My Ancestors!

Tuesday. 8.05 a.m. Yet another bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer is reading a far more comfortable 25ºc.

I have mentioned that I was doing family research on Ancestry. Well, it continues, with over 35,000 people on my tree! I have to admit that it's somewhat addictive. Once you start, you have to keep going. I can get back to well before the Norman Conquest of 1066, which is quite amazing.

My late mother kept on saying that 'we have Dick Whittington as an ancestor.' That is, obviously, on my maternal side. As Whittington had no children, I can't get a direct connection with him. The connection comes through his wife, Alice Witzwaryn. A connection nevertheless. I'm glad I've found it.

My mother also said that we were also supposed to be connected to Lord Nuffield. William Morris, set up and ran the Morris motor car business in Cowley in Oxford. I have done a lot of research and I cannot see any sort of connection, although I will keep on trying. I am glad that I might not be associated with him because I found out he had fascist leanings and helped to support Oswald Mosley in the 1930s.

I have also discovered the Gilkes family, who lived in and around the village of Deddington in Oxfordshire. Thomas Gilkes was a Quaker, as were many others of my ancestors. They weren't allowed, as Quakers, to go to university, or join any of the professions, such as law (and other professions.) As a result, they turned to clock-making. This was during the 18th Century. Some of these clocks are now valuable antiques, and, at auction, can sell for several thousand pounds.

Next on my list of discovered ancestors is  Thomas Early. (1734-1809). His family lived in Witney and were involved in blanket-weaving. Thomas Early was the first person to use the flying shuttle in the weaving process.

As we have just had the Olympic Games in Paris, I'm quite excited to discover that I have an Olympic medal winner in my family tree. His name was Charles Moss (1882-1963) and he won a Silver medal for cycling (Team Trial Race, Men) at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.

Now, for my most exciting discovery. I have had to check thoroughly that this is correct, and as far as I can find out, it is. I have a connection to William Shakespeare, not actually to him, because his family line died out, several generations after he died. My connection is to his wife, Anne Hathaway. (c1582-1623) Although I'm not DIRECTLY related to Shakespeare, the connection to Anne Hathaway is enough for me!

Now for my paternal side. I have found Mungo Park (1771-1806) who was an explorer, who discovered the source of the River Niger in West Africa and died there. I had heard of him, but never imagined he could be an ancestor.

Almost August

 Friday. 6.25 a.m. A bright and sunny morning. The digital thermometer currently reads 23ºc. The window in my lounge is open and so keeping the flat cool.

Tuesday. 9.45 a.m. I haven't posted anything on here for a while, as you will have noticed if you read my posts regularly. I have been continuing with my family tree expansion on Ancestry and have made some interesting discoveries as well as completing my journey to find out whether I am descended from Dick Whittington. My late mother always went on about this, and I have at last made the connection! As Whittington and his wife had no children, the connection was actually with his wife, Alice Fitzwaryn. I worked as A.S.M. on a pantomime based on the traditional  'Dick Whittington' story in 1971 at Greenwich Theatre, and it now seems really strange to think he was in my family tree. My mother told me that there was a rumour that Whittington was in her family tree, and, obviously, in mine. I can't think how she would have known, because this was long before the internet and such sites as Ancestry. I sometimes think if something is a rumour, then there is a slight possibility that it could be true.

I took my car to Anglo Motors to have its annual MoT. It was due at 11.15, and I got there in plenty of time and found a parking space, which can be difficult as there are always many cars parked along the road outside and in the yard.

Being early, it meant the mechanics could get on with the test, which they did. I always attempt to get to an appointment well before the arranged time, whether for a doctor's appointment or for an MoT. The car passed without having to have any further work done on it, which was a relief. Well, I haven't been anywhere far in it over the last year. I paid and then found that the car was very low on diesel. The warning light came on, which means that you have around 5 miles worth of fuel in the tank, and then you come to a grinding halt, which isn't something I would want to happen. The nearest place I could think of to put diesel in the car was Asda, so I drove there. This is a self-service site, and you use your bank card by putting it in the pump, entering your P.I.N., removing your card and then filling your vehicle, which is exactly what I did. Having filled the car with diesel, I drove off and went home. 

When I got back to the flat, I was looking for my bank card, but couldn't find it. At which point I panicked, because without that card, I wouldn't be able to go shopping, buy groceries or do anything which required its use. It wasn't in my wallet, where it should have been. Then, it occurred to me that I must have left it in the fuel pump at Asda. So I drove there and absolutely no sign of it. I imagined, right or wrong, that if it had been left in the pump, someone could find it and then, horrors of horrors, start using it to pay for goodness knows what. Being a contactless card, it wouldn't be difficult to use without a P.I.N. number. I drove home and when I got in I found a number to ring my bank and got them to cancel the card and send me a new one. But, no sooner had I done that, I found the confounded card, in my trousers pocket! So all that panicking was for nothing.