Irish ancestors
The Countess of Moira I’ve got Irish ancestors. Quite a few, begorra (by god). And I’m learning more about them. What this really means is I’m learning more about European … Continue reading
Fighting back
I uncovered a family scandal recently. Looking through records to do with my grandmother, my mother’s mother, I found she had prosecuted her husband for violence and physical abuse, and … Continue reading
A Stab in the back
Most of us seem to lead unexceptionable lives, despite our fantasies. Anyone who has researched their family’s history will know this to be true, because all they often have to … Continue reading
Marcella Waters 1840-1880
The dreamer wakes to disappointment My great grandmother was called Marcella, a word from Latin that means ‘strong’. The more I look at the details of her life, the more … Continue reading
John Davis 1821-1861
Love and money put the heart at risk This is the fifth in a series of articles here on the family of William Davis, an Irish rebel of 1798 who … Continue reading
A dream of freedom
This is my fourth essay on members of the Davis family in colonial Australia, about Joseph Davis the Irish republican exile. I began with an essay on a collateral relation … Continue reading
Shakespeare’s Family
The most likely possible portrait of William Shakespeare, the “Chandos portrait” I read an account recently that talked about what William Shakespeare (1564-1616) might have written had he lived longer, … Continue reading
