Monday 31 August 2009

Tell it like it is

We have a t,v programmei England where celebrities are taken back in time to find out about their ancestors. We see and hear some almost unbelievable relevations . The participants are often shocked and tearful but as yet I have not seen anyone ashamed of their background .

I have passed my three score years and ten but I,m not a grumpy old biddy, life has changed enormously in my lifetime.

Last week bluebell and myself took a different route to go shopping , and along the way I pointed out a small landmark in my life, a post office in a country lane. This story is a bit fragmented but it has small chapters . Here goes

I have always lived within about 5 miles of where I live now except for a time in Cyprus.

My mother was widowed when I was 16 months old. She remarried when I was 3 yrs old , and went on to have 5 more children.

My mother ,myself and bluebell were sitting around my kitchen table a couple of years ago . bluebell was asking my mother questions about her life . "what was Kathleen,s father like "she ask , Oh! my mum replied " he was a rag and bone man" !!! my jaw dropped down to my knees , I,d never heard this story before ,
I said " on my marriage certificate it says he was a master builder , I presumed that meant he built houses , how come your saying he was a rag and bone man " She replied "well times were hard and there was no work to be had" . bluebell was creased with laughing at my reaction . She said if you could have seen your face, and the twinkle in your mums eye .

Now back to the different route to go shopping . as we went down the country lane , I said to bluebell, my mum , my sister and myself used to walk down this lane to collect the 10 shillings orphan allowance she got for me , once again it was jaw dropping time , you see I wasn,t adopted into my mum,s second marriage because I was worth 10 shillings while classed as an orphan ,

Yes ! times were hard and might well be again. I ask a friend to authenticate my mothers revalation and it was right, This friend is a person that goes back into records to help people find their roots.

I told bluebell I was going to put this tale on my blog . I know bluebells roots , mmmm, " don,t tell them my grandfather was a -------------------------" she quickly said .

7 comments:

Elizabethd said...

Isnt it interesting what we can find out about our ancestors? We see that programme too, it can be fascinating.

Scrappy quilter said...

When it came to our ancestors, we found out my maternal grandfather was a bigamist. He was married to my grandmother and another woman at the same time. Family didn't know until after he passed away and they found papers in their attic. His brother refused to tell them about it when asked and said to them "let sleeping dogs lie". My mom ended up with a couple of half brothers and a whole lot of neices and nephews. It was quite a story.

Piece by Piece said...

What a great story. My Mother has a family tree for her family that goes back to 1683 when ancestors lived in Ringmer, Sussex. It's an interesting read, there were paupers,families that lived off the soup kitchens, received free coal and a poor rate in 1841 of $2 per house, and women and children lived in a Union Workhouse. There were a lot of illegitimate children, some classed and dumb.
People died of Typhus Fever,diarrhoea, falls from hay wagons. Have a great day. Patricia

cottonreel said...

I,m loving the stories you are telling me ,doesn,t it make us respect our mothers and fathers too for the hardships they suffered . i,d love to know the stories our children will tell. Thankyou for sharing--cottonreel

Searchfamilies said...

I love that series, i do family history, & always said if you can't take a scandal don't look i found out that a so many times Gt Granddad was a bigamist makes it a interesting history & it made one of the magazines many years ago so the whole world now knows lol not discovered any real bad ones lol
Hugs Janice

Beedeebabee said...

Hi Sweetie! I loved reading that post! You have such a nice way of writing, and you're very funny too! You and Bluebell are quite a team!Hugs, Paulette :o)

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