So where are you from?

[Annie65115]

Having moved around a bit when I was a child and not being "allowed" (by my parents) to "belong" in the place where I eventually grew up, I had felt a bit rootless. Doing FH has helped me ground myself better and I do feel now that I know where I'm from (it also happens to be the place where I was born but that was not a foregone conclusion!)

Looking at this from the point of view of roots -- where are you from?

[Pennines]

Like you - my husband feels 'rootless' --- his father spent his career in the RAF - then my husband was made to join as soon as he was old enough. As a result the family were always on the move -- not only from place to place - but also from country to country.

He has no old 'schoolfriends' -- he was never anywhere long enough to make lasting childhood friendships and envies those of us, like me - who still live in the place they were actually born! He was born in Dublin though - and all his ancestors whom I have been able to find - are from Southern Ireland. However he doesn't seem to have an affinity for Ireland - in that he returned to Ireland for the first time last year. He had been a toddler when he left.

All my ancestors are from the North of England, also Scotland and Ireland. Hence I am definitely a child of the North of UK.

[suey]

Sussex born and bred    and there's the rub, you're either from East Sussex or West Sussex.  The two are not quite the same 

I can remember when I was small my Dad saying that his father nearly had a fit when our family moved over the County border from East to West.  I was born on the West side of the County, that made me a "furriner" 

Looking at the family Granddad's roots are actually in the Western side of the County back to the mid 1750's but I don't think he would have known that.  When his father, my great grandpa was born Sussex was still one County, not being administratively divided until 1888/9.

Suey
 

[pharmaT]

I feel rootless too. Although for different reasons.  I lived in the same house for the first 23 years of my life.  I now live in the same village although on the opposite side.  You'd think this would make me feel like I belong but it doesn't. 

Neither of my parents grew up in the village, in fact they are from different counties.  I spent my childhood being told by my classmates and their parents that as an interlouper I wasn't welcome.  It then came to a head at the referendum with a group of people telling me I wasn't welcome in Scotland, that I wasn't a proper Scot because I married an Englishman, death threats included.  So I don't even have a country to belong to.  The problem is I don't belong anywhere else because I didn't grow up anywhere else and most of my family are from Scotland.  Although they are from all over so I can't even say my ancestral roots are from any place in particular.

[IgorStrav]

I'm from London.

No matter where I live or work, that's what I say when anyone asks me.

(though great grandparents from Belgium, Essex, Rutland, Kent, as well as the great Metrolops, which was where they all ended up)

[mike175]

Almost all my near ancestors were from London, but it didn't take much research to find most of the families had moved there a generation or two back, from various parts of southern England, in the early years of the Industrial Revolution.

After moving to my present home I was fascinated to discover that ancestors from both my parent's lines had lived in this or neighbouring villages a couple of centuries ago. Talk about a small world 

So, as an incomer, I'm more 'local' than most of the locals

[C_W]

I was born in London, but my parents moved to Essex while I was still young. From there I lived in Kent, Surrey, Suffolk and Wiltshire before moving to Scotland almost 20 years ago. Most of the moves were with my husbands job.  So I would say I'm rootless too!

I have been asked if I would want to move back to England, and I must say that I have no desire to and when I go 'down' to visit family and friends in the south I need to take a deep breath to face the traffic, busyness etc.

Although my roots are nowhere I know my heart is now in Scotland!

[CarolA3]

My initial answer is usually 'Broome'.  This often triggers the secondary question:  'Where originally?' to which I reply 'Oxford (England), but I've lived in other places too.'

OH is originally from Liverpool (England).  'So where did you two meet?'  'Felixstowe (England).'

My son gets asked 'Are you really a Pom?  You don't sound/act like one!'  Reply:  'Not entirely, I'm a Kiwi as well.' 

OH and I still feel a connection to the towns we grew up in, but home is where the heart is, and the people who matter most to me are here.

Carol

[pinefamily]

I'm Australian, so like the song, "from all the lands we come". I was born and bred, and have lived my whole life, in Adelaide. My parents and grandparents were all born in South Australia as well, so I guess my "roots" are here. But my ancestral roots are spread over England, Scotland, Ireland, and Sweden.