Ever wondered what accent your ancestors had?

[lisalucie]

Not just accents - I'd love to know which of my ancestors around the Shropshire/Wales borderlands were Welsh speakers and which were English speakers.

Mike

I'm sure on one of the censuses for Wales it says whether they spoke English or Welsh - only one of my welsh ancesters actually spoke the welsh language apparently. But if u meant spoke with the welsh accent then ignore my post lol.

I know how my Black Country lot spoke for sure...ar con still ea folk spake lioke that round eya x

[Wiggy]

I've often wondered how my ancestors sounded.  Interesting topic to wonder on isn't it?

 - Because they came from all over England and some from Dumfriesshire, I think maybe they must have lost much of their home accents fairly fast.

Interesting link there.

Wiggy

[Countryquine]

Even if we still spoke in the same accent I suspect we would find many words would have dropped out of common usage over the generations.   I know that although I speak in our local dialect, my mother uses many more 'old-fashioned' words than I do, and in turn, my sons still speak in our local dialect but don't know many of the words I and my generation use.  Of course, every accent is becoming blurred by travel and instant communication.

[LizzieW]

I think the man from Hackney on the link probably had the true Cockney accent and the accent we hear today has been made deliberately stronger - or is that thicker - over the years.  When you hear some of the youngsters from around London speaking today, it's almost as though they just don't want to be heard speaking properly.

[Ayashi]

It took me years before it dawned on me that my smart looking 2xgt grandfather would have had a thick Geordie accent. I can't imagine it!

[Erato]

I wonder what it was like in the US where there were mixed immigrant communities with a wide range of languages and accents.  How did their children boil it all down to standard American English?

[crowsfeet]

Or the fact that England was a magnet for traders from all over the world, and for people from troubled lands needing safer places to live than where they were from

would all add to the mix, sort of like a fruit salad of sounds combining with the longer resident population.

Great topic.

Crowsfeet

[smudwhisk]

I've a French Huguenot ancestor who married a local lass from Bethnal Green in the 1740s, I wonder how much fun they had understanding each other?!   Similarly I've a Gateshead ancestor who married in the East End a local lad from Shadwell, I bet that was an interesting mix for the children.

[maddys52]

It's something I often wonder about. Especially being in Australia with such a mix of heritage - often think about how long accents were retained, how much was passed on to new generations, the melting pot of accents which came to be how I sound now. (I'm sure everyone knows the joke about how the Australian accent came to be - having to talk with closed teeth to keep the flies out ...)

Thank you avm228 for that link - fascinating!

30 years ago I obtained my gg grandfather's marriage certificate (for my mother who was interested in family history): says he was born in Newcastle upon Tyne so always assumed he had a thick Geordie accent. Wasn't until I started seriously looking into family history that I found out his parents weren't from there and didn't stay long - so he probably didn't sound like that at all.