Skeletons in the closet anyone?

[suek2075]

Dozens! If I listed them all and included the illegitimacies it would be the longest posting in the History of Roots chat.Suicide, Transportation, Highway robbery, Marriages beyond the permitted limits of relationship (loads) Machine breakers, etc. etc.

I think most of us have illegitimacies somewhere down the line...but highway robbery? And what does "Marriages beyond the permitted limits of relationship" mean? Sorry if I'm being a bit thick 

[Craclyn]

Mine was in the North East of England Nanna52.

[suek2075]

...Unfortunately in my tree there are black, blacker and blackest sheep... 

Unfortunately I think I'm the black sheep in my family. Fortunately I'm the one doing the research

[Jool]

Ooohh Craclyn, do tell us more!

A distant cousin that bashed his wife on the head with a crowbar, buried her in the garden and told the family she had run off with another man. After wondering why there was no contact for several months her brother got curious and started to investigate a bump in the garden....
At the trial hubby claimed self defence as she had been about to wallop him over the head with a poker.
The newspaper accounts made fascinating reading.

Not nice for the wife, but a good "skeleton" to have in your closet.

[jaybelnz]

I think we all secretly hope we can unearth a little something exciting and special! Not that every little piece of the jigsaw we fit in isn't special and exciting!  But there is certainly a huge buzz when we do find something unusual regarding their actual daily lives!

I have been really fortunate to have found two "flowers" in my family garden, hiding away from me amongst all the leaves!  Even more exciting is that one is a female, from my paternal side, and the other a male on my maternal side!

The first one is the wife of my great grandmother's brother. Her name is Ann (nee Dawn) PAULSON born in Papplewick, NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, 1808, married to John PAULSON, born Mansfield, Yorkshire  1807.  During the course of my research, I learnt that she had been widowed at a young age, had not remarried and had one son.

Further research into Ann's life brought the excitement with it! I learned that Ann was an artist of some repute, firstly while living in Mansfield, then LONDON, in then later in Australia, where she died!
She produced some amazing works, many of which were exhibited both locally and overseas. London, in the Great Exhibition, Paris Exhibition, others in England, then Victoria in Australian. A book has been written about her "The Victorian Lady Artist", by a local Historian from Mansfield.
She worked with several different mediums and focus, portraits, buildings, sketches, still life, especially fruit, and excelled in them all! 

Ann moved to Australia to join her son George after the death of her husband John. She joined him in Castlemaine, Victoria, and continued to enjoy her talent, painting local scenes and people.  Ann became very interested in the local flora and produced many botanical sketches and paintings, some of which were sent off to various exhibitions.  She enjoyed painting the local Aboriginal people!

Anne died in Castlemaine, Victoria, 1866, and is buried in the Campbell's Creek Cemetery.

I have been lucky enough to find images of some of her work online, had some sent to me from Mansfield Museum, and one from the Castlemaine Art Gallery (just got that one yesterday actually)

And the best bit?  When I go to UK in September, the curator of the Mansfield Museum is going to show me the paintings they are holding!   Isn't that amazing?? 
************

Exciting find No 2 coming up after a coffee!!

Jeanne 🌺

[wrjones]

I have a bigamist among my families.I won't give details for obvious reasons,except to say he has one of the more prominent Surnames at the bottom of my posts!

William Russell Jones/

[sharonmx5]

You name it, I've found it (almost): alcoholism, suicide (x2), wife beating, transportation sentence for theft (he ended up spending 6 year on a prison hulk), electoral fraud, someone in Newgate Prison for debt, a juicy divorce and an excommunication. Those are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.  I have yet to find a murder.....

[pinefamily]

Suek2075, "marriages beyond the permitted limits of relationship" means by the laws of the church. It used to mean marrying your spouse's sister or brother, as one example. It didn't stop people though; in my wife's tree, there are two separate examples of uncles marrying nieces (!).

Nanna52, keep looking for that convict. I always thought I would never find any, with South Australian ancestry that led straight back to various European countries. Now I have two direct ancestors, who were transported to Tasmania, and subsequently both made their way to SA. So you never know...

[isk]

Found a murderer in the family.  After drinking most of the day a fight ensued between my ancestor and a lady acquaintance. He then abandoned her on a freezing night in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh where she died of her injuries and hypothermia.  Only found this story when he turned up in prison on the Isle of Wight on the 1881 census.  Why he wasn't hanged or transported is a mystery.  I have read the trial papers and it was a vicious attack.  Not a family story that was handed down!!! isk