Mixed Norman and Celtic blood

[beloitpiper]

Go far back enough, we're all from Kenya anyway!

[Ozman1944]

Heinz here too; I'm probably decended from the infamous Scot, Fred Stewart the street sweeper, or the Welsh Bill Harris the illustrious washroom attendant.
Don't really care.

[gilmore]

... If anything, the intrigue created by Alex Haley, in addition to my father, prompted me to start it all.

FYI, although Alex Haley wrote an interesting book, it turned out that "Roots" was in part fiction. A few years ago a couple of genealogists went over his research, and discovered that he had hit a dead end, not once, but twice, and in both cases "chose" to be descended from people to whom he was clearly not related at all.

I have a cousin who says that he never accepts anything as a genealogical fact unless he can hold the original document in his hands attesting to it. And even then there may be misrepresentations, given, as DNA testing has shown, that historically around 3.7% to 4% of births in the US and the UK have misattributed paternity.

[ccga3359]

3/4 English, 1/4 Gypsie... 100% Canadian!

[Jack Daw]

FYI, although Alex Haley wrote an interesting book, it turned out that "Roots" was in part fiction. A few years ago a couple of genealogists went over his research, and discovered that he had hit a dead end, not once, but twice, and in both cases "chose" to be descended from people to whom he was clearly not related at all.

I have a cousin who says that he never accepts anything as a genealogical fact unless he can hold the original document in his hands attesting to it. And even then there may be misrepresentations, given, as DNA testing has shown, that historically around 3.7% to 4% of births in the US and the UK have misattributed paternity.

I'm very aware, but it wasn't my intention to play up on that issue; only to indicate that his story, true or false, inspired a lot of people to take up genealogy as a hobby.

[Glen C]

I got my Y-DNA 67 markers back last year, and like the original Chisholm's I'm a Norman/Viking. A lot of Normans came to Scotland with David I. After all he was not supposed to become king, and was raised in the English/Norman court. He had no power base in Scotland so he brought along alot of people that he trusted. The Bruces, Sinclairs, Frasers, Chisholms, Fitzalan (Stuart) were given lands and scattered around the country.

[ForresterModern]

Full blooded West Virginian hillbilly, descended from the usual melange of mysterious heritages. The Foster name can be traced back to Flemish origins when the Forrestiere's invaded britain with William the Conqueror as his right hand man during the Norman Conquests, then set up shop in the Lowlands of Scotland and are spread across the south from Northumberton to Edinburgh to Stirling all the way up to the Isle of Skye (by report). We can trace our Foster name back 9 or 10 generations to the firrst one to arrive on these shores in the early 1700's and set up shop in Virginia, but not before that. The Foster family has stayed nearly exclusively in Virginia/West Virginia ever since then, with us being able to find family cemetaries in a couple different counties full of relatives. Since that first Foster immigrant there has been an admixture of other Scots, Scot-Irish, English, Cherokee, and German to get down to my generation, then my 2 older kids are more German mix from their mother (my first wife's parents were first generation americans of german immigrants), with my new son being half Dutch (my new wife is full bloooded dutch from fullblooded dutch immigrants). So when you start doing the math I am probably a lot less Scottish than everything else, and my kids definitely so. But it is the name and bloodlines that keep me scottish, especially since that is the only bloodline I can trace back 9 or 10 generations.

[macwilkin]

I got my Y-DNA 67 markers back last year, and like the original Chisholm's I'm a Norman/Viking. A lot of Normans came to Scotland with David I. After all he was not supposed to become king, and was raised in the English/Norman court. He had no power base in Scotland so he brought along alot of people that he trusted. The Bruces, Sinclairs, Frasers, Chisholms, Fitzalan (Stuart) were given lands and scattered around the country.

Don't forget another Norman family, the Comyns.

T.

[Glen C]

Don't forget another Norman family, the Comyns.

T.

How can anyone forget the Comyns! Forgive me, I just named afew off the top of my head!

[macwilkin]

How can anyone forget the Comyns! Forgive me, I just named afew off the top of my head!

No worries, Glen. :mrgreen:

T.