One of the first pieces of advice those new to family
history research are given is to collect family stories from living relatives.
I think the second should be, and then discard them (the stories – not the
relatives).
I had always understood that my great grandparents, George
and Kate Revel, were Irish. They were married at the Roman Catholic chapel of
St Canice in Kilkenny on February 4, 1895. Their first daughter, Hanoria Emily,
was born on January 3, 1896 at Kate’s parents’ home in Rathkeale where George was described as a discharged soldier.
By 1898 the family had moved to London where a second daughter,
Catherine Christina was born on December 17 at 19 Townshend Road, Marylebone.
George was at this time working as a railway servant.
But then everything was to change with the outbreak of war
in South Africa. George was recalled to service with the Royal Irish Fusiliers,
leaving Kate pregnant and with two small daughters. A son also named George (my
grandfather) was born on May 16, 1900. Sadly, his father Lance Sergeant George
Revel died 13 days later, he probably never knew he had a son.
George’s military records reveal that he served with the 2nd
Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. He was posthumously awarded the Queen’s
South Africa Medal with clasps for service at Cape Colony, Tugela Heights and
the Relief of Ladysmith. He died, like so many others, of enteric fever, and
was buried in Woodstock Hospital, Capetown. His body was subsequently exhumed
and re-interred in Maitland Cemetery where his name appears on the Woodstock
Memorial.
I knew none of these people, not even my granddad who died more than ten years before I was born, but their stories lived on. My dad was raised as a
Roman Catholic and although his own childhood was fractured by his mother’s
desertion and a period spent in an orphanage, he drew comfort from the large,
extended London Irish family to which he belonged.
When I began researching my family history more than twenty
years ago Irish records were not so readily available and I must admit I eventually
gave up, promising myself that one day I would take a trip to Dublin for a
glorious researchfest.
Then this August Bank Holiday I responded to a tweet from an
Irish researcher I follow on twitter. We got chatting, she accessed some
records and would you believe it, my Irish great-granddad wasn’t Irish at all. I
had made all sorts of assumptions on the evidence of oral history without
questioning the records or thinking creatively.
My twitter friend revealed that great granddad was born in
Amersham, Buckinghamshire and that previous generations of the family had originated
from East Anglia. Census records and parish registers were checked and before you
could say ‘Bob’s your uncle and Fanny’s your aunt’ I was back in 18th
century Suffolk.
And what have I learned from all of this? That twitter can
be an amazing research tool; that family history researchers are generous with
their time and help and to take all those family legends with a hefty pinch of
salt.
On the down side, my notions of a romantic Irish family history
have come crashing down (although of course there is still great-granny). On
the plus side, Suffolk family history is considerably easier to access, especially now
I am no longer barking up the wrong family tree.
My grateful thanks to Tara @MsFrugalone. Meet her this
evening (Tuesday) on twitter #AncestryHour 7-8pm.
Comments
Post a Comment