#52 ANCESTORS IN 52 WEEKS
#42 LOST
Where do I start?
My father migrated to Queensland with the Salvation Army in 1927 LINK I never asked why he chose to leave his family in Macclesfield at the age of 17. I was in my thirties when he died and was a few years from starting my research. Now, I deeply regret not asking why? It must have been such a huge decision to leave home and start a new life on the other side of the world. I wrote about Dad’s life in Larry BAMFORD from Birth to War.
Another loss was not asking my mother about her parents and grandparents. In my defence, I was only in my teens when she died so perhaps those conversations would have occurred more naturally in later life. It wasn’t until I started researching that I learnt that I had Prussian ancestry (now in Poland), and two Irish lines from Co Down and Co Galway. I wrote nearly 30 posts about the LENNON and MAGEE ancestors from Portaferry in Co Down in April 2021.
I haven’t written much about my SCHULTZ and SANDMANN ancestors as other descendants produced an amazing family history some years ago. I contributed a few pages on our family to this amazing book, The Wellersdorf Migration.
Because I lost mum so young and we lived in a different part of the country to my grandmother, I didn’t hear her stories either plus she died only a few years after mum. It wasn’t helped by the fact that Mum was an only child but also the only grandchild on her mother’s side and that she never mentioned the cousins, uncles and aunts on her late father’s side; I didn’t hear any family stories about the HOUSE, SCHULTZ and SANDMANN families. Mum’s father died when she was still in primary school and I wonder if she didn’t see much of the family after that. All in all, circumstances prevented me from finding out much of her history which is very frustrating.
We have a similar problem with Mr GenieJen’s mother’s family, the NOBLE’s. Nothing seems to have been brought out to Australia when they emigrated. There was only one cousin in England (again, a family with few descendants) and as far as I know nothing was kept after her death. If you are descended from any of my mother in law’s uncles and aunts, I’d love to hear from you. I wrote about her father in 66 hours work a week for apprentice, John Stuart NOBLE.
GenieJen 