When I went to RootsTech in London, I decided that if I was going to make the long trip to England that I was going to take the opportunity to meet some cousins.
I jokingly said that, of course, the two families had to come to Canada to meet because they had come from opposite ends of England. My mom’s side came from Liverpool, and my dad’s side came from Brighton.
What’s different about these cousins is that genealogy and then DNA has confirmed them.
Over the years, I’ve put my family tree on many sites. You’ve probably heard of “cousin bait” well, it works
The first cousin I met was when I was in London. I met him through his wife; Eleanor and I had met her on Ancestry. She was working on his family tree, and I saw that we connected through our 2nd great grandparents. When I told Eleanor I was going to RootsTech, she was eager to attend, and we had such fun meeting at lunch and discussing in which classes we’d participated.
One evening after RootsTech I met Eleanor and my cousin; Martin for dinner.
Immediately after RootsTech London, I headed to Victoria Station to catch a morning train to Liverpool. I love how everyone is looking at the boards until their board is updated with the latest platform information.
I could have stayed at some modern hotel but who wants to do that when you can stay at a hotel that was built in 1826. So the Adelphi was my choice. I loved the spacious room with a foyer type entrance to the room that took you into the bedroom. They have a quaint pub in the basement that was busy every night, and best of all, it was within walking distance of the archives and the train station.
Besides going to the archives, this trip was also to meet my cousin Leo. Leo is my 3rd cousin, 1x removed on my mother’s side.
Leo and I connect through my 3x great grandparents William Middlebrough and Teresa Roberts.
Leo and I had connected several years ago on the site Genesreunited, and we have corresponded over the years, so it was a perfect opportunity to meet. He and his wife met me for dinner, and then we spend the next morning looking for our 4th great grandparents grave. We found it in Ford Cemetary.
After several days in Liverpool, it was time to jump on a train and head back to London so I could take the train to my next stop, Brighton.
My family left Brighton 108 years ago in 1911. My great grandfather, Jesse left then and then my great grandmother; Elizabeth Alice left seven months later in 1912 with their two children; Beatrice and my grandmother; Gladys Mabel. What was so special about that was it was less than one month after the Titanic had sunk. I can’t imagine how frightening it must have been knowing that the “unsinkable Titanic” had left via the same route.
Some of the cousins I met were descendants of Jesse’s half brother, William George Day Vincent. Jesse Oliver and William have the same mother, Charlotte Vincent. Two other cousins were descendants of Charlotte’s brother George Vincent.
These are just some of the cousins that I ‘ve found through genealogy, and as I previously said, these relationships have all been proven by DNA.
These relationships were lost for over 100 years, and with reconnection, we can help each other with information and photos. What cousins have you found?