How far back does Your family history go?

Hello everyone of ATS,Just starting a thread about family genealogy which has been abit of a passion of mine for quite a while and was just wondering if and how far back anyone elts here has been able to trace their genealogy?

As stated in my introduction thread I have been able to trace my own lineages back 5582 years at 170 generations on my Mum`s side and the same amount of years but at 185 generations on my Dad`s side. But that said I had been wondering how far back it had gone and pushed it as far back as I possibly could trace it. I was able to push it this far with family ythos and stories (by either proving or debunking them) and constantly second guessing myself for who was who in the tree and varifying or debunking indeviduals in the tree through a minimum of 12 different genealogy sites and archive records. Never have I paid for any research other then to receive copies of hard documents form archive departments in person.

I know it may sound ridiculous how far back it goes but I do have each indevidual acounted for and the tree mapped out for it. I had come across some snags however when I was told that my Mum had been adopted and thought that most of my research had been for naught; but as it turns out the adoptive side were cousins through a matrilineal line of the family anyways. My personal birth lineages decend from various royaltiy to middle nobility to voyagers who were mostly master masons, trappers, weaponsmiths and apothecaries instead of the usual assumed stereotype of peasant farmers.

The tree crosses at least 21 nationalities and even more individual cultures and tribes Which makes myself quite the mutt lol. Currently I`d be considered French-Metis-Danish and Prussian.

My wife`s side is just as long but with interesting people more close to her current generation such as being decended from the Dukes of Richmond-Lennox as well as having Otto Von Bismarck as an ancestor.

I am aware that the further back in generation the less bearing it has on DNA and one`s current status in life and everything so there is no reason to point that out; I just thought it would be fun and interresting to see how far back some others of the comunity have been able to trace their lineages so let`s keep it civil please. It is not about bragging or anything I just find that if people would be able to do a full family tree that they might apreciate history abit more then they seem to by looking into their ancestor`s everyday lives and the times and politics that they lived in is all.

I did do a search but didn`t come up with a similar topic. If there is I apologise for starting a new thread of the same topic but if there are any old threads of the same type then it might be interresting for new and older members to participate in a fresh thread.

Mods I hope I put this in the correct forum and if not please move to the forum best suited as I`m not too sure of regular members are able to move a posted thread to different forums.

Here are some helpfull links to genealogy sites I found rather helpfull:

www.ancestorhunt.com...

www.ancestorhunt.com...

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com...

www.canadiangenealogy.ca...

www.acadian-cajun.com...

reply to post by nergalbanda1

As stated in my introduction thread I have been able to trace my own lineages back 5582 years at 170 generations on my Mum`s side and the same amount of years but at 185 generations on my Dad`s side.

First you managed to go back to the dawn of the written word, well done.

Next your family have an average age of having children of 32.8 years and for most of that time the average life expectancy was less than 40.

I hate to be the one to say this but your numbers do not add up.

Apart from that where did you find the records from 2000 years ago, please, could I have that source, I so want a copy of the birth records for Jesus. I would love to know if he had siblings or children.

This is one of the more silly things I have read on ATS in a long time. It is amusing though.

P

reply to post by nergalbanda1


the farthest i got back was Portuguese colonists that colonized some western islands of the west coast of Africa. Guess what their job was

i haven't looked so far into the German side but i do know i have German on both sides and they came over pre/during world war 1 to America. I bet if i looked into this side more i would find something farther back than the Portuguese.

The native American can only go so far for obvious reasons but i do know my relatives run deep from the Cherokee tribe and also on the Alaskan tribes.

that's pretty cool you have gone that far back.

reply to post by pheonix358

that's pretty cool you have gone that far back.

i may have spoke too soon, can you break it down with the numbers so we can see what your saying?

5 thousand years? I would love to see how you did that so Iam calling BS on that.
Myself? My grandad spent 15 years (before the net) travelling around Europe to discover we fled the french revolution to Ireland and before that had blood relatives in the knights templar during the crusades...when he pops his clogs I will inherit all of his work.

5582 years years, you are kidding right? That is impossible, there was no accurate records during those days.

I have family book where they have traced my ancestors to 18th century, but not further in history. But its understandable as Finland was just collection of tribes and pretty much wilderness before Swedish rule. And during the Swedish rule, they systematically destroyed records of our past.

DocHolidaze
reply to post by pheonix358

 

that's pretty cool you have gone that far back.

i may have spoke too soon, can you break it down with the numbers so we can see what your saying?

edit on 14-11-2013 by DocHolidaze because: (no reason given)

Just divide the years by the number of generations to get the average age at birth. 32.8, not likely!

P

reply to post by pheonix358


Good news is that his wifes tree is just as long

If you go back far enough, a mathmatican stated, we are all related. Let me look it up on google.

Ah, here it is:

www.theatlantic.com...

And to answer the question about whether Jesus had siblings. Yes he did:

(Matthew 13:55, 56) 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? . . .




But the statement was true, the numbers don't add up.

reply to post by nergalbanda1


I'm sorry but having a hard time seeing you got back over 5000 years ago on direct lineage. Maybe its possible to go back that far using documented tracing of tribes/ groups/ races of people in any given area.

I've traced mine to as early as 1612 in both Scotland and Ireland. I'm, so far, a true Celt. I've hit brick walls trying to get past the 1600 mark due to the lack of writing and documentation available. From about 1720 backwards I relied on Church and Justice records, as well as land ownership deeds and actual grave stones.

Nobody famous in my line apart from being the GG Grandson of the Earl of Fife, and having a famous singer for a 2nd cousin twice removed.

I paid for a lot of my research, I tried not to, and thats only within the past 400 years. How did you go back so far?

We have traced my father's side back (direct line) to 1701, and the Royal Tobacco Inspector for King William County, VA. No wonder I smoke like a furnace! My most famous ancestor is William Clark, of Lewis & Clark.

I am an ancestor to Catherine Howard, wife of Henry VIII....

Catherine Howard's birth date is unknown, but is believed to be between 1518 and 1527...

She became The Queen Consort on the 28th July 1540, and was beheaded on the 23rd November 1541...

I always wondered why I had an objection to wearing a school tie around my neck....


Catherine Howard


Henry VIII

Pretty sure everyone's family history goers right back to single celled things.

It started and hasn't stopped.

If you did somehow just manage to have your genetic line introduced mid way, then gtfo my planet you alien invaders!!!!!!

Just remember... every day you wake up, your parents did the same. their parents. and theirs. and so on and so on. everyone wakes up before today. over and over backwards through time.. one single sleep at a time. one dreamy night at a time. right back to when there was no language, no culture, no communication.

and further back to where your ancestors didn't charm each other with eye lashes and pouty lips, muscles and a hairy chest.. but with a trap 'em and slap 'em sexy time. it's how you eventually were made.

and before that, they just lumped together and hoped for the best. in a big wet puddle.

and before that.. who knows..

but there is no magic distance between you and your very first original grandparents. only a lot of little sleeps.

reply to post by winofiend


Actually we all have a common ancestor in firstly, Adam and Eve. And then secondly, Noah and his wife. Of this I am pretty certain.

reply to post by nergalbanda1


My family name "Turnbull" is one of the largest in the Scottish borders and has upon there crest "I Saved the King" meaning Robert the Bruce. This transpired in the year of our lord 1315. Before that I believe our family name was "De Rule" and of Viking/Scandinavian origin, goes as far back as the 10th century, then records become a little few and far between because we approach the dark age.

reply to post by nergalbanda1


Well, all human beings have a family history which stretches back to the dawn of mammalian existence on this planet, and indeed beyond, to the first bit of glorified snot to establish for itself a DNA like structure somewhere in its sub-cellular formulation. Some might say that discoveries and thinking on the subject may suggest that the building blocks which make life possible are in fact alien to this planet, and that all life upon it comes from elsewhere in the galaxy.

However, when trying to establish specifics, the human element can cause breakages in timelines and history. My grandfather on my mothers side, for example, throughout his life as an adult, mentioned his origins not once, nor did any of his family from Wales ever appear at his door when my mother was growing up in his house. He passed away last year. My grandfather on my fathers side is a terminally boring chap, and I do not talk to my fathers parents, since they are responsible for siring the gormless cretin that is my father, a sin for which I cannot forgive them.

However, I do know that our family name Edwards is a welsh one, and comes from, if I recall correctly, the Denbighshire area. Its literal translation is "prosperity guard" or "guardian". Our ancestors would have been the ones responsible for standing watch over that which their lord would have held dear, either his wealth, his family, or his real estate, depending on the situation. It is fitting that I now work in the security industry I suppose!

godspetrat
We have traced my father's side back (direct line) to 1701, and the Royal Tobacco Inspector for King William County, VA. No wonder I smoke like a furnace! My most famous ancestor is William Clark, of Lewis & Clark.

Just a clarification; we can trace our family (again, father's side: mother's side is a bit less clear) all the way back to England, but there are some missing links and lack of complete certainty as to the direct line. That Royal Tobacco Inspector, however, is a certainty! Joseph Fox. He was the colonial dude for King William County, VA who made sure the king was getting his tobacco taxes, and that the farmers weren't hiding surplus and selling it under the table, so to speak. So, I guess at least in 1701, my family were on the royalist/loyalist side of things.

Broom
reply to post by winofiend

 

Actually we all have a common ancestor in firstly, Adam and Eve. And then secondly, Noah and his wife. Of this I am pretty certain.

Umm..

nah

Broom
reply to post by winofiend

 

Actually we all have a common ancestor in firstly, Adam and Eve. And then secondly, Noah and his wife. Of this I am pretty certain.

Actually, that is your belief and yes you seem certain that that belief is true. Never the less, it is a belief, it is not a fact that you can prove. I am not asking for proof, beliefs by their very nature cannot have proofs, otherwise they would be cold hard facts.

I do not want to dissuade you from that belief, but I would ask kindly dear sir if you may wish to consider phrasing such musing as 'I believe' rather than 'actually.'

Of course you may also print this on toilet paper and use it accordingly, that is up to you, but really, stating a belief as a fact is just, well, a little off.

P

pheonix358

Broom
reply to post by winofiend

 

Actually we all have a common ancestor in firstly, Adam and Eve. And then secondly, Noah and his wife. Of this I am pretty certain.

Actually, that is your belief and yes you seem certain that that belief is true. Never the less, it is a belief, it is not a fact that you can prove. I am not asking for proof, beliefs by their very nature cannot have proofs, otherwise they would be cold hard facts.

I do not want to dissuade you from that belief, but I would ask kindly dear sir if you may wish to consider phrasing such musing as 'I believe' rather than 'actually.'

Of course you may also print this on toilet paper and use it accordingly, that is up to you, but really, stating a belief as a fact is just, well, a little off.

P

That statement you seem to have a problem with was just a reply to winofin who also stated:

"Pretty sure everyone's family history goers right back to single celled things."

Since his was right above mine and triggered mine, why not address his comment, which was basically the same as mine, first. Then I'll get back to you.

Or is there a specific reason you didn't go tell him to write his belief down on toilet paper? Interesting to see your reply.