You’re going to laugh now. I know you will. Last night I found a few minutes to spare…… See, I said you’d laugh. I’ve got a prison pallor from sitting at the computer so much answering emails and maybe a ten second stint on ebay buying a few coins. Anyhoo, with this few minutes I thought I’d take a look at the family tree again on Ancestry.co.uk ( The same as Ancestry.com except for the accent). I’ve been making remarkable progress working my way backwards. Julia’s went back to Adam and Eve and a certain apple seller but I’d been making good headway on a certain part of mine. It’s funny that sometimes things just fit together.
Some of you will no doubt be on the Ancestry site and will know that when you go on a person’s profile it allows you to check the relationship between you and that person. Please believe me when I say I used to have a very high IQ but I’m going to admit here and now I find certain relationship very confusing. For instance…..My great-grandmother had a sister. I could probably work out that she’d be my Great, Great Aunt? OK, with me so far? So this person has a child who then becomes my grandmothers first cousin. What relationship is she to me? Well it seems she’s my first cousin two times removed????? And if that person has a child, what are they to me? Pass the aspirin please.
My Mum, whom I found to be first cousin once removed to half of Cooke County , Illinois.
Again with my Great Grandmother’s family. One or two of her sons who would be my first cousins twice removed, then removed themselves from the UK and settled in the US. Everyone seems to have taken ship from Liverpool to Canada and then entered the US from there. They seem to have settled in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. Judging by the success I’ve had these people seem to have married Swedes ( not the vegetable), people from Germany, Russia, the US itself and also some fellow Brits. They’re spreading out so much I think there’s a chance that Chicago may one day come back to the Commonwealth.
I’ve had one friend in my life and apart from a few minor hiccups we’ve known each other for about 36 years. He’s so close we say the same things at the same time, have been called an old married couple, the Brothers Grimm and probably a few other choice epithets as well. Because of our closeness we’ve often referred to each other as brothers. At my nieces today he got into a conversation about 6 degrees of separation, whereby if you speak to anyone, anywhere in the world, in 6 moves you’ll find something in common, or words to that effect. He said how strange it would be to find we’re actually related. He’s Jewish and his father’s family originated in Poland. A lot of the family were lost to the Concentration Camps during WWII and many records relating to the family were destroyed or lost when ‘Dad F’ had to flee Poland for his life. (OK don’t rush me, I’m getting to the point as quickly as I know how now). Mike wanted some help with a family tree, knowing he wouldn’t get too far but he wanted something for his children and grandchildren. I created one for him on my Ancestry pages and set to work starting with him. It’s been difficult but fun in it’s own way. I watched one group of his family set up in Manchester quite close to where part of my family had a section of tree. Tonight he was cracking the whip a bit and I came across a name that seemed to ring bells. I wasn’t sure why and while checking some new ‘Hints’ I Followed her to a marriage in the US. Would you believe it’ s in Chicago, Cooke County, Illinois. There are quite a few of his family there now. We had a laugh about it, I finished what I could ( I mean what I had patience for) and before signing out, just nipped back to my own family tree. There, I found a name so close to the one of his relative I was taken aback for a moment ( I’m not sure where to) it was almost the same name as one of mine. No wonder it sounded familiar. He rolled on the bed laughing ( shame he didn’t roll off the bed but you can’t have everything and I want the lottery instead). It was true that we could almost have been related after all. Maybe this 6 degrees of separation is actually true.
barsetshirediaries 