My gran, when she was 10 years old, went to work part time in the weaving sheds, mornings one week, afternoons the next. The trouble was, they never caught up on the lessons they missed, and were given the strap when they couldn't do the work . They were constantly tired from the long hours. She also learnt to lip read because you couldn't hear people above the noise of the machines. She also lived to a grand age, 96. It makes you wonder how when their lives were so hard. Sue

My Nan ended up in a totally different style of life than the one she was passsed into. They had horses in the 20s and then cars although my Mum complained they were very poor - they had to have a seafood supper on Sundays and that was looked down on. I suppose, for her, poor depended on what your friends and neighbours had, whereas Dad's family had scrape to get anyfood, nevedr mind a full supper. He worked from when he was 9yrs old. His Dad had emigrated to Canada and left his Mum with him as a year old baby and another baby on the way, with no support at all. Dad worked from when he was 9 and he was not much older when his Mum died and he became the main breadwinner. He died in his mid fifties and was one of the best people I've ever known.

It's good that you know so much of your history and can pass it on to your children so it won't be forgotten. Sue

We used to be able to go into the Parish church and there were hundreds of years of gravestones to show the history - but it was dug up and turned into gardens. I still feel that was totally wrong.

I totally agree Meg, once people have passed away and are laid to rest,they should be allowed to do just that,it should be illegal to disturb the graveyards!

I feel like that often. It seems wrong that someone has a burial that seems to mean something to them and then the body and grave goods are removed.

We used to be able to go into the Parish church and there were hundreds of years of gravestones to show the history - but it was dug up and turned into gardens. I still feel that was totally wrong.

 

I don't get that. Why couldn't they have beautified the graveyard and still left the stones in place, either that or replacement flat plaques with all the details on them?

 

IMHO it's wrong to desecrate graves although I believe it's quite common in other countries for bones to be dug up and stored elsewhere.

 

Sadly the churches are not well patronised and many have changed use. I suspect the same thing has happened to churchyards all over the UK.

 

So if anyone is keen to trace their family back, they should get a move on. My sister is our family archivist and she got stuck when she got a few generations back when there weren't censuses, because the parish records had been shunted around and no-one knew where they were. It's possible they were lost in the big fire at the Dublin records office.

 

One side of our family lived generation after generation in a fairly small area of Glasgow, working in the mills etc. They moved around a bit. We suspect some housing was tied to the job and when redundancy came they lost the house too. Members of the other side of the family went to the US, Canada, India, some staying, some returning. One of my American relatives (a GI) is buried in my local cemetery because his parents had returned to Glasgow to look after one of their elderly parents.

My cousin is doing a family tree - half of it will be half of ours - I'll wait until he finishes.

Just moving some posts over from 'what should I be doing'

Sorry to hear about your mother's mini-stroke, megham. I'm glad it doesn't seem to have set her back.

Mum is still a little vague but is back walking and talking. I think that, by tomorrow, she'll be back on course. The trouble is, because of the stroke, they can't do any further treatment of the cancer.

Meg, iam so very sorry,

similar happened with my dad

Hope you do not mind me speaking to you about it,

as i don't know you that well

It was funny but, before I knew just how bad things were, I didn't want to talk to anyone. Now it's just part of my life and my Mum. You are welcome to talk about it. It's a dreadful thing to happen to anyone.

Similar thing happened to my mother in law as well. Keep going Meg, thinking about you both. Sue

We had a lovely Mother's Day. Did things like go to MacDonalds for a milk shake and Nero's for coffee and soup.

Good, glad you were able to enjoy the day with your mum :)

 

She sounded good on the phone :)

We had a lovely Mother's Day. Did things like go to MacDonalds for a milk shake and Nero's for coffee and soup.

 

Glad you enjoyed the day. It's the little things that make it special. Sue

But fancy Mum wanting to go to MacDonalds of all places she could have been taken.

As long as she enjoyed herself. Sue

We keep telling her that we'd think she was on her second childhood if we didn't already know she never left the first one. She's been leading me astray all my life.