One
of the binders that sits in the bookcase filled with my family history
information is one done by my daughter-in-law and given to me on my 60th
birthday. She titled it Where Did I Come From?
I
had asked Alice numerable times about her genealogical history. Pestered might
be a better word! Since she had joined our family I wanted to include
information about her ancestors who would, of course, also be ancestors of our
grandchildren. Alice had given me some information: her parents’ backgrounds, a
bit about her grandparents; and some data on her aunts and uncles.
But
for this little book she went all out!
She
contacted other members of her family who had done research and compiled facts
and stories about previous generations. She put together a family tree that
went back eight generations on one line. She copied photos she had collected
from family members including one of her 3X great-grandparents, the oldest,
probably taken in the 1880s.
The
most recent photo she included in the history is the one shown here – of Alice
and her daughter, Calista, taken a year or so before my 60th
birthday and a year or so after Calista’s birth. That is a really special scene
of mother and daughter!
 |
| Alice & Calista on the beach (December 2004) |
One
neat thing about this part of our family tree is the additional heritage added.
Neither my wife nor I have any Irish in our ancestry but two of my
grandchildren do. Now I have some other places to look for interesting stories.
Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four
parishes in Devon, England. He has published a
number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is the Editor of Relatively
Speaking, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society.
Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
