Recently, I've been spending a lot of time with family - some whom I haven't seen for over two years (since our wedding), even though we've lived in the same city - and I've learned some very remarkable things about my family history.
Some highlights:
1. Great-aunt Boyda Hugh, my namesake, liked to disguise her "middle-class Welsh scum" accent with an upper-crust English one, to attract the men. Partially due to this, she lived the last twenty-or-so years of her life as a veritable courtesan to a rich Calgarian by the name of Jeff (?) Sullivan. She lived in a "kept house" in Banff, and he would visit her on weekends. Apparently, before every visit, Boyda would kiss a picture of her deceased husband and ask for forgiveness.
2. My great-grandmother (name unknown at present) was a "Chicago-Black-Cherokee-Irish" woman. Because my great-grandfather's family disapproved, my grandfather left his family settlement in Ontario, to which his family had fled from Scotland (where he and his Johnstone clan had been horse-rustlers, rogues, the whole deal, at least according to my motor-cycling, tattooed half brother). There is a long tradition of men in my family marrying socially-undesirable women.
3. Great-aunt Boyda bet on horse-racing, and was extremely good. But she wouldn't tell anyone her secrets, no matter how ardently family members would suck up to her.
When I was young, I could care less about my family ancestory. Now, I find these stories fascinating - especially Boyda's, about whom I knew absolutely nothing before yesterday. I would like to learn more (and I wish I had an old, stained, black-and-white photo to include with this blog, but alas, my journey has only just begun).
What are three interesting things about your family?
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Grace Thursday
3 days ago
7 comments:
Wow!
You and HIllary have a great heritage to follow up on. And you already have research/archival skills!
You should post the youtube video of your bro on that contractor reality show.
1.
my great uncle was injured in WW1 at the battle of Passchendaele. He was shot in the leg and the arm. He spent some time in a hospital in england. while there he fell in love with his nurse named Daisy. after he left the hospital he moved back to toronto (i think) to be with his family. this didn't last long and he moved again back to england for Daisy, and married her. Daisy Davies, what a name!!!
2.
my great great grandfather moved his family to ontario from small town wales. they were the first davies to step foot on canadian soil. he brought his wife and kids with him as well. when my great great grandfather was old and getting close to death he left his family and moved back to wales to die. he didn't want to die on canadian soil. we actually have no idea where his grave is or where he actually ended up dying.
3.
when my great grandfather was on his death bed he couldn't talk very well. he mumbled a lot. the only person who could understand his was my father. he would have to translate for the rest of the family when they were all in the hospital together. he fought in WW2 and was a bachelor for the last 30 years of his life. he met his wife by renting her basement apartment. she ended up getting pregnant while she lived upstairs and him downstairs. they got married right away needless to say.
Little is known of the history of the family Christmas in North America, except for what's been published in "The Christmas Family: A Complete History of Their Time in North America" and what's been shown in the 6 hour A&E documentary, "The Christmas Family: All that Wasn't Said in the 400 Page Book, "The Christmas Family: A Complete History of Their Time in North America"". Here are a few tidbits:
1. My great great aunt Sir John Plafter Christmas of Welkansashire, Uzbekistan was a world class texas hold-em player who was tarred and feathered when the townspeople discovered she only won because he was the only one playing.
B) Fidostein Christmas, my dog's half sister, has fleas.
3. J. J. L. C. Christmas III Junior, my grandson, came to North America by camel. This was discovered at the last family reunion to be less than extraordinary when it was announced that he had taken a 15 minute break half-way. Due to this, he was excommunicated from the family last month. Since then, J. J. L. C. achieved his life long conquest of grave robbing.
3. Yusuf Mohammed (formerly Jim Bob Christmas), my uncle, disowned himself from the family and moved to The Middle East for spiritual reasons. He is considered by some to be the most devout of all worshippers of the god Agnost.
3. 10 minutes after removing from the refridgerator, remove the cork and let it breathe for 10-15 minutes before consumption.
3. Dogface Pukebreath Christmas, my beloved grandmother, was a gorgeous thespian with many broadway productions to her credit. However she found it hard to break through into films since she refused to change her name. She compromised on one occasion and starred in the film "Michael Gets a Mate" in 1935 under the monicker "Dogface Pukebreath Kwanza".
Forrest: First three minutes of: http://www.remodelit.ca/video/?tx_bddbflvvideogallery_pi1[video]=2
(I hope that works - and yes, Dallon IS my half-brother, as impossible as that seems)
Nathan: wowee, Hemingway must have known your family! Those are extremely poignant stories. I'm so glad to hear that some of us are educated in our family heroisms and heartbreaks. Thank you for sharing, truly.
Plafter: if I didn't know I know you, I'd probably have blocked your post, due to your stories being so way-cool and famous. I've now ordered "The Christmas Family: A Complete History of Their Time in North America" on Amazon, and after I read the book I will tackle the 6-hr doc. And I think MY grandmother ALSO starred in "Michael Gets a Mate." Thanks for sharing, Plafter.
I know all remaining histories may seem to pale in comparison with the Christmases, but that's just not true. All stories are equal, and welcome!
Lovely.
1. A guy sawed off half his foot with a chainsaw while working for my Dad.
2. My grandfather swam in a Saskatchewan slough in the 40s. He came out with a new texture on his skin.
3. As a teen my Uncle Terry caught a duck with his bare hands after wading slowly through a pond for four hours. It shat all over the place. Now he's a professional hunter. My uncle, not the duck.
Matthew:
1. Wow, did your dad feel responsible?
2. Forever?
3. That. Is. Dedication. So he ate it?
1. My great-grandmother married a man in England and subsequently moved to Canada with him and their newborn child. She discovered upon arriving in Canada that her husband was a bigamist, and was forced to leave him and provide for herself and her child.
2. My great-grandfather Mohammad Zeer moved from Syrria to Canada in the 1880s.
3. My great-uncle was killed on D-day when his vehicle drove over a land-mine. His family heard of the end of the war before they found out he had been killed.
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