Today's blog is mostly for the benefit of my grandchildren. It comes as a result of my conversation yesterday with John Buckley about genealogy.
The few tidbits I got from my father about his family (he left an unhappy home in his teen years and died in my teen years) was that they were originally from Scotland, and that the Craigs fought on behalf of the Gordons in the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
According to old maps, the Craigs and the Gordons lived in the Edinburgh area. Near Edinburgh there is a Salisbury Hill. My grandfather's name was Anson Salisbury Craig.
Sister Judy did some ancestral tracing, but could not go beyond 1799 when William John Craig was born in Kent, England. My theory on that is that the Craigs were likely farm serfs and when Scotland turned to sheep farming those folks were not needed. The "clearances" began in 1762 when the excess labour was sent away and no early written records appear to exist of those people.
William John Craig (originally Crag) was an interesting guy. He had nine children. The first three were born in Kent, England. His first born was my ancestor, William Craig, who ended up in Canada.
The next was born in Pennsylvania. The rest were born in Ontario, but the last three died in Australia, as did their father. He apparently left a trail of children behind along the way.
My DNA testing suggests that the Craigs migrated from the cradle of civilization across southern Europe to Scotland. It also suggests that my maternal side migrated across northern Europe to England, and I include a Sammi (the reindeer herders) in that bloodline.
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My paternal grandmother, Sarah Jane "Jennie" Harper, was a "home girl". Her father was sent to the poorhouse and the family was broken up. He had several children. Jennie (12) and older sister Rose (14) were sent to Canada to work. Rose had a good family experience. Jennie was abused and did not have a happy time.
I only met her after my uncle Roy returned from the second world war and a very few times after that. She was a cold, withdrawn person.
My dad left home in his teenage years to go live with his Aunt Rose and Uncle Charlie. I never met Aunt Rose, but Uncle Charlie visited us occasionally in Fruitland, driving over in his big Cadillac. He and my dad had a strong bond.
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Less is known about my maternal side. My grandfather was listed as a bricklayer when he came to Canada, and my grandmother had been a nanny. I was named after my mom's great uncle Ralph who was a Grenadier Guard (and lived to 92 - hope that I can match that).
A family tale is that my grandmother was approached one day by a couple of men who told her that my grandfather was in line for an inheritance. They asked for her documents, took them and never returned. My grandfather's last name was Marriott, so maybe it was the money that ended up becoming the Marriott hotel chain. I believe that the John Marriott who was the probable original source of the wealth, was a boat owning slave trader so it's probably just as well that it didn't come our way.
Pretty humble beginnings!
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I've taken a couple of days off work. Will get back to that drainage issue tomorrow.
Stay well.
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