Hello everyone and welcome to my website. Thank you for being here. This is my first ever blog post! Let me tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Jessica Jean, I am 19 and I am from Berkshire, England. I have been doing family history research for over a year now, however I have had interest in it for many years.
My ancestors are mostly from all over the United Kingdom and Ireland. My paternal Grandmother is from County Leitrim in Ireland, my paternal Grandfather was from West Lothian in Scotland, my maternal Grandfather was from Berkshire in England and my maternal Grandmother was from Durham in England.
According to my Ancestry DNA test – I am 50% Irish, 31% English & Northwestern European, 12% Scottish, 3% Swedish & Danish, 2% Norwegian & 2% Germanic European. Although, my original results were 43% Irish, 29% English and Northwestern European, 21% Scottish, 3% Swedish & Danish, 2% Norwegian and 2% Germanic European.
I remember feeling quite surprised the day I checked my DNA results and saw they had changed. However, it does make sense. It is an ‘ethnicity estimate’, which means that the results may not be completely accurate. However, they are constantly doing more research into DNA and as they gather more and more samples from people, they learn a lot more about our DNA. I hear that they change your ethnicity estimate approximately 1-2 times per year so make sure to keep an eye on your results if you have taken a test! I have attached photos below of my results when I first got them versus now.
I am so glad I have done the Ancestry DNA test. As well as giving me an ethnicity estimate, it has put me in contact with a lot of my relatives which is nice! I have spoken to people ranging from 1st cousins 1x removed – all the way to sixth cousins! I have heard stories from relatives who actually met some of my ancestors that I never got to meet, I have told them stories. We have shared photos, helped each other with our research and much more! I am so grateful to be able to speak to these people – who I otherwise wouldn’t have had a chance to speak to!
I have found so much joy in doing my family history research. I love learning stories about those who came before me, learning about where they lived, where they worked, who they lived with. Anything about them. But I have to say, the thing that really changed everything for me was seeing photos of my ancestors for the first time. I knew what all my Grandparents looked like as luckily I got to meet all of them, I also knew what my Irish Great-Grandmother looked like as my Grandmother had a lovely photo of her in her house. I remember the first time I saw a photo of my Great-Grandmother from Berkshire, Kathleen Amy Marshall. I unfortunately never got to meet her, she passed in 1963 at the age of 49.
Something about her story always makes me feel sad – she had a lot of sadness and tragedy in her life. Her father passed away after experiencing a head injury at work, only 5 months after she was born. She then lost one of her sister’s when she was 4, and another when she was 8. It was then just the five of them left. Elizabeth, Evie, George, Kathleen and their Mum, Jane. In 1935, at the age of 32, Elizabeth sadly passed away. Around 1938, Kathleen met my Great-Grandfather, Wilfred. They had their first child together in 1939, going on to have a total of 8 children between then and 1957. They had 4 boys and 4 girls. In 1940, Evie got married and Kathleen was a bridesmaid at the wedding. Evie then moved to Gloucester with her husband. In 1941, Jane sadly passed away. Kathleen lived a very happy life with her husband, Wilfred. He fought in both World Wars. In 1963, Kathleen sadly passed away from bronchitis. Her youngest child was 5 years old at the time.
I find the story so sad – she lost so many of her loved ones throughout her life. I find it so sad that she never got to see any of her children marry – or meet any of her Grandchildren. Until last year, I had never seen a picture of her before. Neither had my Mum or her sister. It was weird when I thought about it – my Mum didn’t even know what her Grandmother looked like. It was something I could never really imagine. I first saw some pictures of her that her daughters shared with me. She was so beautiful. I saw photos of her as a bridesmaid at Evie’s wedding, photos of her with my Great-Grandad. My favourite is a photo I have of her wearing a victory suit, gloves and a hat. She is sat on a bench and has such a beautiful smile. I have attached the photos below – both the original and the one I edited to add colour.
I think seeing photos of my ancestors for the first time was what really drew me in, it made me realise that these were well and truly real people, as silly as that may sound. Since then, I have tried to find photos of as many of my ancestors as I can. I currently have photos of all my great grandparents, apart from one. I also have quite a few photos of my 2x Great-Grandparents! Being able to find these photos is such a blessing.
I was lucky enough to be alive at the same time as one of my Great-Grandparents, Mary Quinn – although I unfortunately never got to meet her as she lived in Ireland and I have never been there (I want to one day though!). She passed away in 2011 at the age of 93. Altogether she had 13 pregnancies! Unfortunately she lost 2, but she had a total of 11 children. 8 girls and 3 boys. I often look back and see how many children some of my ancestors had and I just wonder how they managed all the pregnancies and the busy household!
Doing my family history research I see so many different types of families. Couples who marry one another and adopt children, couples who marry and only have one or two children, couples who don’t marry but have children anyway, women whose husband’s have died while they were pregnant / shortly after they gave birth – or the other way around – men whose wives sadly died during childbirth or shortly after. I see women give birth to ‘illegitimate’ children without a father in a picture. I see women marry and their husbands raise the illegitimate children as their own. I see men who have been widowed remarrying, and their new wife raising his children. I see couples who have up to 15 children! I see children who are raised by their Grandparents – some of which even think their Mum is their sister! I see so many different couples, families. They all come in different shapes and sizes, they always have.
I just find it so fascinating to see how they all lived their lives. I think certain things, such as newspapers, can really help to piece together a story. It is so interesting, being able to read about things your ancestors did in the newspaper. I think the most fascinating thing I have found so far while doing my research – physically – is some postcards. I found a postcard written to my 3rd Great-Grandmother Isabella, in 1914. It was from her brother George, he wrote to her to see how her and her family were. The postcard itself was beautiful, with lace detailing. It just feels so magnificent to hold and read a postcard that was written 110 years ago. Finding things like that are truly such a blessing and I feel so lucky. As you can imagine, it is kept in a very safe place. I have attached photos below!
I think it is time for me to wrap this blog post up, but I will leave you with something beautiful I heard last year and must share with you. If you are ever feeling insecure about yourself, your appearance. Just remember that you exist because people have loved each other for thousands of years, found each other so beautiful that they decided to immortalise their love for eachother.
Thank you so much for reading, I will see you in the next one!
Jessica Jean
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