Cool & interesting things about your family
Discussion
Not an opportunity for powerfully built company directors to talk about their Barbados beach home, rather the cool and interesting stuff in your family. Inventors, war heroes, lunatics, sportsmen or just amusing anecdotes, that kind of stuff.
Supposedly my great uncle invented the lawnmower after the donkey that pulled the roller around the lawns died (not convinced, but believe we owned Atco many, many moons ago).
My mother recently learnt that she had been adopted, and that her father had actually been born in 1894. Given that I was born in 1982 it's a pretty impressive age gap. One of my wife's (she's 34) grandfathers was also born in 1894 so 2 of our 2 month old son's great grandfathers were born 123 years ago. I met a 50 year old great grandmother recently, which I don't think is that uncommon these days.
My mother's adoptive father was a trained fighter pilot, but because of his expertise in other areas he was deemed to important to the WW2 war effort and not allowed to fly. At the end of the war he was offered an honour, but turned it down on the grounds that unless everyone in the aircraft factories he'd managed was given one, there's no way he was accepting it. Not sure he was a great fan of authority.
My other grandfather was posted to 3 ships that were sunk in WW2 but was reposted from each of them shortly before they were sunk. The Repulse being the most famous. If his posting roster had been different, I wouldn't be here today.
And one of my dad's favourite tales is that he had a date with Marianne Faithful in the 60's. As my Uncle was a cameraman at the BBC at the time I suspect it was more like a cup of coffee in a BBC cafeteria.
I know there's a VC on my wife's side, and amusingly her father was held hostage for an hour or so by pygmies when he was younger. I need to find out more about that story.
I've spoken with some very interesting people on here over the years and have heard some pretty cool stories. I feel grubby after venturing into the men's loos and pooing thread, so thought I'd start something a little more civilised. I couldn't see any similar threads so thought I'd see how this goes.
Supposedly my great uncle invented the lawnmower after the donkey that pulled the roller around the lawns died (not convinced, but believe we owned Atco many, many moons ago).
My mother recently learnt that she had been adopted, and that her father had actually been born in 1894. Given that I was born in 1982 it's a pretty impressive age gap. One of my wife's (she's 34) grandfathers was also born in 1894 so 2 of our 2 month old son's great grandfathers were born 123 years ago. I met a 50 year old great grandmother recently, which I don't think is that uncommon these days.
My mother's adoptive father was a trained fighter pilot, but because of his expertise in other areas he was deemed to important to the WW2 war effort and not allowed to fly. At the end of the war he was offered an honour, but turned it down on the grounds that unless everyone in the aircraft factories he'd managed was given one, there's no way he was accepting it. Not sure he was a great fan of authority.
My other grandfather was posted to 3 ships that were sunk in WW2 but was reposted from each of them shortly before they were sunk. The Repulse being the most famous. If his posting roster had been different, I wouldn't be here today.
And one of my dad's favourite tales is that he had a date with Marianne Faithful in the 60's. As my Uncle was a cameraman at the BBC at the time I suspect it was more like a cup of coffee in a BBC cafeteria.
I know there's a VC on my wife's side, and amusingly her father was held hostage for an hour or so by pygmies when he was younger. I need to find out more about that story.
I've spoken with some very interesting people on here over the years and have heard some pretty cool stories. I feel grubby after venturing into the men's loos and pooing thread, so thought I'd start something a little more civilised. I couldn't see any similar threads so thought I'd see how this goes.
Willy Nilly said:
My uncle invented instant custard and tinned mushy peas. He did a load of other stuff too but I forget. The yoof that ultimately got Hindley and Brady arrested worked for my grandad. He was the one that witnessed one of the murders and went to the police.
According to Wiki that was 1844!How old are you?
Willy Nilly said:
My uncle invented instant custard and tinned mushy peas. He did a load of other stuff too but I forget. The yoof that ultimately got Hindley and Brady arrested worked for my grandad. He was the one that witnessed one of the murders and went to the police.
My cousin was Ian Brady's paperboy and often went into his house for "a cup of tea"....a very lucky young man indeed.The "youth" you are referring to was David Smith who used to "sign on" at Hyde employment exchange and my best friend used to work behind the counter.
I used to see Brady going into the magistrates court every morning from my school window...he was usually pelted by a barrage of eggs from a baying mob.
Later on the proceedings moved on to the County court in Chester.
Moonhawk said:
We are allegedly related in some way to the late comedian Will Hay via my dads side of the family.
.
I am a huge Will Hay fan owning all his films .
Will was one of the countries leading astronomers in the 1930's,...... he discovered a white spot on Saturn in 1933....a very clever man.
My mother was born in 1936, her father was born in 1885 and her grandfather in 1831, making me only three generations away from the Georgians.
My Grandfather, who was born in February 1897, could remember his father reading aloud from the Times at the breakfast table the report of the Wright brothers first powered flight. Before he died in 1982 he had seen men walk on the moon and had flown on Concorde
To bring it back to pistonheads, my paternal great grandfather bought the family's first ever car, a De Dion Bouton at the Royal Norfolk show in 1903. Delivered in 1904, it had the third registration number issued in Norfolk, which is still on my father's current car to this day.
Edited to add, my Aunt Gillian wasn't my blood aunt but was a child of the kinder transport, taken in by my Grandparents because my Grandmother had collaborated on research with her father who was a Jewish professor at the University of Vienna and adopted by them when her parents perished in the holocaust. To some of the more rabid fringe in NP&E that would mark my family down as pinko, open border-loving, europhile bedwetters but, to me, it's pretty damn cool and something that makes me immensely proud of my Grandparents
My Grandfather, who was born in February 1897, could remember his father reading aloud from the Times at the breakfast table the report of the Wright brothers first powered flight. Before he died in 1982 he had seen men walk on the moon and had flown on Concorde
To bring it back to pistonheads, my paternal great grandfather bought the family's first ever car, a De Dion Bouton at the Royal Norfolk show in 1903. Delivered in 1904, it had the third registration number issued in Norfolk, which is still on my father's current car to this day.
Edited to add, my Aunt Gillian wasn't my blood aunt but was a child of the kinder transport, taken in by my Grandparents because my Grandmother had collaborated on research with her father who was a Jewish professor at the University of Vienna and adopted by them when her parents perished in the holocaust. To some of the more rabid fringe in NP&E that would mark my family down as pinko, open border-loving, europhile bedwetters but, to me, it's pretty damn cool and something that makes me immensely proud of my Grandparents
Edited by ClaphamGT3 on Tuesday 5th September 00:27
One uncle, a physicist, invented a bunch of stuff including the passive millimetre wave scanner, originally developed to keep runways open in fog, but he died of cancer before seeing it in it's latest uses.
Another (non-British) uncle designed camouflage, amongst other things.
My brother developed some theory to do with magic squares, whatever they are.
A great uncle was a nuclear physicist and worked with particle accelerators. Died of cancer (a theme with physicists it appears).
Sadly I am not a boffin myself.
Another (non-British) uncle designed camouflage, amongst other things.
My brother developed some theory to do with magic squares, whatever they are.
A great uncle was a nuclear physicist and worked with particle accelerators. Died of cancer (a theme with physicists it appears).
Sadly I am not a boffin myself.
craigjm said:
Willy Nilly said:
My uncle invented instant custard
Your uncle is Alfred Bird? That was back in 1837 and it was on sale publically by 1844. If he were alive today he would be 206 years old! oldbanger said:
A great uncle was a nuclear physicist and worked with particle accelerators. Died of cancer (a theme with physicists it appears).
My mum's dad (grandfather), was a nuclear physicist, he died of cancer at an early age, this was allegedly caused by some hushed up nuclear accident. I never met him as he died many years before I was born.I am a descendent of the Merryweather's from the Merryweather fire engine company, my late grandfather's mother was a Merryweather.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merryweather_%26_S...
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