Mark Who?

You  remember that my cousin Lyn and I are... hot on the family history trail? Well, Lyn is, I ran out of steam several years ago.  Interested still but short on time, so Lyn is our expert.  We're both intrigued by family history, or lack of it.  The search began over 10 years ago, and to be perfectly honest, on the "Williams" side, we're not much further on than we were 10 years ago. 

Recently, after having passions reignited via "Who Do You Think You Are?" US, it got me all fired up again to grab a shovel and start digging.  Watching the stories of Tim McGraw, Rosie O'D, Rashida Jones, Edie Falco, Lionel Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow, Lyn and I got chatting last night, mainly about Mark Birch, our Great Grandfather, and as Lyn put it, if we hadn't seen his name on our Nanna's birth certificate, or visited his grave, we would seriously doubt that he ever existed.

Edie, Tim et al. all excitedly viewed records dating back to the 1700s and here we are hitting brick wall after brick wall on the hunt for our Great Grandfather.  Something is amiss, somewhere.

My Nanna's birth certificate lists Mark as a "Corn Weigher" and her marriage certificate lists Mark as a "Corn Porter".  With renewed vigour, I decided to go back to basics.  Initially I imagined "corn" anything, to be completed in the countryside, fields as far as the eye could see.  Logical yes?  Apparently not, corn weighers weighed corn to be loaded onto a ship either on the dock, or on board the actual ship.  This dock work must have lead to the entry on his death certificate, retired "steamship fireman".  One job on the docks, must have lead to another.

I'll never give up and nor will Lyn, this family conundrum is as infuriating as hell.  We'll get to the bottom of it eventually but I so wish I was famous so that "Who?" could instruct the experts on our behalf.  I am longing for the ending of that particular story.

Chin Up

I love the TV Show, "Who Do You Think You Are?" It makes you think about your roots, not that I need a prompt but, life is so busy, I'm happy to have a reminder to think back.

Recently, I've started recording the US version and last week, I went on a journey with Rosie O'Donnell.  You can't help but warm to Rosie, of course I knew of her, I've seen her work both as an actress and as a talk show host but I hadn't retained an opinion.  Rosie has that, hard, New York, take me or leave me, but don't even think about messing with me, demeanour, but she is very easy to warm to.

As Rosie knew, she has strong Irish roots and she ended her journey, after a surprising detour via Canada, in Ireland.  Rosie was told of the struggle and of the harshness of reality that was Ireland at that time.   Her family had ended up in the workhouse, the last resort for families who couldn't support themselves.  I had family members in such "houses" in Liverpool.  Rosie rightly commented, while standing in what remained of one "house" that it reminded her of a concentration camp. 

I love the stories which unfold in these episodes and I love the reminder that sometimes, no matter how bad you think things are, you know that you have to pull yourself up by your boot straps.  Your ancestors overcame worse things and by virtue of DNA, you must have some of their gumption within you.  Deep breath, chin up, move on.