Anyone done a family tree? How far back did you get? Any surprises

[classic33]

You mean H*******
Cos that was my s.i.l surname.

Not that Joey then?

 

[Dave7]

I've got back as far as the 1500s on one line, and most lines have been traced to the 1700s or earlier. The biggest hole is the illegitimacy of one of my grandmothers - her mother never revealed the father's name so a huge part of my ancestry is untraceable.

I have murderers on both sides of the family.
My mother's great-great uncle knifed a man to death in a pub after a fight about a card game. He escaped and a reward was offered for his capture, but he was never heard of again.
My father's great-great uncle robbed a man he met in a pub of cash that even today would be worth less than £20. He then beat his brains out with a wooden post to prevent the man identifying him. He was seen and quickly caught. He pleaded guilty to murder and was hanged 14 days after the crime was committed.

My great-great grandmother was a rape victim. She said the man saw her on the road between villages, and assaulted and ravished her. The man claimed that he'd paid her for sex on previous occasions, but this time he refused to pay so she reported him. The jury believed her version and he got 6 years penal servitude.

In contrast, hundreds of other ancestors seem to have lived ordinary, uneventful lives. I'm still fascinated by them though, and over the years I've spent a fair amount of money and an immense number of hours tracing them. I love it.

Do they really allow people like you on CC ..... a family full of murderers. I can only find one ancestor who served in a "house of correction"

 

[Asa Post]

Do they really allow people like you on CC ..... a family full of murderers. I can only find one ancestor who served in a "house of correction"

I promise you that I haven't inherited their aggression

I suspect that many other people have an equally bad (or worse) set of relations, but they haven't done the research so they aren't aware of it.
If I listed all the wife-beatings, fist fights (male and female), poaching and other dubious activities we'd be here all night

 

[classic33]

I promise you that I haven't inherited their aggression

I suspect that many other people have an equally bad (or worse) set of relations, but they haven't done the research so they aren't aware of it.
If I listed all the wife-beatings, fist fights (male and female), poaching and other dubious activities we'd be here all night

There's time.