why, where, how
Anecdotal history knew that our family came from around Satley in County Durham - what our family would call "way-back-and-beyond". My father managed to get hold of a copy of the Parish Registers - and there you go, in a line back to Joseph and his slightly sketchy story of running away from an apprenticeship as a stone mason in Newcastle "to avoid a press gang". (Google Maps tells us that's at least 18 miles - quite a long way to escape a press gang.)
And so it starts - and bits get added - not least from all the wives (and in those days, families - those that survived - were big). And quite quickly you've got well over 1000 relatives - but you're stalled in taking it further back.
And then, out of the blue, someone emails you and says "have you looked at the
History of Wolsingham Parish?". And you haven't, but you do. And we can't quite link it up for sure, but now, suddenly, you're in the mid-1500's. Henry VIII. Strewth.
But, I confess, more by luck than guided endeavour. Complete amateur - so any insights into how better to do the How would be very much appreciated.
My great-grandfather, William Parkin Craggs, was a drunk and a good-for-nothing. He left the family home (late 1890's) and my great-grandmother, Mary Ann, had to fend for herself and four boys, Robert, John, Harold and Parkin. You can imagine the toil. She swore she'd see the last one married and die - and she did.
He tried to come back home in the early 1900's and they met him in the street and told him to clear off. He died, we believe, miles away near Liverpool, in 1937.
The boys, as you might imagine, sought to better themselves.
By rights, we might have been called the Grays - because when my wayward ancestor bailed, it was their mother's father, Robert Gray, who stepped in. And the boys had the deepest respect for their upbringing all their lives. And all were teetotal.
John, Rob, Parkin and Harold in the 1890's