Were your ancestors immigrants to your country? Where does your roots come from?
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I am first generation Australian. Both my parents moved to
Australia in their teens, both were born in the UK. I went
to live in the UK for 18 months and will probably do so
again at some stage. Oh the beauty of dual nationality.
North America for a looooooooong time (USA since 1888 and
Canada since 1850), but my ancestors came from England and
Germany.
grandaddy was one of the first brewers to set up shop in my
part of Australia. And my kin are still well respected
bookmakers around the traps. By the way, the Net Surfer
family hailed from Ireland, with a bit of Scottish, German
and Spanish thrown in. We actually have a relative who
scratched his name in the Tower of London when he was
imprisoned there.
'Jake Boags'.
Third fleet, 1791. Pardoned and settled in Tasmania after
serving of Norfolk Island. I'm now 5th generation.
Mum's family came to America in 1640 - and Daddys emigrated
from England in 1922!
...I can live in England or Ireland. Great.
American for 3 generations. Before that, maternal, Hungarian; paternal - Scottish, English. I believe with this heritage that makes me doomed from birth! And my kids have Fin and Norwegian thrown in, yikes!
If I was a football player (soccer for those who are
football challenged), I could play for: England, Ireland
(Republic), Scotland, Wales, and Bermuda.
Dad's parents immigrated to Boston from Genoa Italy and
Mom's Grandparents came to Boston from Ireland.
As far as i know my family are all from England. Although my
father and grandfather are both rather dark so i wouldnt' be
surprised if there was more to my history than i know of.
me: the family (from the father's side) has been around
since 18th century. then the written tracks perich from here
and can be found traces in 2 ways: looking closeby for
similar/the same surnames in neighbouring countries -
indeed, a village found where many of its inhabitants bear
my fathers family surname, or another option to search
linquistically for even older options- and i've discovered
that this very surname in sanscrit means "a monk with a
bamboo stick", which would mean that this monk's offspring
made it from india to europe. as for mum's side, following
the idea of a linquistical search, someone of the ancestors
must have been the follower of the st.simon...
now, i find this way of thinking about our ancestors much
more intriquing because it allows you to travel in the past
in a way. it is not pure imaginatin either, as years ago,
people didn't have this thing going on with surnames, one
oftenly took as a second name/surname a descriptive noun
that explained wherefrom he comes, specially the people that
travelled distances and stayed to live away from their
birthplace, then saying "i'm the son of this and that
family" in a place where noone heard of them made no sense,
so they'd say their first name and add something that
connects them with the place their come from. people changed
names according to same analogy, this is specially evident
in legends.
it is interesting to know your birth-tree, but for me this
other way is more interesting + it connects me to much a
wider environment than birth-treeing oneself.
me: the family (from the father's side) has been around
since 18th century. then the written tracks perich from here
and can be found traces in 2 ways: looking closeby for
similar/the same surnames in neighbouring countries -
indeed, a village found where many of its inhabitants bear
my fathers family surname, or another option to search
linquistically for even older options- and i've discovered
that this very surname in sanscrit means "a monk with a
bamboo stick", which would mean that this monk's offspring
made it from india to europe. as for mum's side, following
the idea of a linquistical search, someone of the ancestors
must have been the follower of the st.simon...
now, i find this way of thinking about our ancestors much
more intriquing because it allows you to travel in the past
in a way. it is not pure imaginatin either, as years ago,
people didn't have this thing going on with surnames, one
oftenly took as a second name/surname a descriptive noun
that explained wherefrom he comes, specially the people that
travelled distances and stayed to live away from their
birthplace, then saying "i'm the son of this and that
family" in a place where noone heard of them made no sense,
so they'd say their first name and add something that
connects them with the place their come from. people changed
names according to same analogy, this is specially evident
in legends.
it is interesting to know your birth-tree, but for me this
other way is more interesting + it connects me to much a
wider environment than birth-treeing oneself.
My father's paternal grandparents parents arrived in
Australia in about 1915 fleeing anti-Jewish pogroms in
Russia, they went through Manchuria (China) and settled in
Queensland. His maternal grandparents are from Holland and
came here sometime just after WWI. My father was the only
kid in his class (Jewish school) in the 1950s who had both
parents born in Australia. One of the first Jewish families
in Australia.
My mother's mother was born in Poland and left with her
family before the Holocaust, came to Australia in 1936.
Mum's father was born in Palestine to Polish parents and
came to Australia in about 1930.
A fairly typical Jewish Australian experience except all of
my family was in Australia before WWII and the Holocaust.
Most Australian Jews are survivors or descendants of
survivors of the Holocaust. Massive influx of European
Jewish immigration after 1945. Why? If you're going to
escape the terror of Europe you're going to go to the
furthest place on earth away from it. That's Australia.
Came to America from Lithuania in 1905.
The very first ancestor (from dad's side--mom's side not
documented) came to the U.S. on the first ship to follow
the Mayflower. One of his descendents (can't remember if
it was son, grandson, etc, and I'm too lazy to look) was a
pirate who is profiled in a book called "The Pirate's Book
of Who's Who." :~) Ha! He was caught after he and his
buddies looted and burned a ship--the rest went into exile,
but he stayed in Boston to throw his new found wealth
around. He was taken back to England on the same ship as
Captain Kidd (sp?), where he was hung. The "Gecko's"
settled a town in the state where I live, and they, along
with one other family, financed the first railroad in the
area.
A strange coincidence happend last year...I used to hang
out at a certain coffee shop a lot, and I became friends
with the owner, but only on a first name basis. A year
later I found out his last name was the same as mine (and
it's not a common name). "Matt," I said, "your last name
is ****?!?!" "Yeah," he answered, "Why?" I told him mine
was also. He didn't believe me, I showed him my license,
and I asked him if knew about the pirate...we found out
we're distant cousins! :~)
My ancestors came to America on the next boat after the
Mayflower as well (what a coincidence Gecko!), 10
generations ago!!! After this long, its hard to claim any
cultural ties to anyplace else, but I'm told I've got a lot
of German and English, and a little Dutch, Irish, Scottish,
and French in me. Aside from being able to brag that we've
been here since the 1600's, I find my background pretty
dull in comparison to other people's. Most of my friends
have some sort of cultural legacy, second language, or
family abroad in addition to their American identity.
that the first Gecko came from Ireland, but that's as far
back as it's traced. There is a Gecko coat of of arms that
is supposedly Irish, but I've had Irish people tell me
there's no way that "*****" is truly Irish.
Becca--do you realize that we're eligible candidates for
the DAR--ack, puke! I'd rather sew my butt cheeks together
than join!
How far do you want to go back?
Some of my ancesters must have wandered across the English
Channel before the end of the Ice Age caused it to be
submerged.
Oh no I might be French !!!!
Arghhh!!!
both Iranian immigrants, who came to this country in the
late 1970's. Although I was born in the United States, I
have dual citizenship.
The great-grandparents meandered over to North America from
Denmark, England, and Germany because they heard Europe was
going to be a lame spot in the 20th Century. Bless their
foresight!
Yeah, I've heard less than flattering things about the DAR.
However, I wish I'd known about it before college; I would
have joined to try to get some scholarship money! It's
really funny that you refer to the boat as "the ship after
the mayflower" as well. My dad has told me the name a
number of times, but I always forget immediately. So, your
family still Puritan too? (JK :>)
Maternal - three generations here in America, ancestors from
County Cork, Ireland.
Paternal - a mess. Some Catalan from near Girona, Swedish
from god knows where in Sweden, and a little French.
Both sides came to U.S. before the Revolution. Scotch,
Pennsylvania Dutch, Irish, German, English.....whatever
else. Mother's side fought for the Confederacy, Father's for
the Union. It provides for a little teasing within the
family.
My Mum is Welsh and my Dad was Australian. On my Mum's side
her mother is English, father was Polish. On my Dad's side
his mother was Irish and his father French!
I am half 1st generation. ie my mother's family stems from
Ireland, but have lived in Australia for yonks, but my
father immigrated from Burma.
as John (#24), but no "whatever else" that I'm aware of.
Most came directly to Canada, but for some reason the Pennsylvania Dutch ancestors (Kaspar von S. and family) sided with the British. They hung around in the States through the revolution, but eventually were hounded enough to take the British up on an offer of free land for "United Empire Loyalists". Some of my father's mother's family immigrated from upstate New York.
Others came to Canada from County Cork, County Cavan, the state of Hesse, somewhere in Scotland, and somewhere in England.
My father`s ancestors came from Germany to Southern Brazil
in 1825. To this date, some inhabitants from the village he
was born still speak German better than Portuguese.
My mom`s parents were Lebanese Christian Maronites who came
to Southern Brazil as well in the beggining of this century.
First generation Australian. My Mother was born in Germany
to Polish parents and my Father was born in the Netherlands.
Best of both worlds having both an Australian and EC
passport :)
Well, 1 hr ago it's in my girlfriend. I thought it comes
with me when I was born, but by itself it also 'comes'
My father's ancestors emigrated to Canada (some stopping
in Texas first) from the now defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire
(they were Czech). My mom's side of the family includes
some English and Scots, but mostly Irish blood.