Genealogy

One thing I should mention is that I am totally hooked on genealogy. My family call me Miss Marples and I have come to realise I would have made a far better detective than I could ever be a banker. Genealogists generally charge at least £25 an hour which despite what you may have read in the newspapers is far more than the average banker could ever expect to achieve.

I will talk more about my oddball parents and grandparents in future posts. Going further back I have uncovered a family who were mostly hardworking, law abiding citizens dotted with a worryingly high number of alcoholics. An early illegitimacy in my paternal family name made me ask myself, "Who can be 100% sure of their paternal ancestry anyway?" Far better to trace the absolutely guaranteed female line. Two generations further back and I am stuck with the common Irish name of Ellen Leary, born around 1830 who came from somewhere in Ireland. A definite dead-end in my maternal line - for now.

Anyway, the reason this is all GOOD is that everything I have uncovered so far has definately made me who I am today. I can blame my heavy drinking on my alcoholic ancestors, my love of the sea to the sailors and my potato fetish to the Irish immigrants. If I can stay clear of the docks and canals (especially when drunk) I might not drown and if I can remain unmarried I wont die in childbirth. If I can get past the age of 45 I am likely to live to a very ripe old age. The only downside is that if I make it past 70, I am likely to be described as "senile" on my death certificate. Who cares? I wont - I'll be too senile!