After I found out that my Mum had died, I started to wonder about my maternal family history.
I took advantage of a 2 week free trial of a popular family history site, and was amazed at what I discovered. It also left me with more questions than what I started with!
Due to the breakdown of my family of origin, I had very little information to go on. I had vague memories of my two great grandmas – both died by the time I was 5. There was the lovely cuddly Great Grandma (grandma’s mum) and cranky old Grandma Bessie (grandpa’s mum).
The Jane Austen Connection
I discovered that crabby old Grandma Bessie, was actually christened Elizabeth … and then I stumbled across her maiden name. She was Elizabeth Bennett – as was her Mum before her. Yes, really! (Totally loving the Jane Austen link – even if the spelling of Bennet isn’t quite the same ;-)).
I’d heard rumours that Grandma Bessie had been a bit of a bad girl in her time, and that there was a baby born on the “wrong side of the blanket”.
Skeletons in the Closet
When I started digging I found that actually, she gave birth to THREE boys out of wedlock in the early 1900’s – my grandfather was the youngest. I’d known of two, but didn’t know about the eldest boy who died aged 5 – around the time my grandfather was born.
I can still remember my Mum and Grandmother sniping about old Grandma Bessie, that she was “no better than she should have been”. Apparently she was a stickler for convention and fiercely class-conscious – which seems quite odd now that I know her story!
Turns out, Grandma Bessie didn’t actually marry until my grandfather was 8 years old. It’s left me with so many questions:
- In all the records I’ve found, the two surviving sons bore her married name – even though she didn’t marry until nearly a decade after they were born! So who was the father?
- And, did they all have the same father?
- And if so, why didn’t he marry Grandma Bessie earlier and make her an honest woman?
- Great Grandfather was a good 20 years older than Grandma Bessie and died long before I was born. Was it a love match, or a marriage of convenience?
- And maybe, biologically, he’s not my Great Grandfather at all?!
Mind you, who knows how accurate the historical records are.
My own mother died only 7 years ago, and when I ordered a copy of her death certificate I found no fewer than six mistakes on it. SIX! Names spelt incorrectly, the birth years of my siblings muddled up, and no mention whatsoever of two of my mum’s 4 marriages … it just goes to show you really can’t trust even the official records. (And did you know, that if I wanted to get the records changed, there would be a fee and a lot of paperwork involved? Doesn’t exactly motivate me to make sure it’s an accurate record!).
Have you ever tried digging around in your family tree? Find any skeletons in the closet?!