Monthly Archives: March 2007

Tracing your family history

Genealogy is one of the worlds most popular pastimes now with millions of people taking up the challenge of finding out just where they come from. Each person has a family tree and that tree has hundreds of thousands of branches.

I began my own ancestry research about 18 years ago and for a large part of that was almost a fulltime job. Luckily a cousin of mine had already made some inroads and thoughtfully passed on information to me. It is always a good idea to do this if you have a relative also doing family history as it is a form of ‘back up’. I know of some people who treat the information they build up as ‘theirs’ in a way and resent the idea of sharing what they find. This is silly. The fun of the family history project is working with other people, even those you know.

A stroke of luck in my case was that a line of my mother’s side of the family wound it’s way back through Ireland in an unbroken line back through early England to William the Conqueror and beyond. It certainly makes things easier when you can find your ancestors are written up in the books of history!. Here I will write, for now, a little bit about that side.

My Great Great Grandfather was Augustus James Hamilton Courbarron, son of Frederick Courbarron a farmer of French parentage from Jersey in the Channel Islands; and Mary Hamilton, daughter of landowner John Hamilton of Brownhall Demesne in Ballintra Co. Donegal. The Hamiltons founded the seat of Brownhall in 1690 and built an imposing house on acres of land. The family were descendants of the Ist Duke of Hamilton.

Come forward to the late 19th century and Mary’s son Augustus is a sea captain who arrives in Sydney Australia and marries a young Irish girl from Killarney – Mary Morrissey.
He was a captain in the merchant navy and sailed to many places such as India, South Africa and the West Indies. On one occasion he returned to his mothers birthplace at Brownhall and took wife Mary with him to visit. She only visited once and on leaving, by horse and carriage, turned and looked back as the large old house disappeared behind the trees.
I had always wondered how she felt, and how her husbands mother Mary had felt, on catching their last glimpse of the ancestral home.

I was lucky to be able to find out. In 2002, while living in Belfast, Arnold took me across the country to Co. Donegal to visit my cousin, the present John Hamilton.
I had been writing to them for a long time and, for a long time, it seemed the chance to actually visit this piece of history – both family and Irish – would be beyond my reach. But Arnold made it happen for me and helped me realise a long held wish.

As we approached the estate with it’s tall weathered wrought iron gates, the house well hidden beyond the forest of trees, I felt I was in a way retracing steps. Travelling down the winding drive the house revealed itself timidly until there it was…where it had been since 1690. I felt I was seeing it from the same place where old John Hamilton had stood and decided that that spot in the distance would do just fine.

This is an extremely condensed account of my Hamilton and Courbarron side. Soon I will add a category just pertaining to family history with links etc.

I know not everyone can turn up an ‘ancestral home’ in their searches but whatever is found is important. I have branches on my tree that lead to people and places that never figured in the annals of history at all. What you do find, write it down. Our history is a huge jigsaw that we will never find all the pieces for no matter how hard we try. When you find a piece, record it, no matter how small. Because it is yours.

Above: That’s my Great-Great-Great Grandmother, Mary Hamilton, aged 13, in a portrait taken in Dresden in 1839.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

Belfast…Go there!

After I left Australia, and before I moved here to France, I lived for two years in Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Now, this is one place I never thought I would ever be.

Anyone, like me, who grew up in Australia in the 1970′s or anywhere during that time in fact, will have one image of Belfast – bombs, armoured police vans, soldiers and conflict. And this all came to us via the television news.
It is quite a different story these days.

Recently we had an Australian couple stay with us who were planning a coach trip around Ireland – many Aussies ‘do Ireland’ don’t they?. Most would have Dublin on their itinerary, but how many have considered crossing the border into Northern Ireland and taking in Belfast?. Well, our recent couple had Belfast definately on their list. They were in their 20′s and could not possibly have the view of Belfast that I grew up with. And fortunately they didn’t.

Today Belfast, to me, is a relatively undiscovered jewel by tourists. South of the border, Dublin is now a large city very much like cities anywhere else in the world. Having been there several times myself I found it difficult to ‘feel’ as though I was in Ireland until I left the city and got into the smaller towns.

Belfast, on the other hand has so far resisted the hand of architectural progress. There is no ‘high rise’, many of the buildings are original and for a city it still retains the feel of a village. Albeit a large one. The shopping is fantastic, the atmosphere – a mixture of it’s Irish and Scottish influence palpable, the night life electric and the city boasts restaurants offering cuisine from anywhere in the world you want. Do you like clubbing? then Belfast will keep you busy 24/7!.

Leaving Belfast you have all the beauty that you thought Ireland only possessed and more…the Giants Causeway; Lough Neagh; The Glens of Antrim; Cushendan; Ballycastle – look across to the island where Robert the Bruce watched the spider spinning it’s web and from where Marconi sent the first radio signal; the Bushmills Distillery home of the famous Bushmills Irish whiskey – you can smell it as soon as you enter the town; walk the walls of historic Derry (Londonderry), the last ‘walled’ city to be built in Europe; the quaint village of Crawfordsburn and it’s beautiful extensive park; the Ards Peninsular; Scrabo Tower; Newcastle and the Mournes; Bangor; Portaferry; get the best fish and chip ever in Ballywalter; the village of Holywood, buy a cake in the bakery there; see the statue of C.S Lewis (Chronicles of Narnia/Shadowlands) and the famous wardrobe outside the library on the Newtownards Rd near Connswater shopping centre. He was born in Belfast and his childhood home is in Holywood. Or maybe take a run to the Tyrone Crystal factory and pick a beautiful piece of the world famous Tyrone Crystal as you can see I’m doing.

The list is endless, and so is the friendliness and ‘olde worlde’ courtesy of the people there. I have mentioned previously that France is a ‘family friendly’ society – so is Northern Ireland. The family unit there is strong and children in particular are doted on. You will find your little one’s welcomed just about everywhere.

The people of Northern Ireland are survivors; optimistic and hardy. They are also the best people you will ever meet. This country has a huge future ahead and openly welcomes those who come to visit. The way things are going there now is a step in the right direction…let’s support them in this.

Northern Ireland…go and see it for yourself!.

The beautiful Mount Stewart in County Down.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.

August 31st 1997…Who is to blame?.

Most people recall where they were and what they were doing when the news filtered in from Paris that Diana, Princess of Wales, had been involved in a high speed car crash.
I know where I was at the precise moment that her car crashed…in bed on that Sunday morning reading the Sun Herald. The accident occurred just after midnight which was just after 9am Sydney time.
But it wasn’t until an hour or so later that the first reports came over the news.
Then, just after midday, came the news that she had died.

I had been watching the coverage at lunchtime of the tunnel, the flashing lights and the mangled mess of the car. My Mum came out of her room and said that it had just come over the radio; ‘They’ve just confirmed that the Princess of Wales is dead…isn’t it terrible?’. And this was all happening while the UK was still asleep and unaware.

It’s safe to say that nearly everyone has an opinion on what happened that night and who did what and who was responsible. Some accused the CIA, M16 even the IRA. But many instantly pointed their fingers at The Royal Family. Today Mr Al Fayed Sr has won the case to have the Inquiry heard in front of a jury, and his finger is pointed firmly in Prince Phillips direction.
Why? And why does he accept no liability whatsoever in the chain of events that occurred that night and the days leading up to them.

I find this whole saga so sad and yet intriguing. I am of the opinion that Diana fell into a trap set by the Al Fayeds. But lets look at facts:
It was a known fact that Mr Al Fayed actively encouraged his son’s courting of Diana, and, it is also a known fact that he purchased the luxury yacht, that Diana and Dodi were so famously photographed on in their final days, specifically so that Dodi could achieve this aim. To Mr Al Fayed, Diana would be the greatest acquisition his son could make and would, in his mind, ensure his acceptance into The Establishment. He already owned one great British institution in Harrods…Diana was to be next.

Lets remember the events of that night. Diana dined at an Al Fayed hotel (The Ritz), she was with an Al Fayed son (Dodi), accompanied by an Al Fayed employed bodyguard (Trevor Rhys Jones…isn’t he very quiet these days?), got into an Al Fayed owned car driven by an Al Fayed employed driver.

Excuse me but, where does Prince Phillip come into any of this – especially as it was confirmed that Dodi changed their travel route at the last minute.

Diana was pulled from pillar to post in the days leading up to and including that night. With minimal security and in a way that completely went against her experience with Royal security. This accident would not have happened if Dodi and Daddy were not in charge Im sure.

If anyone should be pointing the finger it is my opinion that it should be her two sons and the Spencer family – at Mr Al Fayed Snr. For failing to ensure her safety – Diana was no ordinary VIP – for failing to employ the strongest security available, for encouraging his son to parade her around like a flashy new car.

One last thing, let’s speculate here…what if Diana and Dodi HAD been wearing their seatbelts and both survived the crash, albeit badly injured, but lived nonetheless.
It would have been a whole different story today. Yes, of course a major inquiry would have been held, but, with Diana’s testimony and version of the events that night I doubt Mr Al Fayed would be in a position now to be making accusations.

It is my opinion that he would be standing today with a large fingerprint on his forehead. Diana’s.

Copyright © 2007-2012 Cultured Views. All rights reserved.