Personal Blogs

We have been looking at family photographs lately from husbands side of the family. When we first moved here from a city in northern Britain, to  rural east- midlands,  my husband's aunty told us a little about the family history,  when we came here to live in the Lincolnshire countryside.

The family  had come from a farming background being prominent farmers in this area at one time, so that was interesting,  then some of them had been cottagers and wheelwrights. I hadn't heard of this before so I looked it up in the dictionary, to find more information about it. 

Cottagers were people who own some land with a cottage on it and work that land. I suppose it was a bit like a small holding, but something smaller than a farm. Many cottagers had another job too, making and repairing things. I don't know if there are any of them left around here from the family, because a lot of the family  have emigrated to various countries,  like to America and Canada.

Our aunty herself(she trained as a secretary)  left the area at one point to live in London with her husband, who was also from around here,  and a
Skilled carpenter. When they lived in London,  he became a Cabinet maker and he lost some of his fingers in accidents, over  the course of his work. They then came back here to retire in their old age. All that side of the family have died now including aunty. I believe there are still some other relatives somewhere around  here,  but we have lost touch,  and some of them have moved away or emirated.

We (husband and myself) were ,both brought up in the city and my husband has lived and worked abroad in Europe in France, Holland and Belgium at one time. I have relatives who have emigrated (my uncle went to Australia) and so they  were immigrants to that country, when they went to live there at first. They had to find their way in a strange country,  so that must have been difficult,  until they found a way to earn a living and settle down in a strange new country.

So even if we think we originated from this country,  we should not get too smug,  because our ancestors may have been immigrants at some point in history,  or may have come from other countries,  as Anglo- Saxons we probably have some German and European blood in our veins.!  

I believe some of my own ancestors may have been Scottish or Irish in the way distant past, so spare a thought for our ancient ancestors,  who first came here to start their new life!
  It was good for my husband to come back here and re- discover his roots.I will often say things to him like,  I am sure your father and grandfather used to walk up this very road at sometime, especially when we pass nearby to what used to be their little village !