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I don’t suppose the average person intentionally undertakes to write a family history on purpose, I know I didn’t. I started off with the express idea of finding out who I was, for me, my children and my grandchildren. I was planning on making a simple family tree. I knew nothing of genealogy, DNA, research, national archives or keeping records. When I first visited Antigua and my cousins, Diane and Gail, suggested I write a family book, it was the furthest thing from my mind. The more information I obtained the more I thought about it and one day I finally decided to write the book. After all I had the perfect title from my great grandfather’s headstone, “In My Father’s House Are Many Mansions” and I quickly slapped together an eighty-page book and put the project away.
As time progressed, I found out more information and curiosity got the best of me and I went into finding out about my family with full vigor. I researched my family, found history books, so, so many books, found birth, death, marriage certificates, Wills, property deeds and travelled to different countries just to find out who I was. At first, I never thought about keeping good records and when I found little bits of information, I just jotted it down, placed it in a folder and moved on. It was when I contacted Dr. Susan Lowes PhD., and kept contacting her until she became a mentor to me that I finally got it right. “No paper trail equals no proof”. Having a mentor proved to be just what I needed as she allowed me to bounce ideas and thoughts off her and she’d point me in the right direction and keep me focused on the job at hand. I learned family stories are just that, stories and not much credence should be paid to them as there are only minor truths in the stories which simply make people feel good. I learned when you stir the pot, you may not like what you find, get over it, you didn’t do it and remember one thing, whose name is on top of the tree!
This was an adventure I never saw coming. It introduced me to people from around the world I am related to and would never have known about if I wasn’t so driven with enthusiasm. The most fascinating and rewarding comments came from postings and a family website I created which allowed contact from family I would never otherwise have found, and allowed me to provide some joy and insight for them about the past. Learning that my family came from Antigua and learning how small and close the society was gave me a great appreciation of the history I was reading and made me want to know more, because I actually began to understand what I was reading. The same feeling hit me when I was in Scotland and I finally understood how small the society was back then and why marriages were arranged between families, for money or title. I uncovered a “Great Family Lie” which was very, very hard to swallow after all the time and effort I had put into finding out my family history. I am still perplexed as to why no one said anything.
To purchase a copy of the book "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" the story of my journey to find out who I am and where my family came from. Simply click on Amazon available for 52.64 US.
Some of the families mentioned in the book.
| Cranstoun Family
Alan Dawson Cranstoun Lord Cranstoun Thomas Cranstoun of Morristown |
Cranstoun Ministers John Cranstoun - Minister of South Leith Dawson Family Ada Mary Dawson |
Harper Family Evelina Gibbons Harper Malone Family Murial Aileen Malone Margetson Family Marshall Family Burchell Marshall Palmer Family Hyacinth Marguerite Palmer Perrin Family Thomas Perrin Family Symes/Sims Family Elizabeth Symes Tait Family Dr. Robert Tait Uddenburg Family Sigrid Uddenburg Family |