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threemonkeysInspired by Zarabee and faced with another day of waiting for people to deliver stuff, I thought I'd do a bit of genealogical research on my family. I thought look down the paternal Temple line. Not because it is the side of the family I identify with or am interested in - quite the contrary. No, I chose it because I thought that I would have a good chance of finding something without too much trouble, figuring that somebody has already done the work.
Boy did I find something. This site would appear to track the family back to 1027 if not earlier. Wow! That is a thousand years ago! That just leaves me gobsmacked.
In case you are interested, my great, great, great grandfather is #44 on the list - his second son (ii - John) is my great great grandfather.
Posting this here is posing me a bit of a dilemma. Despite my associations on other lines with cabinetmakers and peasant farmers, this aligns me with an aristocratic empire building family of power and privilege. Make no mistake, there are some nasty characters here - particularly during the 18th and early 19th centuries when they were involved in ruthless exploitation of Ireland and particularly India.
This association does not make me comfortable at all. The mitigation to this is my great grandfather. When he emigrated to New Zealand, he renounced his title in perpetuity - declaring that in a new land that such things are no longer important. Or so the family tales go. Certainly by his actions he showed that he was only interested in being a simple farmer and artist. As far as we can tell, he completely severed his connection with the rest of the family.
But I am still astonished by how far back that family lineage goes.
Boy did I find something. This site would appear to track the family back to 1027 if not earlier. Wow! That is a thousand years ago! That just leaves me gobsmacked.
In case you are interested, my great, great, great grandfather is #44 on the list - his second son (ii - John) is my great great grandfather.
Posting this here is posing me a bit of a dilemma. Despite my associations on other lines with cabinetmakers and peasant farmers, this aligns me with an aristocratic empire building family of power and privilege. Make no mistake, there are some nasty characters here - particularly during the 18th and early 19th centuries when they were involved in ruthless exploitation of Ireland and particularly India.
This association does not make me comfortable at all. The mitigation to this is my great grandfather. When he emigrated to New Zealand, he renounced his title in perpetuity - declaring that in a new land that such things are no longer important. Or so the family tales go. Certainly by his actions he showed that he was only interested in being a simple farmer and artist. As far as we can tell, he completely severed his connection with the rest of the family.
But I am still astonished by how far back that family lineage goes.