Last update 24 Feb, 2005
The family tree of Anna Eddie McAnsh is really quite extensive. Part of the reason for that, is that it mainly occurs in Scotland, and the Scots have been fabulous at both keeping records, and at making them easily available.
There is a joke I'm minded of.
"Heavan is:
A French Cook;
A German Engineer;
An English Policeman;
An Italian Lover; and
the
Swiss organising everything.
Hell is:
An English Cook;
A French Engineer;
A German
Policeman;
A Swiss Lover; and
the Italians organising everything."
To the "Heavan" section I'd have to add, the Scottish General Registry Office.
A second factor in making our family tree extensive is the fact that it is an example that human relationships are not neat and tidy. Anna, my grandmother, was illegitimate. I have no idea what the relationship between Jessie Glennie and George Eddie was like, but it was obviously consensual enough that he signed the birth registration as a witness, even though he was not around while Anna was growing up. Jessie was 27 when Anna was born, and had not had children earlier, and seems not to have been a "loose" woman in any sense. Still, Anna was born, George disappeared, and Jessie married a widower, John McAnsh. John already had two children, and He and Jesssie had 3 more. They lived the rest of their lives together.
So, what happens in terms of Genealogy? Certainly I follow the maternal line, the Glennies. The Eddies are a line of genetic relatives, but the McAnsh's, while not blood relatives prior to Caroline, Isabella and Mary Ann, are Anna's family of affinity. In many ways, I guess they are more "family" than the Eddies were. While Anna had 3 McAnsh half-sisters, she was probably far closer to Maggie and William, step-brother and step-sister, than she was to her Eddie half-siblings.
A generation earlier, Jessie was also born illegitimately, the daughter of Ann Thom, and James Glennie. But James also had his own family elsewhere. And his line was really more that of the Duncans, since his maternal grandparents more or less adopted him.
It made me think a lot about relationships. How important is blood, compared to the heart? Is nature more significant than nurture? One thing I found, is that I became more convinced that the maternal line is the most significant. Men come, and men go, and some bind more closely, and enter the circle of the heart.
For geneology, however, I've focussed on family groups by either name, area, or both. In part, that relates to how much information I actually have about any of my ancestors. It is unfortunate that in many, if not most cases, lives reduce to vital statistics; birth, death and marriage. We don't actually get to see many of the parts of the lives that were most significant.
What I have tried to do here is present a picture a little better than a GedCom can provide. Most of the pages here are about families, and I've tried to include the children at least to the point that they left home.
| Jessie Glennie | John McAnsh | George Eddie | Glasgow ~1890 |
| Sterlingshire | Ann Thom | James Glennie | Aberdeen ~1870 |
| Genealogy Home | Dad's Family | Anna McAnsh | Carl Summerville |
| Mary McAnsh Adams's Photo Gallery |
A few housekeeping things.I don't like propietary things, and in particular, believe proprietary information is anathema to spreading knowledge and understanding. Hence, feel free to use my info, but I state that I do not want it used for profit. I have spent many many hours on it, and am happy to see others benefit. To paraphrase Michael Valintine Smith, "knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied". I do consider my work to be copywrite, and give permission for its use only where it remains in the domain of free information. Of course it would be nice, and ethical, if those using it acknowledged the source, and nicer still if you let me know. This information is
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