Family history you never knew?

Used to play on the old Hulton Estate as a kid. We weren’t supposed to as it was private. There’s a memorial there to the pit disaster. It fell into ruin over the years and is now being redeveloped. I think originally it was thought that homes would be built on the land but a large part of it is listed as historic gardens. The plan now is to restore the gardens and build an international golf course. Not sure that’s a good thing but if it means the estate is restored ?

On the subject of ancestry, I wonder if there is anyone who believes there can be inherited memories, sometimes referred to as genetic memory? Not expressly that sudden feeling of deja vue but something more like a knowing response.

There are studies regarding this,

some inevitably quite dry

Genetic Architecture Of Declarative Memory: Implications for Complex Illnesses - PMC.

The study of epigenetics suggests that while specific memories aren’t passed down, the effects of experiences can be. Explores how certain experiences can cause genes to be turned on or off - and these changes can potentially be passed on to future generations. For instance, studies have shown that trauma and stress can lead to epigenetic changes, and there’s evidence suggesting these alterations might influence the behavior or stress responses of future generations.

May account for those powerful responses we sometimes feel in regard to somewhere or something new. I seem to have inherited many from relatives I never knew.

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The Hultons did get around a lot over the years. Don’t forget condemning a 12 year old boy to the gallows :rage:

When I heard about my grandmother’s background it explained several things about her personality. She would have been quite an influential person during my childhood and no doubt her attitudes and opinions will have affected me.

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Didn’t there used to be a 9 hole golf course around there at one time, Brackley?

That’s was Little Hulton. Not sure it’s there any more, that area’s now mainly a big industrial estate. The Hulton estate was mainly west of Over Hulton

All mine seem to have Merchant Navy connections, one reason why I was a seafarer for a time. Great grandfathers on both sides, both Grandfathers, one the youngest Master Mariners at 21, the other his brother, a Chief Engineer, both had sons at sea, one lost to a torpedo in 1941 the other a Master Mariner who I crossed paths with in the Persion Gulf one night and my Dad the first not to go to sea. Even on my Grandmother’s side the first pilot on the Manchester Ship Canal when it opened in. I think, 1894.

Reading this has prompted me to find, so that I can re-read, a ‘booklet’ given to all cousins in my family about 30 years ago concerning our paternal grandparents and great grandparents.
My cousin, realising that her mum was at the beginning stages of dementia, asked her to see what she could recall of the family history. Maureen was sensible enough to put it all on tape and over the weeks and months, typed up the findings. I do remember at the time it made an interesting story and Maureen wrote that our great grandparents were Polish Jews living in Poland who fled from there to the East End of London to escape persecution. They changed their name from Bloomberg to Brown and the large family (there were nine children) lived in and around Cable Street until some of them moved to Pyle in Wales, Rossington in Yorkshire and Toronto in Canada. Over time, the remaining members of the family moved to different areas in the Home Counties.
On my mum’s side we don’t seem to be able to trace things too far back. My great-great grandmother was left back in the UK whilst her husband joined in the Alaskan Gold Rush with a promise that he would return when he had made his fortune. Sadly he never returned and Granny Mantle was left never knowing what had happened to him.

That reminds me of Fran’s Gt. Grandfather who went to America, but did return.

Not finding work immediately he ‘road the rods’ West, that is became a hobo and travelled on the axle rods beneath the railcar. A very dangerous thing to do for any distance because dropping off to sleep often meant dropping off literally and perhaps under the wheels as told by W.H. Davies in ‘The Autobiography of a Supertramp’ who lost his lower leg doing so.

Her Grandpa did lose his leg but not by falling off. He was crossing the street somewhere in Texas and a train, on lines running down the street, knocked him over and inflicted the damage. He still made it back to New York though and then to a hero’s welcome in Bolton.

In my case my family genealogy has been fairly extensively researched so all I have to do is log onto the family tree at tribalpages and it is all set out back to the 17th or 18th century.

But there is a catch - it so happens that my great grandfather James was born to his mother in 1878 3 years after her husband Thomas died. So I and the rest of James’ descendants aren’t actually related to the rest of the family at all. It wasn’t uncommon for births to be registered late but 3 years is pushing it even for the 1870’s.

Also James had an elder (likely half) brother also called Thomas who was born in 1875 - it is somewhat likely he was named after his ill or recently deceased father.

I guess I could order his birth certificate and see if the actual father is recorded.

Bit of a faff though.

Might do it some day.

Would it be indiscreet to ask which Derbyshire mining village, please?

I’ve been researching my family tree since 1990, when my father and uncle were with us for my grandfather’s funeral. I had to go to the parish in Wiltshire where the paternal male line came from. Thankfully one of the previous vicars had made a card index of all the entries in the parish registers. More came from documents at the county record office. However, being agricultural labourers, at least initially, I haven’t been able to get back any further than 1750.
However, on my paternal grandmother’s side another of my father’s cousins had already started the task and helped me with lots of detail. That got me back to north Devon in the 17th century.
I’ve had the same ‘pick a set of names and assume they must be the same people’ issues with Ancestry. Fortunately, more recently I’ve discovered WikiTree. To join, which is free, and add information you have to sign the honour code. This requires you only to add information for which you can cite reliable documented evidence. So, the accuracy and veracity of information is of a much higher standard.
Using other people’s research I’ve been able to trace my roots back over 20 generations, including to a well known French woman who is both a 21st and 22nd great-grandmother. And she’s buried only 35km from where I now live.

Yes the Hultons have history.

I have a similar conundrum, but with my father. We always knew he was born out of wedlock in 1930 but it was never discussed. Before my mother died 3 years ago she told me that my fathers fathers name was on his birth certificate and that his father was Irish. She also told an interesting story about why they didn’t get married and why his name was on the birth certificate. None of my siblings seem at all interesting in knowing and I’ve sort of avoided finding out by forgetting about it. I may order his birth certificate one day, even if only to find out if my mother was right.

Whitwell.

They aren’t really a family that is much known about in history, but they have a very long one and crop up throughout it on a regular basis. Not all of it so bad thankfully.

This afternoon I received a remarkable 12 pages of my maternal family history researched by @JohnBoy from just two documents. It filled in quite a few gaps and provided a number of explanations for parts of my mother’s long and rather turbulent life.

If I gave his genealogical researches a really sincere recommendation he might be swamped by SFers’ requests, so I’ll just say he’s more than rather good! :wink:

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Thanks Mark, it was absolutely my pleasure.