When it comes down to it we are all part of a living history. It is not only our own personal choices which influence who we become but also the actions and lives of those who came before. A couple of weeks ago I posted about my family history, not that the post turned out very well because of technical issues. So today I want to explain a little more about what prompted that presentation.
Now let me state this is not the anniversary of my great grandfathers death. He battled on dying in a trench two weeks before the Battle of the Somme ended in November.
My grandad was the youngest of 5 children when my great grandfather sign up to fight for his country. He was a toddler who never remembered the man who walked out the door and never returned. As a child my grandad never mentioned his family and I only remember one brother every coming to visit him. When I asked my dad about his family all he knew was they came from Ireland he only ever saw one picture of his grandad and that was while clearing stuff out when my gran died. No one in the family knows what happened to the photo of the blond haired, green eyed man from whom we were all descended. He was never spoken about and my dad was worried that in looking into it further I would uncover some terrible secret. Instead putting together a few facts with recollections from my Aunt we patched together a story we will never know the truth of, speculation of the best way the facts make sense.
The starting point was that his parents came from Ireland during the potato famine. They listed their place of birth as County Galway but sadly were no more specific than that but then again who would have cared they were just more Irish arrived off the boat. The settled first in Staffordshire where my greatgrandad was born. Then they disappear off the map until my great grandfather shows up in Castleford working in the mines, with what appears to be his dad living with him. Next he is married and his dad has disappeared off the chart, but this is really where the changes to the family begin.
My Aunt remembers my grandad’s bitterness towards the catholic church when she was growing up. He talked of priests who would visit and take the last penny off the mantel. She thought it was just a general rant but logic would suggest it was more. Most who came over during the potato famine were Catholic driven from their homes by English landlords who wanted them purged from their lands. From research there is nothing to suggest the girl he married was catholic infact given the fact her father was on overseer in the pits it would highly unlikely. Mixed faith marriages were not unheard of but the children would have been brought up catholic maybe his comments were based on personal experience rather than prejudice.
The one thing that cannot be denied is that my great grandma was bitter about the fact her husband went off to war and got himself killed leaving her at home with young children to bring up. Why he went to war will be a question we will never know the answer to. Working in the pits he would not have been drafted but he chose to sign up anyway to fight for a country that was prejudice against him. I personally believe he went to war for his family, believing the promise it would be over by christmas. I think he thought it would earn him respect and improve his families life. Instead he lays in a field many miles away from the descendants that have followed.
A couple of years ago one of my sisters took a geography class to the war memorial where we have discovered his ‘grave’ is marked. At the time she went I had not started my journey into our family history on my dads side. One of the children drew her attention to the name they saw which shared our surname. She took a closer look she even commented that it was actually the same name our dad shares but thought no more about it. We now know that the actions taken by this man changed our family forever. My grandma and grandad married in a resgistry office and my dad and his siblings were all raised C of E as was I. His absence made my grandad the man he was who in turn passed his values on to my dad who tried to pass them on to me although I will confess I have tweaked quite a few before passing them on to my children.
96 years ago today thousands of men shivered to the sound of gunfire in a foreign field. Many of them would never go home my great grandfather was just one of them. But they are not forgotten, their legacy lives on in more ways than they could ever have imagined and this is my thankyou to them all but especially the blond haired, green eyed irish man who was my great grandad.
Paula Acton 
Touching Paula. We must never forget. Well done!
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I would think he joined up with others from the town into a Pals battalion, whole communities could lose all their menfolk in one attack.
I have been to Thiepval and unless you have you cannot imagine the scale of the memorial.
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I hate it when people say, ‘you don’t know you’re living’, but it’s true… We are very fortunate that people have fought for our freedom. I think it’s really interesting reading about your heritage as well; what’s gone before. 🙂
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i think it was also interesting that as a family we all played along at not asking questions while my grandad was alive, he didn’t speak about his past and as children we never asked even my dad knew nothing about his family which to me seems strange. I guess it is the assumption that is made that if someone stays so quite about the past there must be something terrible hidden there when in our case it was something we should have been proud of
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Gosh, that must have been difficult as well, for all of you. You know, I saw this advert up here recently about a guy from the Isle of Lewis (I think?!) who came home from the war, went into an institution and didn’t speak again for something like 50 years. But he became a weaver and focused all his energy on that. You just don’t know how deeply a person’s experiences can affect them… Thank you for making me think. 🙂
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And the secrets of those we love are theirs, as long as they can keep them…humbly grateful for your great granddad’s legacy.
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I do wonder if my grandad ever knew what happened to his dad or whether it was just something never spoken about I do know through my Aunt that it appears most of the family knew nothing of where they came from one of her cousins actually was doing the family tree when I contacted her about it and he actually went to France to see the memorial I hope one day to pay my own visit
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That would be great, if you can arrange to do it someday!
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Beautiful history and tribute ♥
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My great uncle was killed at Ypres in WW1….so sad 😦
I keep promising myself that, one day, I’ll visit his grave because my Nan never got to before she died.
Lovely list honey xx
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I like the way you presented this. I often feel that it is very hard to get a sense of war and sacrifice because war is a subject so prone to propagandizing and exploitation. Being from the U.S. I have grown very tired of the annual routines surrounding war, independence and patriotism.
And yet, I also know from looking at the veterans in my family (and their wives and children) that there is something much richer at work in our thinking about past sacrifices and death. My father takes care of wounded soldiers from Afghanistan and it is his stories and what he observes in the families of loved ones killed or maimed (as well as the testimonials of the personnel involved in rescuing and treating the wounded) that means most to me.
Thank you for sharing this.
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My other grandad was held as a POW in Germany for most of the war and he never spoke about it but he was another example of how I became who I am literally. He contracted TB while he was being held when he came back home after the war he was hospitalised and you got it my grandma was one of the nurses there who cared for him they fell in love married and had my mum and a long happy marriage until he died nineteen years ago. I do believe that it is the personal stories that really bring home the sacrifices made not by those in power who make the decision to go to war but by each individual who fights to protect what the believe in
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I agree with you. It seems that our focus deserves to be not only on those who fight and suffer but just as much on their families who have to accommodate their wounded and deceased loved ones in their own lives.
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