It’s my birthday today.
There’s a nasty rumour going about that I am 51, but I for one don’t believe it!
Category Archives: Family
A Dunkirk Survivor
Meet my in-laws, George and Nancy.
George had been in the Territorial Army when war broke out in 1939, so he was one of the very first ones to be called up into the army.
As we have had the 70th commemorations of the Dunkirk beach evacuations all over the television at the week-end, I thought it would be appropriate to write a wee bit about George.
In 1940 he was in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, one of the Scottish regiments, and as he was the company clerk he was given the task of staying behind to burn all of the paperwork, orders and such to stop any information falling in to the hands of the Germans who at one point were in tanks only one field away from him.
After completing the job he legged it as fast as possible to join the rest of the British army waiting patiently on the beach at Dunkirk, despite the fact that they were being bombed and strafed by the Luftwaffe.
Luckily, he was one of the thousands who did manage to get on to a ship and get back to Blighty. Which is just as well really because if he hadn’t, there would most likely have been no husband for me and no Duncan or Gordon either.
The photographs were taken in the family garden after George and Nancy’s wedding which wasn’t until May 1944. Everything was done in a hurry as the whole battalion had been given leave prior to them taking part in the D-Day landings. They thought that it was very likely that he wouldn’t survive it so decided to get married. (As it happened his battalion didn’t land in France until two or three weeks after D-Day.)
The ceremony took place in the bride’s home which happened to be the Episcopalian Rectory as her father was the minister, although it was a colleague of his who officiated.
Nancy always said that she knew as soon as she saw the new choirboy (George) walking down the aisle that she would marry him. They were 9 years old then. They were 24 when they married. I suppose they might have married earlier if he hadn’t been away in the army for nearly five years.
Birthday ‘Boy’
Our youngest had his birthday during the week, so we all travelled through to Dundee (of all places), where he now lives.
At Birthday Meal
He chose an Italian restaurant for his birthday meal out. Tuna and olive pizza to be precise (yeuch). Anyway, he enjoyed it.
Family Four
So here we all are after our ‘bit of a do’. It seems to be impossible to get a photograph in which we all look vaguely ‘normal’. Husband looks very serious here for some reason.
With Girlfriend
And this is the birthday boy with his girlfriend, or should I say partner as they are living together now. I hate that word partner though as people seem to use it to describe someone that they’ve only being going out with for about a week. G and L have been together for about 6 years, and she very quickly became part of the family. G looks like he has a funny eye here for some strange reason.
Anyway a good time was had by all and what with pizza, pasta, puddings and birthday cake, I don’t think I’ll bother weighing myself this week.
Family History
People who want to find out more about their family history can sometimes wonder how on earth they can make a start.
So for a kick off I think that it is quite interesting to take a look at the National Trust surname search page.
You can then enter in all the family names which you have dug up and it will come up with a map giving you the highest density of that name at a particular time period.
For instance if you enter in the name Carruthers (that always sounds quite a posh name to me somehow), it comes up with Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland as the main area for that surname.
Dumfries and Galloway is close to England but you could never mistake it for England. It always amazes me that the place is so vast and feels so remote. Just miles and miles of hills and sheep, and there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of signs of habitation. Very atmospheric though and I think a bit spooky but maybe that’s just because they aren’t the hills of home.
The internet is a fantastic tool for family research and I think if you google just about any county in Britain they will have a genealogy section on their website. All very exciting.
Don’t blame me though if it turns out that you are descended from a long line of cut-throats or sheep thieves!
One of my collateral ancestors was transported to Australia for sedition, but I’m quite proud of him. It was 1795 and he was trying to get the vote for the common man. Unfortunately he ended up dying of yellow fever. He was a tenant farmer, nothing at all exciting until his mouth got the better of himself and he upset the government of the day.