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Rogan Josh
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One of my ancestors performed unspecified 'favours' for the King in the colonies way back in the 17th (16th?) centuary. We reckon he was a pirate or somesuch but aren't sure.
Anyway, the King rewarded him by giving him land in American - Manhatten Island. Unfortunately, his ship sank on the way home and the documents were lost.
A few years ago, a copy of the documents were found in the vatican, so my family now have legal documents proving they own Manhatten Island. There is a lawsuit for compensation pending.....
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Sikander
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Boulder, Colorado, United Snakes of America
Jan 2000
time: 22:25
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Like AnnC, I am descended from Andrew Jackson's clan (American President who currently resides on the 20$ bill). Several of my uncles fought in WW2, and one of them drove the second tank over Remagen bridge (and of course the Rhine). He also fought in North Africa, Normandy and Battle of the Bulge. His brother joined the marines and fought on Guadalcanal, Saipan and Okinawa. Their Uncle killed a man in New Orleans and evaded capture, hiding out in the hills of Northwest Arkansas near the Missourri border. He was friendly with the James gang, and kept fresh horses (and food etc.) for them, which they used to elude the Pinkertons who were pursuing them. He got paid 20$ everytime they came through. When Frank James got out of prison he wrote a book and went on tour. My great great grandfather and his brother went to see Frank, and when they saw him Frank James broke into tears and hugged them both. He hadn't seen them in very many years.
On my Dad's side we have relations who came over on the Mayflower. We are supposedly related to Welsh Royalty (Llywellyn sp?), though this line was deposed permanently in the 1200s IIRC, after they revolted against the English.
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Richelieu
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Gatineau
Dec 2001
time: 00:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Oerdin
We also know that Josph was a Protestant convert who listed his occupation on the French census as a "land owner and wine maker"; in the early 1670's Joseph's grandson Gerard was accused of Heresy & disloyalty to the crown because he wouldn't convert to Catholicism and so he and his family were sentenced to trasportation to New France. So I know I have relatives in North America by the 1670's.
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A protestant being sent to New France in these days probably had a really hard time when he got there. AFAIK it was pretty close to 100% roman catholic.
I've been able to trace back my mother's side back to France in the 1600's too, our first ancester moving to New France in 1654.
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redbaron
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The only thing I know about my father's side of the family is that my great-great-grandfather was a doctor in Germany and was part of a fairly nasty little feud among the British and German medical fraternities that developed when Kaiser Frederick developed throat cancer. We got a title out of that (unfortunately no money).
My maternal grandmother, on the other hand, put together a fairly impressive family tree which yields:
A cousin who was an SOE agent in WWII, caught by the Gestapo and put in Colditz as a VIP prisoner because his surname was Churchill and his courier (Odette Sansom) managed to persuade the Germans he was related to Winston. She was sent to Ravensbruck and gave evidence at the Nuremberg trials. They married after the war. The film Odette is a somewhat romanticised version of the story. (Actually it's a heavily romanticised version).
Maternal grandfather was at Gallipoli in WWI and went on to run an inn in Abingdon which used to get the likes of Noel Coward, Marlene Dietrich, Douglas Fairbanks staying. He emigrated to South Africa just before WWII and got a job as an actor/announcer with the South African Broadcasting Corporation.
Maternal great-grandfather was a Colonel in the British Army and was in charge of one of the columns which invaded Matebeleland at the instigation of Rhodes. He still has a road named after him in Harare. He was also used as a Colonel Blimp type character in one of Wilbur Smith's books.
Also a great-great-grandfather who was a doctor to the Shah of Persia.
Family legend also has it that there is a saint somewhere down the line who is apparently buried in Barcelona Cathedral.
With ancestors like that, is it any wonder I suffer from feelings of inadequacy?
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Ozz
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Canada
Mar 2002
time: 05:25
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My dad held the record for most times promoted to Flight Sergerent (and demoted from) for the year 1940.
He learned this while being demoted for machine gunning the Kings geese in early 1941.
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Oerdin
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of Internet Music.
Sep 2001
time: 21:25
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quote:
Originally posted by Richelieu
I've been able to trace back my mother's side back to France in the 1600's too, our first ancester moving to New France in 1654. |
Richelieu: What part of New France did your family go to? Mine ended up in Trois Rivers, PQ and then crossed the border into Illinois in the 1830's after a failed French Uprising against the British.
My Dad's side of the family is was just a bunch of Scottish free holding farmers as far back as the 1780's. His side of the family does have a coat of arms though so maybe if I could go far enough back there would be somebody interesting. I do know my father's maternal Grandfather served as a quartermaster for the British Army during the Boer war.
Last edited by Oerdin on 01-02-2003 at 10:18
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31-01-2003 11:24
Oh! I almost forgot, Elvis is my great uncle
. Then their lives became quite comfortable again... probably at the expense of others
Go poor people!
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