Category: Genealogy

Scene of Horror

~ Janet McKee ~ 7 Comments

In searching for more information about my ancestors,I find that one of them, a female, was burned at the stake.  She, Lady Margaret Oswald, was my  13th  Great Grandmother.  She followed the Lollard faith, which was considered heretical in the 15th century.  She was born in 1448, died on December 12th 1476 in Cambridge England.  Death at the stake was not a new form of execution.  But it was persistently used in the 15th and 16th centuries. Many many men and women suffered and were executed for their faith in this horrific manner in earlier times

Stilke_Hermann_Anton_-_Joan_of_Arc's_Death_at_the_Stake

Joan of Arc  (credit to Wikipedia)

My Grandfather as a Young Man

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

 

2019_06_06_15_39_54.pdf000  I found this photo recently in my mother’s archive,  My grandfather is with his 3 daughters in 1923,  At that time the family was living in Omaha Nebraska.  My mother is the 11 year o;d on the right.

I have titled this to indicate my grandfather was young but that’s a relative term.  Actually he was almost 50 in 1923,  But my image of him has always been of him as an older man in his 70’s and early 80’s – when I knew him,

2018_09_04_11_09_00.pdf000

IMG_6336a bit blurred but this is a photo of my grandfather in 1912 when he was in his mid-30’s.

I

Notable Ancestors

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

This is the first of a planned series of blog posts about specific ancestors.  The first ancestor I have chosen is Sir Henry Norris, c. 1482-17 May 1536.  The cause of death was Decapitation – he was beheaded on Tower Hill, London.  He was among those accused of treason and adultery with Anne Boleyn.  Most historical authorities argue that the accusations were untrue and part of a plot to get rid of Anne.  Henry Norris’ occupation was listed as Groom of the Stool to Henry VIII.  He lived and died in turbulent times.  He was my 12th Great Grandfather.

Sir Henry Norris Sir Henry Norris   (google image)

Following My Mother

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

In tracing my mother’s trip to Europe in 1934 I am learning more about the geography of England in particular.  For example yesterday I bloggedabout her stopping in Ormskirk for ginger cookies.  I had never heard of Ormskirk before.  Today as I was working on my genealogy project – tracing my ancestors – I find that a 13th Great Grandfather was born in Ormskirk.  Bingo!   Lancashire = not a part of England that I am familiar with.

Ormskirk_Parish_Church  Ormskirk Church

And as I follow her footsteps I also am reminded of my travels and I can “compare and contrast” as examiners love to design exam questions.

Ancestor Count Update

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

As regular readers of this blog know, I am very keen on genealogy and am trying to extend my family tree as far as possible.  The number of identified ancestors is now 17,481.

IMG

photo from 1945, in my backyard in Belmont Mass, it’s springtime – the lilac bush in the background is in bloom

3 generations – my great aunt, my mother and her 2 sisters, me and some of my cousins

  photo of my maternal grandmother and 2 of her daughters (in Minneapolis 1912)

 

I just finished……

~ Janet McKee ~ Leave a comment

I just finished printing a 78 page document that I have been working on for a long time.  It still needs some editing/tinkering but I’m basically ready to move on to the next stage.  I want to input the information to Excel and then do some sorting into different categories. These are my 300+ immigrant ancestors by name, birth and death dates and location, generation, marriage, arrival date and place, miscellaneous information.

img_4922 Page 1