Gangplanks

Charles Baker stepped down off the gangplank warily and looked for his brother Edward in the crowd.  He was back in the mother land but did not intend on staying long.  After jumping ship in Jamaica he managed to make his way back to England on a trading vessel.  He needed to keep his head down as he was still wanted for desertion.  He knew it was wrong to desert but being forced into the Navy at 15 and spending the past five years there he had had enough.

Charles found Edward and made his way through the crowd.  They hugged and headed toward the Hogshead Tavern nearby.

“Charlie, are you mad!  You’ll get more than 5 years in the Navy if they find you!”

“I know but I couldn’t hack it any more Ed, I’ve found us passage to Australia!  The ship I came here on, the Durham, is heading there and I got us work as crew.  Come with me Ed, please!”

Edward shook his head and laughed.  Charlie had always been a risk taker and loved an adventure.  He pondered his proposal for a minute too.

“Why the heck not!  What have I got keeping me here?”

Two days later the men were aboard the Durham for Australia.  They arrived in March, a new beginning for both men.[1]  Charles disembarked, he was not known as a deserter in this place so it was a rebirth almost. They wandered around the port taking in the sounds and sights and the heat.  Charles was optimistic that this was the best decision he had ever made.

Reflection

I think writing about new events would be the easiest topics for me.   I tried to be descriptive in this text but not let it take over, same with dialogue but I wanted to convey that there was ending and beginning but the adventure of a new world was the main topic.

---

[1] Historic Shipping, ‘Durham’, http://www.historic-shipping.co.uk/monwigram/durham%2074.html, Accessed 10 August 2018.

Cousins eleventy billion times removed

Do you have a bazillion cousins?

I have nine first cousins and can't say I have much to do with any of them.  Three are closer to my parents in age and the others are spread across the continent and we haven't seen each other for decades.  I find this a bit sad at times.  I often see those posts on facebook and such about cousins being your first friends etc and so many people agree or share them, yet it isn't the case for me.  Worse still my kids don't really have any sort of relationship with their cousins either.  Most are way older or live away from us or just the victims of disfunctional families.

But I have a stack of 'eleventy billion times removed' cousins and I really value them.  The joy of facebook, ancestry, DNA and such have connected us and I have met many of them.  We all have a common interest of research our families and connecting with the past.  We are all centimetres across from each other and generations apart on a print out of our trees but closer than ever through our interests.

It is this connection that saw me take a plane and drive almost four hours to visit some of these cousins and spend a day with them and meet other new ones. 

And it was totally worth it.

To hear stories, share photos and experience that connection that began four generations ago was a privilege and I feel truly blessed to be connected to these people. 

To all the people I have met through genealogy and will continue to meet.

Thank you all for sharing my obsession interest.