I've just bought some books for my grand-children
by the author Zeno Sworder in one fo the books
he made the statement ;

"" We sail through life on a carpet woven from
the love and wisdom of your ancestors."

He goes on to say how he benefited greatly from such
a carpet.

" Human beings desire attachment, belonging, and connections.
The relationships we form with other people can be incredibly
durable, not only with people in our present, but also with
people in our past and future. The more we discover about
our past the greater a connection we feel to our ancestors.

As we read our own history, we open the opportunity for
future generations to connect with us when we are gone."

There's more at the following:

http://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/why-we-need-family-history-now-more-than-ever#

Your thoughts please.

My view is that we've become a disconnected society, with people having 'friends' online and no real connections where they live. I know I started sharing veggies with neighbours to try to create a sense of community that just was not there. While I am happy to see this nation become more secular, I think a local church that everyone local attended created a sense of community we now lack. An awareness of family history to me ties into that, where family also represents local roots.

On the other side, white supremacists love to talk about the important of 'ancestry and blood' so any discussion about these sort of things needs to be aware it will draw those sort of types.

Some ancestral facts, Commoners have more ancestors than do Royalty.
There are less people in the world today than there were 1,000 years ago, each one of us has roughly 500,000,000 ancestral positions 30 generations ago so there must be fewer people today or else most of us are related.
I have a couple of double cousins, that is we have exactly the same grand parents as if we were brothers and sisters, this comes about when brothers marry sisters etc.

II have an extensive family tree Emperors and Empresses, Kings and Queens, Dukes and Duchesse and so on down the line, Saints and Scholars, knaves galore, Regicides, fratricides and matricides and just ordinary murderers.
Sworn enemies whose grandchildren married (usually to end the fighting)

It’s a fascinating subject and to be able to trace fairly easily is a great bonus, in my own case a. Scots ancestor who was a wealthy farmer married one of the numerous daughters of an impoverished Scottish nobleman thus gaining an impressive family tree for his descendants, .

Dear Foxy,

"Human beings desire attachment, belonging, and connections"

Yes they do, that is part of their genetic survival strategy, that is also why they feel a connection with their ancestors.

But what has this to do with "our ancestors" as the title sugggest? only our perishable bodies have ancestors, we don't have any!

I used to ask my parents about our ancestors.
They both are not longer with us and I
didn't manage to get all that much information from
them. I've since started a search on MyHeritage I am
having some success.

In our family through inter-marriages we have Lithuanians,
Russians, Ukrainians, English, Scottish, and German.

So we're a mixed bunch. And who knows who our grand-children
will marry?

I started this discussion with the hope of learning something
about the various people that make up this vast land of ours.
Learning something about each other. People travel to different
countries to enrich their lives - so why not start at home?

I'm hoping that enough people will respond to make this discussion
interesting for everyone.

I have so many funny stories to tell about the first experiences
of my parents in this country. Their encounters compliment
Nino Cullotta's book "They're a weird mob," quite well.

On the other side of the coin - my parents and
grand-parents travelled through war-torn zones
to give their families and future children a
free future. However, for me growing up was not
easy. It took a long time as a child to deal with
the fact that one's family was different.

My family background:

On my mother's side. Her father was a USian who came to Australia as a merchant seaman. His background was a combination of Irish and Hungarian Jew who have fled to the US during the 1840's pogroms. My maternal grandmother's family had come to Australia from Ireland in the late 19th century and settled around Maitland. Interestingly, the Irish on that side lived in a village that was a mere 20 miles from the village my maternal grandfather's family came from. So after being neighbours, one group went to the US, one to Australia and were then re-united a century later in my grandparents.

On my father's side, we had a combination of Irish and Spanish. The Irish ancestors came here around 1820 and settled in Cooma. Unfortunately, not convicts, just free settlers. It seems the elder brother came first and convinced two more brothers to come out and farm. Around 1850 one brother married a Spanish women who we assume was a mail-order bride. I'm still trying to track that side down - records aren't great. Things get a little murky around 1880 when, it seems, my great-great grandfather divorced and then married his sister-in-law and then his divorced wife married another brother. Tracking who was actually descended from who gets messy.

So mainly Irish, some Welsh, a pinch of Spanish and a smattering of Hungarian Jew. Some of them came directly to Australia, others came via the US and New Zealand. I'm currently concentrating on the Hungarian side to try to nail down their background. It seems they came to Hungry via Russia.

Hi mhaze,

Thank You so much for sharing some of you ancestry with
us. I appreciate it so very much. I'm also trying to
trace my grand-mother's Russian ancestry, but as you
pointed out - it does get messy. I know she came from
a small village. Her family were merchants (made and sold
fur moccasins). She was an excellent seamstress and cook.
She made the best potato pancakes and kugel ever.

She met and married my grandfather who was serving in the
Tsar's army. They were married in St Petersberg. He brought
her to Lithuania where my mother was born. They all fled the
Soviet Regime and eventually came out to Australia. They lived
near Maitland. Gran died at the Maitland hospital.
I still remember her folk tales and the old Russian songs.
She was a wonderful storyteller.

mhaze,

Your contribution to this discussion has lifted my spirits
greatly.

Thank You for taking the time.

Hi Foxy,

My ancestors are far more interesting that any relatives living today. My maternal great-great-grandmother was born a slave on the island of Mauritius 1824, (at that time a British possession) her mother was a 16 year old Creole (African/Indian?) slave herself, and she was most likely fathered by a French plantation owner or her actual owners husband, a very common practice at that time. GGG at the age 9 along with her 13 year old cousin, they were convicted of attempted murder, accused of adding arsenic powder to a mistresses tea (French woman charged with teaching the girls sowing). They were convicted in a short trial, about half a day, on rather scant evidence, and sentenced to transportation for life to the penal colony of New South Wales, arriving here in 1834. GGG did well, marrying a convict and eventually prospering as "grazers" in the Wellington district of NSW, they had a large family of 11 children (all surviving to adulthood, amazing in itself). Being dark skinned people many married into the local aboriginal community. Like I say, far more interesting lives than we have today.

P/s Her cousin did not fair so well, dying in poverty in the slums of Sydney in the 1850's.

Hi Paul,

Thank You for sharing your ancestry.
It certainly is a fascinating one.

It would have been very difficult times in those days.
I often watch - "Who do you think you are," and the
backgrounds of people I find fascinating.
We all have stories to tell and share.

Again - Thanks for sharing.

Dear Paul,

My ancestors backgrounds are far more interesting also.
Much more interesting than our current mob. Dad never got
over losing his country and family members. He worked so hard
to give us a start here. He died of a massive coronary at
the age of 52. But he did instill in us the importance of
working hard.

I miss dad very much even to this day. And I remember his
laugh and his legacy.

Foxy,
My grandparents were Irish, English and Scots, and the pairing was, on Dad’s side Irish and Scots and on Mum’s side English and Irish.
The English branch goes back no further than the late 1600s but the Scots side goes back over a thousand years with many other nations included.
Mum’s Irish line peters out with the appearance of a supposed convict and his Irish wife who also isn’t in the records.
Notable ancestors are St Margaret of Scotland, Robert the Bruce,, Joan ‘The Dumb Lady’ Stewart, who was the daughter of King James I
Besides James there are another 32 kings, including Edward I “Hammer of the Scots”.
and William, the Conqueror.
On the Irish side are Brian Boru, last High King of Ireland, and Dermot mcMorrough, know in Irish history as “ The First Traitor”.
There are Swedes, Danes, Italians, French, Germans and Russians
and not forgetting the Emperor Constantine, but then it has been calculated that most Europeans are descended in part from him.

All good fun but to be taken with a few grains of salt and always remembering that family trees are like peanut bushes, the best parts are under the ground.

Lots of saints as well; St Mary McKillop is a distant relative (on the Scots side) as is Mons. Hugh O’Flaherty, the “Scarlet Pimpernel of the Vatican”.who, through his organization saved thousands of Allied prisoners and Jews from the Nazis.

Is Mise,

Thanks for your family background.

I find it all fascinating.

I found that growing up with a loving family - helped me
become the person that I am today. The horrors of war that
my parents went through did not really impinge on my
childhood. It was only much, much later I came to realize
how powerfully and inescapably that shadow did become a
part of my life.

Once again - Thanks for your family ancestry.