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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: Chris Anderson on Thursday 19 April 18 18:39 BST (UK)

Title: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Chris Anderson on Thursday 19 April 18 18:39 BST (UK)
Random question  ;D

Does it make grammatical sense to say that a great great great uncle (on someones fatherline) is a "paternal ancestor"?

Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: iluleah on Thursday 19 April 18 20:02 BST (UK)
An ancestor  is a parent , a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, and so forth...so strictly speaking the brother of an ancestor
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Marmalady on Thursday 19 April 18 20:15 BST (UK)
Ancestors are usually direct line

So for great-uncles etc I would say a "connection"
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Erato on Thursday 19 April 18 20:56 BST (UK)
An ancestor  is a parent , a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, and so forth...so strictly speaking the brother of an ancestor

True enough if you take the animal husbandry bloodline approach to family history.  On the other hand, an uncle or a step parent or even a more distant relative or an in-law might be a very key individual in the financial, professional, emotional or intellectual trajectory of a family.  I consider all of them to be ancestors who had their input, however minor.

Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: iluleah on Thursday 19 April 18 21:37 BST (UK)
An ancestor  is a parent , a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent, and so forth...so strictly speaking the brother of an ancestor

True enough if you take the animal husbandry bloodline approach to family history.  On the other hand, an uncle or a step parent or even a more distant relative or an in-law might be a very key individual in the financial, professional, emotional or intellectual trajectory of a family.  I consider all of them to be ancestors who had their input, however minor.

That was not the question!
Is the brother of a direct ancestor your ancestor? No....so brother of ancestor, indirect or extended family maybe, however "financial, professional, emotional or intellectual trajectory of a family" is about family history research.
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Erato on Thursday 19 April 18 21:53 BST (UK)
As I said, if you take a bloodline approach to things.  I just happen to think that people are more than their genes.
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: IJDisney on Thursday 19 April 18 22:16 BST (UK)
Random question  ;D

Does it make grammatical sense to say that a great great great uncle (on someones fatherline) is a "paternal ancestor"?

I believe the term is "ancestral uncle on the paternal side".
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Gadget on Thursday 19 April 18 23:08 BST (UK)
I would think it would be easier to say paternal 3xgreat uncle.

Also, I agree wholeheartedly with Erato. Family and kinship are far more than a genetic inheritance.

Gadget
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: pinefamily on Friday 20 April 18 01:09 BST (UK)
I agree with Erato and Gadget. I wouldn't take the term "ancestor" as meaning direct line only, but rather anyone who is in my family tree.
 
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: DavidG02 on Friday 20 April 18 01:24 BST (UK)
They are my fathers ancestors = paternal

They are on my mothers side = maternal

Maternal uncle , paternal gguncle. It defines the side of the tree
Title: Re: Can a great uncle be refereed to as a paternal ancestor
Post by: Rosinish on Friday 20 April 18 04:55 BST (UK)
Does it make grammatical sense to say that a great great great uncle (on someones fatherline) is a "paternal ancestor"?

I would agree on this as others do as (in my opnion) they're still on a branch of your 'direct' ancestor.

What I don't agree with is when someone refers to their grand parents siblings as being a 'great aunt/uncle'...

A 'great' (to me) would be the sibling of my great grandparent i.e. if people refer to their grandparents' sibling then (to me) they would be my grand aunt/uncle but...each to their own although I find it far easier with how I refer to my ancestors siblings to keep with the prefix e.g....

My grandmother was Mary & my granduncle (Mary's sibling) was John

Annie