Today I'm sharing some of the ways in which researching my ancestry has inspired me.
I began my ancestry research journey in 2002. A colleague at the time was passionate about family research and her passion was infectious - I became hooked! Through using the Scotland's People website I began to find out about my Scottish origins. My maternal grandmother, Robina, was Scottish. She was small in stature, 5'1" but had a fiesty temperament. My mother told me about an incident where my mother had had her heartbroken by a boyfriend. He ended up getting an earful down the phone from my grandmother! Robina came from a long line of crofters living in far north east Scotland, a wild and windswept landscape which made the people very hardy, no-nonsense types. Work was scarce and many women, including Robina and her mother (my great grandmother) Jean, worked in service as there were several private Stately homes in the area.
Prior to my grandmother's passing she dictated a few of her stories of her days in service to my father, they make an interesting insight:
1925 - Mountblairy House near Turrif (now demolished). My grandmother was 17 years old. "There was no heating, all stone floors, no carpets, lots of passages."
1926 - Dess House on Deeside, owned by Col. and Mrs Davidson. Robina worked here for 18 months. "Three servants worked in the kitchen, there was much entertaining. Queen Mary visited and the housemaid brought in Mary's fur coat and all the staff stroked it."
1927 - Rothsay Terrace Edinburgh. "There were many steps (which gran had to clean)...it was a dreadful place". My grandmother stayed here for four months. There were six staff ro cater for three kids and the parents. The staff included a nanny, a cook, palour maid, housemaid and Robina. Every Tuesday she had to scrub and whiten the 12-18 steps from the back door. She scrubbed the long passage way twice a week. Gran scrubbed the front steps at 6am and did all the washing up for the household. The housemaid who "was a wicked woman" washed the tea dishes. There were more stairs to scrub that went up to their rooms with a large cupboard at the foot of the stairs which gran had to regularly dust.
In 1931, after working for several families more families in Scotland, my grandmother took her chance to escape to a better life by advertising to find work in England through an agency in Baker Street, London. She found work at a house in Newbury, Berkshire. Around 1934 my grandmother had an on off relationship with an Irish Groom "Jimmy"during this time (with one day off a month it was hard to develop relationships). During a break from Jimmy she met and became engaged to Frederick, my grandfather. One day Robina went by train to see her future sister in law in Hillingdon, leaving her bike at the train station. On her way back to the station she saw Jimmy and had to explain she was now engaged to Frederick. She said that Jimmy wrote to her after that meeting. My grandmother also revealed that if she was at the altar with Frederick she would change her mind for Jimmy. Later prior to her wedding to Frederick my grandmother had an intuitive urge to jump on a train back to Scotland. Her marriage was not a happy one. I like to think of her dressed in her best hat and coat, suitcase at in the luggage rack above her, smiling out of the window as the Scottish landscape comes into view. But then I would not be here to tell this tale.
In discovering my ancestral roots I feel I am discovering myself - and there is an abundance of stories of learning and self discovery I could share that go beyond the space and focus of this blog.
I recommend reading the Ancestral Continuum:
"An inspirational book about who we are and where we come from. Written by Natalia O'Sullivan and Nicola Graydon. Published by Simon and Schuster. Feb 2013" which has helped to give me a deeper insight into myself through the lives of my ancestors https://www.facebook.com/AncestralContinuum
I hope you will find inspiration in your ancestral stories.
Have a great day.
Blessings Claire
No comments:
Post a Comment