My grandfather's diaries were left to me

[HowardS]

My grandfather, born in India in 1895 and died there in 1940, was educated in England, served in the Leicester Regiment throughout WW1, then in the Indian Army for the rest of his life, wrote fascinating diaries detailling his military life. For him, family life was very much an occasional occupation, although he did "keep trying" until the arrival of my father, his only son....

His "principal diary", presented as a large metal-covered volume including neatly hand-written text, carefully drawn diagrams, pedigrees and coats of arms, provides a fairly detailed digest of the pedigree of Shelton of Shelton Hall, Norfolk and of Barningham, Suffolk, from which family he (or perhaps his nouveau-riche Calcutta merchant father) believed he was descended. This pedigree was clearly copied from some published genealogy. But clearly he did no original research as that branch of the Sheltons became extinct in the late 17th century, according to the published pedigree, whereas he could only trace his own direct ancestors to the second half of the 18th century....

So I set out to try to bridge the missing generations, and, unsurprisingly, found a different origin for our line of Sheltons (in Northamptonshire).

And whereas for five generations in my own line (down to my one son), the family name has been passed down by a single path of only-sons), in previous generations two or more sons have had sons, so that I now know of a fair number of cousins bearing the Shelton name, living principally in Northamptonshire and Australia. Of the former, I have actually met many, but of the latter very few as yet. However I am in regular contact with many of the antipodeans via social media channels.

My name, incidentally, is Howard Shelton. I live in France where I am a professional singer.

 

[Alexander Bisset]

Be careful of published pedigrees saying they became "extinct" that only means that from a legal perspective there was no one left to inherit. This could mean it was all female descendants, or it could mean the nearest male heir was too distant to legally inherit in the absence of a will. If you think about it you can ALWAYS go back further generations to come forward so no family is really extinct, they just end up having only female lines. Which for our ancestors meant the falacy of the "family bloodline" ended. Which only goes to show how little regard females were held! It really was the case that they were truly second class citizens.

 

[Heather]

Which only goes to show how little regard females were held! It really was the case that they were truly second class citizens.

Speaking of females being classesd as second class citizens, I was surprised to read a story in our local newspaper last week, which demonstrates this. Last Saturday 25th April 2015 was Anzac day, the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings in Turkey, which is widely commemorated in Australia and New Zealnd. A local lady has published a book about local soldiers, sailors etc who are buried in the cemetery. Whilst researching this, she came across stories that shocked her. One mother received a letter from the army saying her son had died which said " is there anybody closer, any kin other than you like a father or brother" whom they could send her son's medals to.

 

[HowardS]

Thanks, Alexander, for your advice, which I will certainly bear in mind! The pedigree in question is, as you say, only interested in the family bloodline and inheritance of its estates, although it does detail daughters' marriages in most cases. In the case of certain younger sons, however, it is non-committal.... but I am quite confidant that my own research, taking the direct male line back to early in the 17th century, is accurate.
Heather, your comment is truly shocking. I always thought that mothers were favoured in such cases!

 

[AndyMick]

Be careful of published pedigrees ...

There's a case in one branch of Micklethwaits where the published pedigree has made assumptions about the parents of a particular person. My colleague found the marriage bond which proved the assumption false. Now what about all those trees which have copied the published pedigree corrected - I haven't the energy!

I've also found a case where a yeoman farmer invented his pedigree to further his cause as he advanced up the social ladder.

IMHO Published pedigrees should be viewed as an earlier technology version of Ancestry Public Trees - they need checking too. After all, many were only based on what the publisher was told.