We all at different times go in search of things from the car keys to our wallets, from looking for a new home to looking into the lives of our forebears.
I recently went in search of my grandfathers. On my mother’s side, that is, as I went to a part of the state where both men lived so long ago.
My mother’s father came to Australia with his father and his three brothers. They came following the death of their mother in Scotland and came to a part of the state which long puzzled me as to why they chose to live where they did. The reason for that was simple as it turned out, my grandfather’s uncle lived here with his family, and so my grandfather and his family moved to be near them and to work in the timber mills in the area.
The other grandfather in question was a grazier in the same area. He had come to Australia, from Ireland, as a young boy and later came to take up three blocks of land in an area about forty kilometres from where my Scottish grandfather was living.
We discovered from the old parish maps where the land my grazier grandfather lived was and decided to go and see if we could find anything remained of where he had lived. I’m talking of a period at the start of the twentieth century and apart from the town where he lived there was not a lot to be found apart from a lot of rocks and a creek that ran through the property.
It was wishful thinking that anything might still be there, but one outcome was to know I was standing on land he once farmed and I did gain a sense of connection to him. It is rough country, and I could see why you might need three parcels of land just to make ends meet. I also understood why it was that his first wife died and later three children died. Also, they were a long way from help, even today with what we have available, you are still a long way from help if anything goes wrong.
The link between these two grandfathers and me, apart from the obvious bloodline, is that they both later lived in the same house as I now live in.
My grazier grandfather retired from the land in 1903 and moved to the coast and took up residence in my house. My Scottish grandfather after his service in World War One married the grazier’s daughter and later bought my house from his father in law and my father, in turn, purchased it in 1947.
The search to discover the lives of my grandfathers goes on, there are so many questions to ask some of which I may never find the answers to as there are not many people left to ask. On top of that, they didn’t write anything down that has been preserved.
Searches can be humbling, understanding our past, where we have come from gives us a perspective and appreciation on a life we should never take for granted.
Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2019/05/16/tale-weaver-223-search-may-16th/
Morpethroad 
It is hard to find records when people immigrate. Or when they come from warring countries that changed the borders of the lands that they once peacefully lived in. The new DNA tests claim to show migration routes of our families. And with permission of the folks who allow it – information can be shared that reunites families that have thought to be long lost.
Good luck with your searching 🙂
Searching for past connections and family ties is not often fruitful. You are lucky you discovered some of your history.
So interesting, Michael. My sister is the searcher in our family, and yes, it would be wonderful to read their stories. Only a very few ever took the time.
I know where you’re coming from. Every so often I take a delve into the family past. The day I discovered an entire parcel had lived their lives in the very parishes where I went walking, camera in hand … I’d had no idea. And suddenly that branch of the family felt so close.
That sounds interesting!
It was. And it is …
Fascinating………. a true family home Michael.
Thanks Di, its old but its home.
That’s what counts Michael.
ties to the travelers and settlers — of course, it can be absolutely fascinating, sometimes horrific, and often, is a weird combination of both …. I can imagine you standing in a land both ruggedly familiar and yet strangely foreign …. and then suddenly, understanding, through the mystical, which can never be truly explained or worded …. a deep rooted connection. If anything, that sense you’ve described, is the feeling that you will most likely remember, for its impression and imprint.
Good luck with whatever further searching and finds you discover. 🙂
Hi Pat you are right about connection I’m glad I could make the effort to see the country he lived in.
I think it’s about the small rewards – they tend to be the ones that offer the most substantial satisfaction.
A search of this kind might give us roots, but one needs to be ready to disconnect after that. You have come a long way, and you can’t go back there.