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Family tree....

  • Thread starter Thread starter Kat100
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Kat100

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Reading popsy,s thread made me think, has anyone traced any of their family tree and found any health links which they are affected by...
Or any interesting family skeletons which you might like to share....our roots started somewhere...kat x
 
A while ago my cousin traced back the family tree on my dad's side... we were just really surprised that there was pretty much nothing of interest. My grandfather was very interesting, but a very private man so there's very little we know about him other than that he went to some amazing places during his time in the army.
 
The army is an interesting one...
I found my grandmother who I never met had her second name tugela, named after her brothers return from the boar war, that was in 1900.
Then I found an uncle died so young ......from errand boy to private, died as a teenager and is now found to be burried in France ....have seen a photo of the plot...:(
On one side yes I did find some health issues, lack of iron and b12 which I have .....but different names were used in some of the details to say what the cause of death was....I have seen a few of the death certs, must buy a few more, but it can be an expensive hobby...
I loved finding out some family information, I discovered so much I was addicted, now all paperwork is in a large box waiting for me to put it all in order...:/ I will have to pick it all up again one day ......
 
I started to take my son's food allergies seriously when I found out my great-uncle DIED of anaphylactic shock on the way to his wedding:dead:

Kate
 
Thanks @Kat100 and @Avocado Sevenfold. It makes you realise how lucky we are to have modern medicine available. At the time they said it was the excitement of getting married that killed him(!) Nowadays he'd have been diagnosed as allergic as a child and would have carried an EpiPen. And imagine if we were diabetics in 1914 instead of 2014 - life expectancy less than a year from diagnosis.

Sorry, this sounds a bit preachy. But there are so many conditions that were deadly within living memory and are now mostly an inconvenience. I **** off the healthcare professions with the best of them, but I do appreciate how much things have improved.

Kate
 
Hi Kate, same thought crossed my mind when I look at how family/people lived years ago.....
I wonder what people will be thinking in 100 years from now....:/ ???

Hard to imagine how people lived from day to day, there was so much poverty, for some...

You are right we do have modern medicine and a voice to speak up and get it.....

Not sure if today's stresses which we all talk about at times were even thought about in those days...
I discovered whole families just wiped out by disease .......often in the same year....they had no medication ....:(
 
I would love to have the genetic testing that tells you about your origins. Family lore is one thing, but the genetic testing would be fascinating, I think. Anyone had it done?
 
Well, both sets of my grandparents were dead before I was born so who knew what diseases they had. I could be a direct line to all kinds of stuff I don't know about ;)

As I understand it, our ancestors had a feast or famine time of it and in times of plenty they seemed to eat as much as they could to see them through the famine times. I suppose there was no other way really. I do believe that much of what we are today can be attributed to what we were in our past. For instance, my OH had a Dupuytren's Contracture, a condition that makes the fingers of the hand flex inward towards the palm of the hand. It got so bad he had to have an operation on both his hands but the astonishing thing was that the surgeon said it's a condition commonly found in certain countries and that his antecedents were probably of Viking stock. Made sense as he grew up in Cheshire where Vikings came and went quite frequently.

So, I am with Kat on this, how much of what we are today can be traced back to what we were? I mean, was my inability to control my bingeging a throwback to the times when my ancestors prepared for times of famine and it's a built in response to that? I mean I never once had a craving for carrots!;) It was always foods that built up fat which would have been invaluable back then. See? I KNEW it wasn't me! :p Of course, back then there wasn't the rubbishy food available that's around today. It was mostly animal derived and they ate the lot, brains, liver, all that and apparently, never wasted a bit of it. I have also read that when our ape ancestors started to eat large amounts of protein, this facilitated the growth of the brain and got us down from the trees. Now there's thought. And oh yes, genetic testing would be absolutely fascinating!
 
I also have a minor Dupetryn's Contracture on my ring finger - so presumably there's some Viking stock somewhere back on my family tree as well. It's also pretty common in diabetes (along with frozen shoulder, carpal tunnel and other tendon/ligament issues) according to Dr Bernstein - he attributes it to glycation. Mine has thankfully never progressed to the extent of your husband's. My brother-in-law who is Norwegian has an extreme case of it and has also had surgery.
 
So we are chatting to Vikings !!!! How interesting.....;) ;). ;)

I knew my greats had a hard time and food was so hard to get, sometimes it was just boiled meat bones to try and make a broth...
And addresses were dwellings....wherever they, could find a place....
I did do some reading about the work houses, goodness life was really hard....

It is strange really I always said I had lived in Norfolk ( where we live now ) in my past life ( I was not born here etc) then I find my family started here back in the 1600,s they must of been the posher branch because the great great link x 6 was a tax collector .......horse and cart between Norfolk and London I guess.....

But the sad stories I discovered do break your heart life was so hard.....they would not have had such food choices or even thought about sugar...
It would of just been about earning a few pennies to stay alive .....

My grand parents died before I was born as well, I need to do some more research , one family was wiped out by TB....
They left there children all without parents 11 of them to cope on their own....youngest was one!!!!

Amazing the one who was the youger is well, and goodness she knows how to budget and cook....etc.....survival I think....

But did people care more then and help each other out more .....I do wonder :/

Thank you all for sharing, yes genetic testing sounds good....and sorry to hear about the condition your husband has popsy and you to Indy x

Thanks for sharing , I love family history stories and it's links of what could be or may of been , will never really know of course a bit like a puzzle or a book ........x







Long may you reign !!!!!!!
 
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