Being English through and through (as I am) I completely overlooked the fact that yesterday was Paddy's Day. And that despite the fact that
I've kissed the Blarney Stone! The Old Bat didn't mention it either, and she has Irish blood in her veins. Mind you, I think she would prefer to forget that and think of herself as pure Sussex (not that she is). Her mother's family goes back through the Sussex centuries as far as we can tell. The maternal grandfather was something of a dark horse and nothing about him is certain, except that he liked to tweak the nose of authority. For example, his daughter (my late ma-in-law) was born in Brighton - we have the documentary proof. But when it came to completing the census in 1911, he filled in her place of birth as Philadelphia. There is nothing to suggest quite why he chose Philadelphia. Nor am I entirely certain that his place of birth was Norwich, as he stated. Since he also used a fictitious surname just about everything is open to question. Perhaps that why people from Sussex are described as "silly Sussex", although there is a theory that the word "silly" in this context is a corruption of the Saxon word "selig", meaning "holy". But to get back to the Irish mix.
The OB's great-great grandfather was born in England to English parents but emigrated to Australia where he married a girl born in Ireland to Irish parents. So the grandfather was 100% Australian by birth but 50% English and 50% Irish by blood. He came to England and married a girl born in Liverpool to parents who were both born in Ireland. So grandma was 100% English by birth (though as she was born in Liverpool she was really Scouse) and 100% Irish by blood. The OB's father, therefore, born in Hackney, London, was 100% English by birth but 25% Australian and 75% Irish by blood. That means the Old Bat is 3/8ths Irish by blood, 1/8th Australian by blood and 1/2 English. But like I say, she prefers to think of herself as wholly English if not Sussex.
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Nature's jewellery.
(I should have posted this last autumn but never did.)
I may have mentioned that all of my family trace their roots back to Ireland.
ReplyDeleteMy great grandmother was born here (in California) and three of my grandparents were born here.
My mother's father was born in Honduras, but his parents were from somewhere on the East Coast.
I have to do some research... or better yet get my cousin to dig a little deeper.
That photo is brilliant when viewed full-size. Blogger doesn't make it easy to do that... ya gotta know how. Some of your readers might miss the glory of the full image.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Buck.
ReplyDelete