Which 3 Ancestors Would You Chose For Who Do You Think You Are?

[margecat]

I'm really late to this TV series, but I really enjoy it! Who Do You Think You Are? - BBC One


If you watch the opening credits, you'll see the celebrities posing in front of a building from one of their ancestors' countries. If you had three choices, which of your ancestors would be standing in front of what country's building, and what side of your family were they on?

Me:

1. My paternal Great Grandfather (who would turn 200 this year!), standing with the harbor in Baltimore, Maryland behind him, in the 1830's. He was a sea captain. He had his last child at age 72!

2. The Mysterious White Lady of Bermuda, circa 1870, standing with the ocean behind her. She was one of my Mother's ancestors from England, who somehow ended up in Bermuda, and married a former black slave. I found this out from a cousin who I met on 23 & Me. They are black, and have her listed in the family tree as White Lady Smith (Smith is not her real name) as her name is a mystery.

3. Laiban, an Indian lady who had one of my paternal ancestors with an English Army soldier in India in the 1830's, standing in front of Blacktown, Madras, which I think was changed to Georgetown later.

So, who do YOU think you are?

 

[DreamerRose]

The first is Elizabeth Branch on my father's side. She would be in front of a cabin in the 1830s Alabama wilderness. She is a fascinating woman who left us many interesting stories, including interactions with Indians wanting sugar. She and her husband were squatters on Choctaw land. They went on to own a large plantation farther south.

The second person is Christopher Branch, Elizabeth's ancestor. He landed on the James River just east of Richmonnd in 1620. He has thousands of descendants today. He became a wealthy landowner.

On my mother's side I would love to see one of her medieval ancestors. Some one else traced her surname back to the 1100s. Lots of weird weapons named in wills (like halberts), and one ancestor was executed for poaching on the king's land.

 

[margecat]

That's fascinating!

 

[Willowy]

Haha, if I knew about 3 ancestors, I wouldn't have to go on Who Do You Think You Are .

I've been told that my dad's side is related to Alexander Graham Bell somehow. And that one of the women hanged as a witch in Salem was an ancestor, on his side again. I'd see if I could confirm those. I don't know anything about my mom's side before my grandparents' parents, expect for tall tales my grandpa told. So learning anything about that side of the family would be cool.