much all of the above is true. He was one of the first members of the Australian Royal Engineers in 1904, left the Army in 1908 (and was paid compensation equal to three years wages). During WW1 he was seconded to the Dept of Home Affairs, in charge of local defence and training (rifle ranges!!) and died of a cerebral haemorrage (spelling ?). The only thing I cannot prove is that he did study medicine !!!

                        Diane


                        Diane
                        Diane
                        Sydney Australia
                        Avatar: Reuben Edward Page and Lilly Mary Anne Dawson

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                        • #13
                          Val he may have been caught in machinery but that may not have been the cause of death. Over time the story may have changed to the one you were told.
                          Kit

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                          • #14
                            In my OH's family the story was that his grandfather (Fred)'s father had been lost at sea. Erm .... no he died in his bed and his mother in law registered the death.

                            HOWEVER we have just found out that Fred's wife's father was in fact lost at sea. On a dreadful night in Dec 1894 Fred's wife lost both her father and her brother. They were crew on two different trawlers of the fifteen lost that night. :(

                            Anne

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                            • #15
                              My mums family were all brought up with the story that we were related to the Newey Hook and Eye firm.

                              Apparantly according to family story, the slogan of the company was "Newey's hooks and eyes never rust"

                              Great granddad was a Newey and great grandma was a Rust before marriage.
                              Sounds good so far.

                              OH rang the Newey Hook and Eye firm in Birmingham over 20 years ago when we first started our research. He managed to speak to the MD who had a family tree in the office, or so he said. He said the firm was started by a Richard Newey.

                              They had never heard of that slogan and none of the first names of the Newey founders were even the same as ours.

                              Told older family members, and they still believe it is true as that is what they were brought up believing.

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                              • #16
                                My great grandmother "died of a boken heart" when her only child, my grandfather, was posted missing presumed dead and failed to return from the war in 1918.

                                Um - she died in 1919 from influenza and my grandfather was present at her death - he had been back at home for nearly two years when she died.

                                And I agree - they don't thank you for telling them the truth. I have upset my elderly uncle by telling him that his great grandfather was illegitimate and NOT the driver of the Flying Scotsman (or any other train, come to that) and another set of uncles are upset to learn that their mother was NOT an orphan who grew up in a terrible orphanage. (Still havent got to the bottom of that story and don't think I ever will now, because they have all clammed up, thinking I am an interfering busybody)

                                OC

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                                • #17
                                  According to family legend, OH's 2xgreat grandad, Thomas John Stanbridge just walked out one day with only his slippers on his feet and never came back.

                                  Well, he is on the 1871 census and not on the 1881. His wife is listed as a widow on the 1881, 1891 and 1901.
                                  I can't find a death anywhere.

                                  Who knows

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                                  • #18
                                    Some of these stories are backed by a social imperative.
                                    1. "My paternal grandfather went off to WW1 and never came back." sad voice
                                    2. "My paternal grandfather went off to WW1 and never came back.":( censorious tone of voice
                                    3. "My paternal grandfather went off to WW1 and never came back. In fact there's a rumour he went off to USA." :( :( very censorious tone of voice


                                    On the evidence I have so far, he walked out on my grandmother and two sons when my father was still a babe-in-arms in Spring 1916.
                                    I have no evidence that he took part in WW1 before crossing to Canada.
                                    He crossed to Detroit in Spring 1924 - as a "single" man, so he did end up in the USA.

                                    I understand that part of the way the tales were given me was to sanitize them for me as a child. I can also see that the first version would have been much less embarrassing for my grandmother.

                                    Maybe the family myths have grown up like that: as what was told to the children, and was never updated as they grew up - for whatever reason (the topic didn't, or wasn't allowed to, come up again; the person who knew died before the update could be given...).

                                    Christine
                                    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

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                                    • #19
                                      Funny, isn't it? When I asked my parents about their family history years and years ago, my Mum told me what she thought was the truth about her father. He stole his Dad's bike and enlisted in 1914, lying about his age to join up, and never had any contact with his family (2 brothers and 5 sisters) afterwards. Well, I have established that he did lie about his age - which might explain why my uncle made him a year older when he registered his death! - but his letters to my grandmother show clearly that he was in contact by letter and often staying with all his siblings. Never did find out what happened to the bike!

                                      On the other hand, virtually everything my father (a great chap for making things up) told me about his lot has turned out to be true.
                                      ~ with love from Little Nell~
                                      Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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                                      • #20
                                        When my OH's uncle (his Dad's elder brother) was alive, he made a great fuss about not looking into the family history, saying there was "a big secret" that was best left alone. He would get really annoyed if anyone asked about older, dead family.

                                        After Uncle died, in the early 1980s, my F-in-L, (who now was the senior male family member, but knew nothing about "the Secret") decided to begin tracing the family history. He didn't have any success in uncovering "the Secret", but it was obvious that both his aunts (half sisters to his father) knew what it was.

                                        When I took over the research about 6 years ago, we were still no closer to discovering "the Secret", and most of the older generation who knew it, were now dead.
                                        Through GR I discovered a second cousin of my OH and his brother. Her grandfather and their grandfather were full brothers, but neither she, nor my OH knew of each other's existence. Certainly neither her parents, nor OH's parents had ever mentioned that there was another brother. We had a photo, taken at a family wedding in 1912, with Uncle as a baby with his mother, and grandparents and G grandparents. No sign of Uncle's father (OH's grandfather) though, and we had no idea who the bride & groom were. Newly discovered second cousin also had a copy of this photo and confirmed the bride and groom were her grandparents, but had no idea who the baby and it's mother were!

                                        We then discovered that OH's G grandmother had died when her sons were 6 and 4 years old and that G grandfather had remarried and had another son and 2 daughters with his 2nd wife. Elder son went to live with his paternal grandparents and younger son (OH's grandfather) lived with his mother's sister and her family. Just before OH's grandparents married in 1911 they left Devon and settled in South London, but must have been in contact with the family because of the wedding photos, which were taken in Devon. OH's grandfather was killed in action at the end of WW1, as was his half brother. His full brother survived. Was this the cause of "the Secret"?

                                        What puzzles me is that F-in-L often visited his grandparents home in Devon, even after his marriage and his elder son's birth. In fact Granny made a big fuss of my brother-in-law "because he was the only boy to carry on the family name". So why, when he wasn't a blood relative of hers, did she make so much fuss of him when she had other step grandsons too?

                                        When we visited Devon a couple of years ago, we met with the only living relative old enough to know "the Secret", but she refused to say anything other than "it's in the past, leave it there".

                                        I suppose I should be grateful that I have no family legends to disprove and I don't suppose we'll ever find out what "the Secret" is unless we come across any (so far) hidden documents relating to it, but ooooooohhh I'd really LOVE to know.
                                        Last edited by LangleyValeSue; 01-01-08, 22:12.
                                        My avatar is my Great Grandmother Emma Gumbert

                                        Sue at Langley Vale

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