YORKSGEN-L Archives

Archiver > YORKSGEN > 2006-05 > 1146658700


From: "Patrick Williams" <>
Subject: RE: [YKS] More Annals of Yorkshire
Date: Wed, 3 May 2006 13:18:20 +0100
In-Reply-To: <20060503102021.E55378BCDB1@smtp2.freeola.net>


I often feel with many of these subjects that the most important fact is
forgotten, it is this. What happened many years ago to our ancestors is
interesting but immaterial in the sense that there is nothing we can do
about it, what was done was done and it is not for us to decide whether it
was right or wrong.
Many aspects of the law today are irrelevant to even 100 years ago let alone
2, 3 or 4 hundred. One of the fascinations for me with Family History is
trying to establish who did what, when and where and to whom; if you don’t
want the skeletons don’t open the cupboard!!
I have some suspicions that one of my ancestors may have been involved in
the slave trade, but it was legal then and the circumstances were different,
no I'm not proud of it but interested, another of my relatives was sent to
Australia and his death certif. shows the cause of death as by HANGING,
interesting yes; another was imprisoned, he escaped and lived in hiding for
several years before becoming Archdeacon of Dorset. His wife was beaten by
Cromwell's soldiers and his mother in law murdered by them.
This to me is what Family History is all about not whether it was right or
wrong to steal a bun to feed a starving child, as has been said it was
different then, we didn't have a nanny state and in many cases it WAS every
man, women and child for themselves.

Pat Williams
Bruton Somerset

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.5.2/329 - Release Date: 02/05/2006



This thread: