The joys of the internet.

I was in the pub last night for the last Thursday of the month meeting of Yggdrasil, Glasgow's Heathen moot. We had been talking of many things when one of our number came back from the bar to tell us that he had been talking to a friend who had told him that Michael Jackson had died. Immediately three of us got our phones out to check the internet.

Isn't technology wonderful?

The joys of the internet.

I was in the pub last night for the last Thursday of the month meeting of Yggdrasil, Glasgow's Heathen moot. We had been talking of many things when one of our number came back from the bar to tell us that he had been talking to a friend who had told him that Michael Jackson had died. Immediately three of us got our phones out to check the internet.

Isn't technology wonderful?

A spot of genealogy

I've just spent a fascinating time on the Scotland's People website doing a spot of genealogy. I've made a few discoveries about a part of my family I knew very little about.

I had long wondered about the fate of my great-grandmother who became persona non grata to my great-grandfather's family when the two of them split up in the early part of the twentieth century. I don't know what led to the split but it resulted in my grandmother and her sister being sent to live with her paternal aunt in Saltcoats. Needless to say my grandmother was brainwashed into thinking that her mother was the wrongdoer. This brainwashing persisted for the rest of her life. My mother recalls a man coming to the door during the Second World War to tell my gran that her mother had died. This was my gran's half-brother, he had come all the way from Glasgow to let her know, and my gran never even invited him in or offered him a cup of tea. I can only think that this sort of attitude was due to the “what will people think” business that fortunately seems to have slackened its hold on people nowadays.

I eventually discovered what my great-grandmother's name was when my mother found her marriage certificate in an old handbag belonging to my gran. The marriage had taken place on April 14th 1899 and my mother found the certificate on April 14th 1999! Cue “Twilight Zone” music.

This information has enable me to find my gran's birth certificate, my great-grandparent's wedding certificate, my great-grandmother's birth certificate, and my great-great-grandparents wedding certificate online. As yet I have been unable to find my great-grandmother's death certificate and any trace of her second marriage. I'd like to find this out as I know I must have unknown relatives from this marriage. Who knows, they could even be living next door to me.

What I have been fascinated to discover is that my great-grandmother's parents were Urquharts from Nairn. I had no idea that I had Highland connections. I knew of the Galloway connection on my maternal grandfather's side and the Irish connection on my paternal grandfather's side but the Highland connection is new to me.

I can see this is the beginning of a fascinating occupation.

A spot of genealogy

I've just spent a fascinating time on the Scotland's People website doing a spot of genealogy. I've made a few discoveries about a part of my family I knew very little about.

I had long wondered about the fate of my great-grandmother who became persona non grata to my great-grandfather's family when the two of them split up in the early part of the twentieth century. I don't know what led to the split but it resulted in my grandmother and her sister being sent to live with her paternal aunt in Saltcoats. Needless to say my grandmother was brainwashed into thinking that her mother was the wrongdoer. This brainwashing persisted for the rest of her life. My mother recalls a man coming to the door during the Second World War to tell my gran that her mother had died. This was my gran's half-brother, he had come all the way from Glasgow to let her know, and my gran never even invited him in or offered him a cup of tea. I can only think that this sort of attitude was due to the “what will people think” business that fortunately seems to have slackened its hold on people nowadays.

I eventually discovered what my great-grandmother's name was when my mother found her marriage certificate in an old handbag belonging to my gran. The marriage had taken place on April 14th 1899 and my mother found the certificate on April 14th 1999! Cue “Twilight Zone” music.

This information has enable me to find my gran's birth certificate, my great-grandparent's wedding certificate, my great-grandmother's birth certificate, and my great-great-grandparents wedding certificate online. As yet I have been unable to find my great-grandmother's death certificate and any trace of her second marriage. I'd like to find this out as I know I must have unknown relatives from this marriage. Who knows, they could even be living next door to me.

What I have been fascinated to discover is that my great-grandmother's parents were Urquharts from Nairn. I had no idea that I had Highland connections. I knew of the Galloway connection on my maternal grandfather's side and the Irish connection on my paternal grandfather's side but the Highland connection is new to me.

I can see this is the beginning of a fascinating occupation.