Family History

[JG3282]

I have done a fair bit of family history research over the years and discovered a few things here and there.

I am interested to know of other people's family heritage. For example what nationalities they have in their family tree.

Here's mine:

On my mothers side they come from a part of Germany that became part of Poland after WW1, although for a while prior to WW1 it was part of the Ukraine. During WW2 it became part of Germany again only to become part of the USSR and ultimatley now a part of Poland again. The way I look at it they are German and have a couple of jewish skeletons in the closet so to speak. They came to Australia via Germany so that makes them German.

On my Fathers side it's a little different. His Father is of Australian Indigenous extraction. My dads grand parents on his fathers side are Native Australian [paternal] and French [maternal - from the Normandy region] joining in about 3 generations ago. His mothers family emigrated to Australia from the Balkan region of Europe via Christchurch in NZ, where my great-grand father was born.

Add that all together and it makes me - Australian!

Your turn

[Casper]

Mums side... 100% german..shes 2nd generation Australian.
Dads side... 100% german..hes 2nd generation Australian.

Both groups of families migrated from Germany pre WW1 through SA and settled in the Albury/Henty/Walla areas of NSW.

Pretty simple.

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by ONGAS

I have done a fair bit of family history research over the years and discovered a few things here and there.

I am interested to know of other people's family heritage. For example what nationalities they have in their family tree.

Here's mine:

On my mothers side they come from a part of Germany that became part of Poland after WW1, although for a while prior to WW1 it was part of the Ukraine. During WW2 it became part of Germany again only to become part of the USSR and ultimatley now a part of Poland again. The way I look at it they are German and have a couple of jewish skeletons in the closet so to speak. They came to Australia via Germany so that makes them German.

On my Fathers side it's a little different. His Father is of Australian Indigenous extraction. My dads grand parents on his fathers side are Native Australian [paternal] and French [maternal - from the Normandy region] joining in about 3 generations ago. His mothers family emigrated to Australia from the Balkan region of Europe via Christchurch in NZ, where my great-grand father was born.

Add that all together and it makes me - Australian!

Your turn

so youd be an arrogant german based tight wad jewish aborigional racist french man then. ( JOKE, NO OFFENCE INTENDED ) :

[Bearman]

Very interesting thread!! My grandparents origins are:
On my Dad's side; his Father was a pom from Newcastle, his Mother from German lineage.
On my Mum's side; her Father was of Scottish descent, her Mother was a Jewish/Anglo mix.

All this adds up to me being a plain old Skip!!!

[JG3282]

Originally Posted by Casper

Mums side... 100% german..shes 2nd generation Australian.
Dads side... 100% german..hes 2nd generation Australian.

Both groups of families migrated from Germany pre WW1 through SA and settled in the Albury/Henty/Walla areas of NSW.

Pretty simple.

Mum's family settled in Henty for about ten years before moving to Thomastown in the early 60's... we could be related :

Originally Posted by gtfpv

so youd be an arrogant german based tight wad jewish aborigional racist french man then. ( JOKE, NO OFFENCE INTENDED ) :

no offence taken BUT I did ask for your families origins, not a childish joke about my own family. I do enough of that on my own :

[gtfpv]

My Fathers Maltese With a french sirname so i'm guessing french descendance way back And My Mother Australian (anglo Saxon) of scottish descendance.

[conordec]

Dads 4th gen aussie....
Mum,,,, born in germany, grandma's polish, gradpa's russian, came after ww2.....

me cocktail.

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

Interesting.

I'm a bitza - a bit of this, a bit of that, bitza everywhere.

Part of my mothers family came to Australia from Prussia (no, not Russia, Prussia, the area is now part east germany, part poland, but they always spoke german there, if anybody is interested, do some research on prussia, it's very interesting) back in the mid 1800's, to escape religous persecution (they would have been killed if they'd stayed because they were not of the "official" faith of the state, at least that is how it's been explained to me), and the other side of my mothers family tree can be traced back to england, near london to be more precise - with a family name of Squire, could they claim to be from anywhere else? :hihi: Some of the other family history on my mothers side of the family tree traces back to Ireland during the very early 1800's, and yes, it was for a fairly minor theft that they got sent to Australia.

Where it gets interesting is on my fathers side. My father was adopted, because he was born to a single mother back in the 1930's. Apparently he was the result of a one-night stand with some guy who was working in the dockyards at the start of WW2, and she doesn't even remember his name. So I have no idea about who my paternal grandfather is or where he came from, and I have a very limited knowledge of my real paternal grandmother, because she made it quite clear when I met her that she doesn't want to know about me or my life and doesn't want me involved in her life, as far as she's concerned she has her own family already and would rather pretend what happened with my father never happened.

What I do know is that there is some French history there, as well as some Scottish, which is interesting because that is where my fathers adopted parents family trees go back to.

So, in summary, I am Prussian (German)/English/Irish/Scottish/French/Unknown

Oh well, blue eyes, fair skin, I could hardly claim to be of native american or asian origin could I?

A bitza!

[XRated]

I am going to trace back my routes one day so I know exactly where I originated from. But for now, I know I have lots of Irish and (anglo-) Australian in me (dad's parents were Irish, mum's were (anglo-) Australian, and my great grandparents I am presuming were Irish/English).

Must be why I love my spuds and alcohol!

[gtfpv]

Originally Posted by The MaDDeSTMaN

Interesting.

I'm a bitza - a bit of this, a bit of that, bitza everywhere.

Part of my mothers family came to Australia from Prussia (no, not Russia, Prussia, the area is now part east germany, part poland, but they always spoke german there, if anybody is interested, do some research on prussia, it's very interesting) back in the mid 1800's, to escape religous persecution (they would have been killed if they'd stayed because they were not of the "official" faith of the state, at least that is how it's been explained to me), and the other side of my mothers family tree can be traced back to england, near london to be more precise - with a family name of Squire, could they claim to be from anywhere else? :hihi: Some of the other family history on my mothers side of the family tree traces back to Ireland during the very early 1800's, and yes, it was for a fairly minor theft that they got sent to Australia.


Where it gets interesting is on my fathers side. My father was adopted, because he was born to a single mother back in the 1930's. Apparently he was the result of a one-night stand with some guy who was working in the dockyards at the start of WW2, and she doesn't even remember his name. So I have no idea about who my paternal grandfather is or where he came from, and I have a very limited knowledge of my real paternal grandmother, because she made it quite clear when I met her that she doesn't want to know about me or my life and doesn't want me involved in her life, as far as she's concerned she has her own family already and would rather pretend what happened with my father never happened.

What I do know is that there is some French history there, as well as some Scottish, which is interesting because that is where my fathers adopted parents family trees go back to.

So, in summary, I am Prussian (German)/English/Irish/Scottish/French/Unknown

Oh well, blue eyes, fair skin, I could hardly claim to be of native american or asian origin could I?

A bitza!

very interesting mix . sad to read about your grandmas attitude though. i think that situation is sad and very common with 2-3 generations ago though.

[JG3282]

Originally Posted by The MaDDeSTMaN

Oh well, blue eyes, fair skin, I could hardly claim to be of native american or asian origin could I?

Its funny cos with green eyes and blond hair it was hard at the time to comprehend why I copped a fair bit of racism in primary school. I was as white as all the other white kids, but they always called me a smelly abbo. The thing was that my Dad had pretty dark skin, kinda like a Maltese or Sicilian tan and a huge-@rsed afro. If anything he could have been mistaken for a Tongan in those days, but yeah all the white kids racially vilified me because of my dad. I didn't even understand it but I did in later years and became a hard @rse getting into plenty of fights.

The funniest thing was when a turkish kid wanted to fight me as a payback for Gallipoli. I waited til he had all his mates along side him and said "Its rather ironic that my grand father was on the same side as the turks, as was the case with germany in those days." After his mates belted him for being such a dumb @rse they belted me because the germans lost the war meaning turkey lost all of its lands in the Balkan region of Europe.

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

Originally Posted by XRated

I am going to trace back my routes one day so I know exactly where I originated from. But for now, I know I have lots of Irish and (anglo-) Australian in me (dad's parents were Irish, mum's were (anglo-) Australian, and my great grandparents I am presuming were Irish/English).

Must be why I love my spuds and alcohol!

And I know where I get my temper (prussia/germany, scotland, ireland), taste in cars, sports and humor (england) and probably some other traits from. :hihi:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

very interesting mix . sad to read about your grandmas attitude though. i think that situation is sad and very common with 2-3 generations ago though.

Yeah, I think it's a very interesting mix, and the 1/4 unknown makes it all the more interesting.

You're right about my real grandmothers attitude, but I only met her once and up until that day I had no idea that the person I had regarded as my grandmother wasn't actually my fathers mother, and so it didn't really bother me that she didn't want me to be a part of her life, and as cold as this might sound, it still doesn't bother me. I will always regard the person who I thought was my grandmother when I was growing up as my "real" grandmother, she only passed away a few years ago, and I still miss her more then I can express in words.

It would be great to find out something - anything - about my paternal grandfather, but I seriously doubt that is ever going to happen.

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

Originally Posted by ONGAS

Its funny cos with green eyes and blond hair it was hard at the time to comprehend why I copped a fair bit of racism in primary school.

Interestingly enough, I also copped a fair bit of racism when I was at school, only for me it was when I was in high school, and I was always being picked on for being "aussie", because I was one of the few people in my classes who was a classic anglo aussie, while most of my classmates families had come over to Australia in the last 20-40 years from greece/lebanon/italy/yugoslavia etc.

It can be a weird world we live in sometimes.

[Steffo]

Serbian here. Both parents were born overseas. Mum's family came here in 1968 (she was 5) and my dad came here in 1986 (he was 24).

Dad & dad's family are from Sarajevo, which is today the capital city of Bosna & Hercegovina.

Mum & mum's family are from Bitola, which is today in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

[MethodX]

Northern Italian here.

Mums side is from the famous Tuscany way, near Pisa.
Dads side is from Liguria near Genoa.

Both great places to visit.

[LuvinmyEB]

Mum was born in Scotland and came over here in 1966, both her parents are Scottish.
Dad was born in Germany and came out here when he was 2 (which makes him Australian), his parents are German and Serbian.

On mums side however we've managed to trace our family tree all the way back to find Lady Godiva, William Wallace and even some royal blood lines in there. We've found French, Irish, Welsh and American ancestors.

It's interesting stuff to do (if you have the time and patience). I have to get stuck into doing Kyle's family tree, apparently there are a few scandles on his fathers side. :

I have to admit when I went to England and Scotland, having blonde hair (back then) and blue eyes, I was told to never tell anyone that I was half German. Sheesh like I had anything to do with the war!

It was interesting one night I thought I'd do some of my own investigating and was looking for my families names, gave up for a while and within a couple of minutes found some information on The Maddestmans dad (DOB & DOD) but all that came to a grinding halt when I tried to find the person who added all the information. :

Half German and half Scottish, I didn't really stand a chance when it came to my temper. :

[MrQuan]

Dad's side is 5th Generation French
Mum's side is 4th Generation British

That makes me an Aussie for at least 4 generations. When I was younger people used to say I looked French : but I look nothing like my Dad or brother... Wierd how it can carry on like that throught the generations. (BTW, now people tell me I look Brad Pitt :yeees: *cough*)

[Twisted]

Dads side is Dutch, a couple of Viking Cheiftains back in the family history apparently.
Mums side is Irish, my great grandfather, all his brothers and their father before them were all crazy drunk Irish prize fighters.

Pretty much adds up to make me a big boofhead. Mums maiden name was Kelly and apparently we are distantley related to Ned. Mums second cousin is John Astin (the original Gomez Adams) and his son, Sean Astin is Sam from Lord Of The Rings. Im not short though lol.

[bindi]

Well being redhaired and fair skinned makes me of Irish extraction somewhere along the line.

Mum and Dad are both Poms, came out on the 10 pound note scheme in 1965 and lived at Villawood hostel (NSW) for a year or two (where they had The Easybeats perform a free concert for them - cos a band member or two apparently stayed at the hostel for a little while themselves) before settling in their own place. My brother and sisters were born in the UK and I was the first of our family to be born in Australia.

My folks came from a very poor background. My great aunt is still alive in the UK and sent me a family tree as far as she knew, back to the 1800's.

My father's grandfather was found on an orphanage step as a baby and they never knew where he came from... Dad reckons with ears like his, he's related to Prince Charles. He thinks his grandad was "born on the wrong side of the sheets" (as in, a bastard child of royalty)... :evil_laug

Anyway! My hubby's family is more interesting. His grandparents (mother's side) were Auschwitz and Mauthausen survivors, and had the saddest, most incredible stories of the will to live that I have ever heard. Many times I cried, his grandmother was the most beautiful and wonderful person and to think of all those things happening to her are just awful (eg. She and her sister - cos they looked like twins - were operated on by Dr Mengeler... bits were removed with no anaesthetic and they were sewn back up to see what happened).

Also my hubby's grandfather (father's side) was Greek and hence where our surname comes from.

[Quasi]

On Dad's side I have German and English, back to about 1830. On Mum's side there is Irish, thouugh some way back.

The furthest back we have gone is 1066, following the battle of Hastings. One of my ancestors was given a grant of land, for services to the King,which I believe turned out to be Yorkshire county.

[iCat]

Croation / Ukranian = typical Aussie bitzer!

Both mum and dad's side - English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh. So far traced back to 1400's. Dads rello was A.A.Milne of 'Winnie the Pooh' fame....

[Casper]

Originally Posted by ONGAS

Mum's family settled in Henty for about ten years before moving to Thomastown in the early 60's... we could be related :

Send me a PM with their surname and I can tell you. I have access to family books going back to germany on both sides..

Hawk (off the forums here) and I are related. 7th cousins or something like that. Basically if its a German name from the Henty/Walla area its highly likely we are related.

[347_XR8]

My mum is english, still is an english citizen even tho she has been here since she was about 6, but still has an english accent and the "ye-olde" way of things, like absolue no swearing and watches all those ridiculous murder-mysterys (sorry to offend anyone).
As far as i know with my father came over from Holland when he was a young kid (anywhere between 5 and 10) and was the only one in his family who could speak english as he was also the oldest. When he could he changed his name to a english equivilant and changed the spelling/pronunciation of our last name to a more engilsh version again. However ha can't speak a word of dutch.
So all my mates call me a crazy ducth bastard cause of Austin Powers 3. the only disrimination i got from my heritage in school was from teachers cause my older brother was not a good boy, so they thaught i would be the same. That didn't alst long. But i still got the odd bully come up to me for some reason or another, but most of the time i got my revenge in one way or another

[FRDGAL]

All I know is.....

Dad & Family - Sicilian/Croatian

Mum & Family - Serbian

Bilogical Mum & Family - Hungarian

Also about the racism, I never copped it in school EVER but I cop it as an adult _

[FordFan86]

Dad and his family are kiwi's and goes back to england somewhere along the line (not to sure with dads family)
Mum and her family are kiwi's with family going back to england, scotland, spain.. all over the place.
I was born in melbourne and naturalised kiwi.

[JG3282]

Originally Posted by Lukey_XF

the only disrimination i got from my heritage in school was from teachers cause my older brother was not a good boy, so they thaught i would be the same. That didn't alst long.

Aahh yes the joys I had being the oldest. I set an example for the rest to follow :SaiyanSmi

Originally Posted by Lukey_XF

But i still got the odd bully come up to me for some reason or another, but most of the time i got my revenge in one way or another

That was more because of your : than anything else :party3:



:jab:

[gtfpv]

these threads are very interesting . me being 1/2 cast AUSSIE MALTESE, WHEN I WAS A BOY I HAD LONG BLONDE CURLY HAIR AND GREEN EYES PEOPLE USED TO THINK MY FATHER WAS MY STEP FATHER . now at 36 sonme people pick maltese in me but most say AUSSIE . SOME SAY FRENCH. my brother though is very dark and people think he is aborigional. he has actually been sacked from a job because something got stolen at his work , and people thought the most likely person to steal it would be him , being aborigional. how about that . but if you put me my father and my brother next to each other you can tell we are siblings born to my father.

[BJ]

My wife has be a pro Genealogist for the last 20 years or so. She has writen 4 books on the subject was the editor for the Austalian Institute of Genealogical Studies and is now the Sub Editor of the Ancestor mag for The Genealogical Society of Victoria. She has also done quite a number of talks at differant fuctions and has been doing her own family history for the last 35 years. We both have a love of history and have both done our fair share of Cemetery hopping over the years. It is funny how when people ring to get there family tree done they always ask how long will it take, and i always ask how long is a peice of string, No one nows how long it will take we have had one client for over 10 years and have still not got all the way back to there roots. The last book she did was called Wilhelmsburg Hell or Homeward bound it is a list of passengers who came from Europe to Williamstown peir in 1853-55 and it list all of their Descendants.

[JG3282]

Originally Posted by CH7472

My wife is now the Sub Editor of the Ancestor mag for The Genealogical Society of Victoria. .

And doing a great job too!