Genealogy

[O Fenomeno]

Kinshasa going after WC 2014 for the first time

[Michel Kane]

So are u congolese dons from Brazzaville side or DRC?

 

Kinshasa.

 

Never been, will go the next time my mum goes.

[Benicio del Toney]

 

 

This is 1 of the 10 children of my great great grandfather Hans.

 

George, my great grandmothers eldest brother I believe.

 

 

He was born in 1895.

[JLovely]

Do you see any features of him in yourself or anybody in your family?

[Benicio del Toney]

It's hard to say, that pic was taken probably close to a hundred years ago.

 

I see maybe my uncle a bit, maybe my grandad aswell.

 

 

Just find it fascinating looking at it, imagining the world behind him.

 

Thinking if he ever thought a relative of his 100 years from then would be looking at him as he was in that precise moment, whether he thought this thing called a photograph would even still exist in 100 years time.

 

I think about how the other siblings would have received the news their sister, my great grandmother, had passed away (when my grandad was 14 I think) and what their reactions were to the news.

 

 

If anybody else has old photos (pre WWII) would be nice to see them.

[Mame Biram Diouf]

It's hard to say, that pic was taken probably close to a hundred years ago.

 

I see maybe my uncle a bit, maybe my grandad aswell.

 

 

Just find it fascinating looking at it, imagining the world behind him.

 

Thinking if he ever thought a relative of his 100 years from then would be looking at him as he was in that precise moment,

 

On a thing called the internet

 

Its mad, one day we will just be videos and photographs

 

Very morbid and daunting

[JLovely]

I met my great grandfather when I was about 8 but I have no old pics like that of him or anyone else for that matter here.

I like you love looking at the old pics and imagining what life was like.

[Benicio del Toney]

It's hard to say, that pic was taken probably close to a hundred years ago.

 

I see maybe my uncle a bit, maybe my grandad aswell.

 

 

Just find it fascinating looking at it, imagining the world behind him.

 

Thinking if he ever thought a relative of his 100 years from then would be looking at him as he was in that precise moment,

 

On a thing called the internet

 

Its mad, one day we will just be videos and photographs

 

Very morbid and daunting

 

lol

 

He has many descendents in Alabama so his dna still lives on, to me that is real life after death.

 

 

Looking at the family tree has given me a new perspective though not gonna lie.

 

You see some people who died without having children and the line stops, what will happen to one of my uncles, does seem a bit sad.

 

 

J ask around, you'd probably be surprised what people have stashed away hidden, as Farrakhan said I think the elders didn't do enough in telling us about what life was like, I've learnt so much of even my mum just by asking.

[JLovely]

My grandmother should have one. 

 

I know quite a bit about my family as I always have asked questions, my mum was saying in her time you didnt "ask big people questions" when it came to relationships etc so she only knows a limited info of her grandparents.

 

Funny I was talking to her yesterday about her grandfather and his brother (her granduncle) saying they possibly had different dads cos her granduncle looked like a fair skinned asian man but her grandfather didnt and she got a bit defensive lol. 

[Benicio del Toney]

So I went looking for information on my Great Grandmother in December, was speaking to my Uncle a lot and he was giving me some dates to work with, said he thinks she was born in 1914.

 

So I found out they hold records for some Caribbean Islands in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Church of Latter day saints copied many of the records.

 

I went looking for Carriacou records and found that they could already be in the UK.

 

Led me to the National Archives Centre website, I searched for the records online and found 2 for the dates and location I needed, they had been here for 12 years or so, some other person looking for information did me a huge favour in shipping them over previously.

 

 

The National Archives are in Kew, just around the corner from Kew Gardens, so I went up there 1 Saturday looking for a birth registry or something, anything really.

 

 

 

 

Lovely building with lots of interesting info , artefacts etc... staff were very helpful, 1 American woman showed me the procedure and 10 mins later I had the microfilms in my hands in front of the projector.

 

Very difficult to read at 1st, extremely cursive writing but your eyes get used to it even though it begins to tax them with the light coming through aswell.

 

On the 1st look through from 1914-1915 found nothing, so went back and started from 1912, when I got to 1913 my eyes stopped at my Great Great Grandfathers name Henry.

 

 

I realised I was looking at my Great Grandmothers birth registry and she was born the same week as me which was a pleasant surprise.

 

 

 

Said she was born on the 7th but they registered her on the 13th, kinda took me bk there, I imagined a home birth then Henry going to the registrar a week later.

 

She would have been 100 last year, a bit disappointed I didn't find it in time but still, spent about 4/5 hours there in total but can't believe how quickly it flew by.

 

 

So put some of this stuff up on FB and family were just over the moon and sharing it, had about 50 cousins all over the world add me over the course of a week, people I never even knew existed.

 

My Uncle invited me for dinner just after Xmas aswell, was hilarious seeing him and my Grandad arguing about stuff and just remembering aunties and uncles and talking about life back then, met my cousin aswell just abit older than me, 1st time I've seen him in over 20 years, grew up to be a very decent guy though.

 

 

Got a lot more out of it than just information and it gave others a lot too which I didn't anticipate.

 

 

Anyway here is my Great Great Grandfather Henry, Hans or Papa Pappy as my Uncle called him, the inspiration for all of this, born in 1864 according to the dates we have but I will probably go looking for more info on him aswell.

 

[Guest TRAGEDY]

100% packi is me.

[time_bomb]

great stuff toney.

 

where in the uk were they born? and do u have info on their occupations in those days?

[Badman]

My great grandfather on my mothers side was German Nazi. Left for the Army in the second world war and never returned

 

My auntie has got a picture of him somewhere in his SS uniform looking Dapper 

[Benicio del Toney]

Swear Hugo Boss made the SS Uniforms, the overcoats are droppers lol.

 

 

Timebomb the man at the bottom is just light not white, if that's what you mean by the UK.

 

If you look in the last column you might make out it says Carpenter, but he was a Shipwright really, my whole family on that side were ship builders or Mariners.

 

George in the previous post was a Mariner, his grandson was telling me by email that's how he met his wife as she was mutual friends with the captain of the ship, that's why he moved to Alabama.

 

My Grandad and Uncle were taught how to build ships aswell.

[Guest 90210]

we have a nazi in di for armz

[JLovely]

Thats so amazing!

[time_bomb]

Swear Hugo Boss made the SS Uniforms, the overcoats are droppers lol.

 

 

Timebomb the man at the bottom is just light not white, if that's what you mean by the UK.

 

If you look in the last column you might make out it says Carpenter, but he was a Shipwright really, my whole family on that side were ship builders or Mariners.

 

George in the previous post was a Mariner, his grandson was telling me by email that's how he met his wife as she was mutual friends with the captain of the ship, that's why he moved to Alabama.

 

My Grandad and Uncle were taught how to build ships aswell.

 

so how far back do ur family go in the uk?

 

i remember seeing a documentary where they dug up royal navy sailors going back to like the battle of trafalgar, some of the skeletons were black men where it was an occupation they could be equal with white men post slavery.

 

Its funny we very rarely hear of black and ethnic history from inside the uk pre 1900s, most people assume they came as immigrants in the 50s/60s/70s etc, but ive read about moors coming to the uk hundreds of years ago

[Benicio del Toney]

Nah my family came here in the late 50's.

 

But I know what you mean, I read something about Elizabeth I writing a letter complaining about the amount of black people there were in England during Tudor times lol.

[ag.]

my biggest mistakes are not learning di mother tongue at a young age/distancing myself from 'african culture' and generally disregarding your background... coupla man on here saying its not important but trust me if u havent got a solid foundation on who u are/where u come from, u can trip urself up very quickly

[ag.]

and i swear its so much harder for africans to trace family history than it is for europeans n caribs

[time_bomb]

its very important to not forget your culture and never forget the struggles your forefathers went through, if u look back at their sacrifices and accomplishments you'll probably see theyre a much bigger inspiration than any rich celeb.

 

And yea its pretty difficult tracking down things in africa, i think town halls tend to hold some records though so you'd have to visit that particular town to get them.

[Badman]

and i swear its so much harder for africans to trace family history than it is for europeans n caribs

 

bro, from day my dad 'isnt sure his birthday is the right day' and he swears 'he is a few years older' than what is written on that piece of paper which is suppose to be his birth certificate......

 

you know its peak for man

[Drift]

weve got nazi descendants on vip2 yeah? 

[Badman]

kl story huh

 

gotta remember though at the time like anybody else fighting the war, it was expected of you to take up arms for your country 

 

Not all germans were fascist ideologists, most were forced into it.

 

again kl story 

[Gunner]

Defo want to this this although its not been on the forefront of my mind like it was about 1 year ago.

 

I was born here in Lewisham Hospital, as were my mum and i think my dad too. 

All my grandparents are Black Jamaicans who came over in the 50s. I think my Maternal Grandad was either born or worked in Cuba though for a bit. My maternal grandmother was raised by her grandmother. Wish i asked them questions when they were alive but they died 10, 9, 7 odd years ago im 27 now, and wernt interested back then. My son has St Lucian family on his mum's paternal side, a very bait St Lucian name. I dont want to loose the link to the Caribbean, which will/does happen the longer you are here in the UK/as generations die.