Reply With QuoteThat's cool. I don't know about mine as I've never looked. I probably will one day though.
As a musician, one of the cool things that happened recently was that I found out my great, great, great, great and my great, great, great grandfather's were also good musicians who played gigs regularly! As part of a project that saw our family giving a load of paintings of Bermuda to their national museum (you can read about that here - my father is on the left of the photograph), we also discovered this lovely postcard drawn by my 4 x great grandfather to his son, JW Savage, (we think in around 1870):
It shows his son riding off to a gig in a far flung place riding his cello (we think they were both string players). We think the 'far flung place' is in the process of being blown up (they were both officers in the Royal Engineers and there is some debate as to whether this is an 'in' joke around their penchant for exploding things?).
My eldest son is also now studying jazz drums at the Royal Northern College of Music. So, for us, this is a great bit of family history that we'll treasure and pass down the generations.
Have you got any cool family history stuff like this? Maybe it is a sign of getting older, but I've enjoyed finding out more and more about the previous generations of our family.
That's cool. I don't know about mine as I've never looked. I probably will one day though.
My father played in a band appearing in the same set at a gig in London with The Who. He claims Roger Daltrey stole his scarf.
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 10th July 2016 at 20:35.
My father was credited as senior engineer in the Guinness Book of Records 1976 for the largest single continuous concrete pour of 10000 cubic yards for the base of the ninian central oil platform at Loch Kishorn. All the concrete was batched on site over 7 days.
Myself briefly held the GBWR for the fastest 25 clay targets broken in 2012 and am still officially the fastest man to do it with an Over and under.and also part of a team to set a record for underwater ironing at the bottom at a quarry near Chepstow.
My fathers Great Uncle was on the Carpathia when it went to the Titanic's aid.
Without my Dad I wouldn't even be here. #blessed
My family name is Sacco- originally a Sicilian name but also found in Malta as many Sicilians and southern Italians settled on the Rock in the past.
I've gone through my life being asked if I was connected to the Nicola Sacco of Sacco & Vanzetti infamy- two Italian immigrants to the US who were (possibly wrongly) convicted of murder and executed. But I'm not related.
I have however learned that the first Sacco to come to the Maltese islands was a tax collector- a pleasing irony given my line of business.
My dad was also an engineer and was on tomorrow's worldOriginally Posted by MCFastybloke
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
My fathers son and my grand father's grandson is a total amazing legend
Your brother and cousin I take it?My fathers son and my grand father's grandson is a total amazing legend
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
My wife's uncle is Chris kamara
My great great (I think) grandfather was a bare knuckle boxer, this is his record on a lithograph I bought from an auction in Cardiff.
^ someone's stolen his 'orse.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
The author of Peter Pan (James M Barrie) was a great uncle of mine according to my dad. I've never looked into it to conform it though
My Great Uncle Barry "Banjo" West was a salvage diver for the gold recovered from HMS Edinburgh.
Brilliant stuff everyone! Keep 'em coming!
Lewis Collins was my second cousin. I'm also related to Ernest Shackleton but I'm not sure of the lineage. I'll have to ask me mum!
Do you think he had money on himself to beat Bob Travers in the 110th round so dragged it out a bit ?
My great-grandfather claimed to have introduced the tomato into Nigeria
My Great Uncle was always making things, when I was young he scaled the telegraph pole at the back of his house to fit his home made weather station to the top of it.
Not cool, but but when he was in the navy in WWII, he was one of the first to land at Hiroshima & he had built a pinhole camera which got past the "no photos" checkpoints & he took some unofficial photos of the destruction, you flick through his photo album & reach these, it left big impact on him & his brothers:
Last edited by wampa; 10th July 2016 at 23:20.
Why not.......
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=H8gKmQ6Hrro
The best I can muster is that I am related to Steve Cram.
My wife however boasts two claims to fame. Firstly her mother's uncle (I think?) played the Unknown Soldier off the boat.
Secondly, her late uncle was an engineer and holds the patent for the adjustable spray attachment for the garden hose (the one that goes from a jet to a fan). We never found that out until he died.
I was also an engineer and was on Tomorrow's World. (and Blue Peter)
My father played Left wing for the RAF vs the Army at Hampden Park in 1942 in front of 120,000, and was the only non international on the pitch.
Last edited by chrisb; 10th July 2016 at 23:42.
I know his brother, he's an annoying waster to say the least, nothing like chris he's cool :)
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My Grandad drove a tank into the river Seine. After the war had ended as well, muppet.
My Dad got an MBE for what we are convinced was spying.
My Mum was asked out about 1000 times on a date by Elton John back when he was Reginald. And into girls. She said no every time.
My Grandad (same one) was arrested as they thought he was Reggie Kray.
I opened a door onto Chris Waddle's foot twice. At least one of the times was accidental.
If you know the song Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann's Earth Band then Dave Flett on guitar is my cousin (2nd or 3rd can't remember). He was in Thin Lizzy for a while too.
I'll also claim being a distant cousin of Judy Garland, her grandfather was from around here and shares my very localised surname. Heck, using the same logic, I'll throw in too the fella that wrote Winnie-the-Poo
an outstanding adventure and tale of british persistence, Jessop was a right character.
My great uncle was Frank Brangwyn RA. Brangwyn hall in Swansea was named after him. Does that count?
The best I'm aware of is that one of my distant relatives was lady in waiting at Corfe Castle.
One of my step dad's relatives was a gold miner in Canada and we have a lump of gold and his compass in the family.
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The best I'm aware of is that one of my distant relatives was lady in waiting at Corfe Castle.
One of my step dad's relatives was a gold miner in Canada and we have a lump of gold and his compass in the family.
My dad claimed he played cricket for England.
However this was the same man who told me he'd shot Hitler!
My Mum lived opposite to Captain Titus Oats sister and her (my mum) best mate's daughter was married to JB Sparks from Dr Feelgood.
My Grandfather Capt Benedict 'Jack' Houghton (Machine Gun Corps) led his men through Somme offensive two & at Passchendaele he survived.
I attended my Grandfathers 'Old Comrades' annual luncheon until recently. One of the other 'sons' of a veteran who served with my grandad was Tommy Thompson, Count Basie's Bass player and Pete Townshend's god father!
Last edited by wildheart; 11th July 2016 at 10:28.
My long-deceased Aunt used to tell me some relation in the family invented the polo mint.
Lol took years to get that one into any conversation
My cousin was Heinz Burt of the tornados famous for their hit telstar
STeve
A very distant relation of mine was Lord Mayor of London. Back then the Lord Mayor rode on horseback during the inauguration procession ( the Lord Mayors Show these days). The story goes that he was so drunk that he kept falling off his horse during the procession, so the special coach was built to carry the new incumbent in the years following.
Perhaps that's why I'm into cars and have never rode!
My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Wallace and she always claimed to be a direct descendant of William Wallace. My uncle has done some family tree research and although he's only got as far back as the 17th century, he's managed to successfully trace the Wallaces back. We're still not sure about her claim though...
My wife's grandmother is related to John Rhodes Cobb who broke the land speed record in the Napier Railton Special on 23 August (my birthday) 1937
Loads of tenuous stuff for me but the most is:
My Mothers Godmothers Uncle was Sir Edward Elgar who wrote land of Hope and Glory
My tenuous link, we found a family tree going back centuries which had a note next to one person saying he was a sailor and was with captain cook when he was killed in Hawaii.
My Dads best mate was his best man when he got married.His best man and his family holidayed with us.
His Son went on to become a very well known international actor.........Peter Firth.
A distant relative of Edgar Evans who accompanied Scott to the south pole
He didn't come home, of course.
My grandfather was the head of Britain's smallest trade union, the bristle dressers association. It had six members.
Good luck everybody. Have a good one.
Don't know if its cool or not but my great great great great great........grandad was Caernarfon mayor 1843 Cllr. R M Preece (his picture still hangs in the chambers) and his son was Sir William Henry Preece who was heavily involved in telecommunications of the day and was instrumental in the first transatlantic cable lay in 1866. That sort of went full circle as in the past I worked for the then Cable & wireless, laying and repairing fibre optic cables round the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Preece
http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/William_Henry_Preece
A bit of a different one but I think it's very cool.
My great uncle kept a duck in a Japanese PoW camp and managed to take it back to the NE of Scotland when th war ended.....
Heres a clip from the local paper with a wee bit of info.
Cheers,
Adam.
Great uncle hanged at Durham gaol for a triple murder. Beat that.
Great gramps. But not big and not cleaver!!
http://www.britishexecutions.co.uk/e...nt.php?key=497
https://m.facebook.com/permalink.php?id=315934825111204&story_fbid=923399 931031354
Last edited by golf; 12th July 2016 at 00:10.
Blimey that's sobering!:(
Is he on this list also? Morbid but interesting?
http://www.britishexecutions.co.uk/e...nt.php?key=497
My great uncle guarded the Nazi war criminal Albert Speer during his imprisonment at Spandau.
By all accounts they became good friends, and Speer drew him a picture of the prison and signed it shortly before he was released. I remember my grandfather and father framing the picture over 30 years ago.
I'm related to him (and his sister).
Maybe! £50 must have been a bit in 1850's! Might not be worth 4 hours getting punched in the face though :)
I'm told he came and spoke to the kids at the Grammar School in Romford before their expedition 1911, my Mum (who is 88) says his sister had a portrait of him hanging in her hall. Hard man who is revered by Ranulph Fiennes as a hero no a bad accolade!
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