An unknown relative contacted me the next day.
This person comes from the line I had pretty much given up on, due to being unable to find much info about my mysterious paternal grandfather. I had traced part of the line back to the early 19th century and gave up, because what was the point if I couldn't verify anything about his actual life? I suspected he was adopted. Well, the DNA link is real and it's through his line, so hello Grandpa! Stop being so damned elusive!
The links go back to Belfast and County Down, where we bumped into an interesting name: Jardine. That's pretty old - though it does exist as a clan in Scotland, a Du Jardon, variant on that name, crossed the seas with William the Conqueror, so it would be a misnomer to automatically link it to Scottish-French ancestry. My relative's theory is that the family were originally Huguenots fleeing to Ireland from persecution in France. As far as I can see, the theory is based on two things; the French name, and the fact that the family all seemed to have a background in weaving and the linen industry, the skills through which Huguenots massively influenced the economy in what we now call Northern Ireland. Of course, we've barely started communicating on the matter, so maybe there will be more information to back this up.
The relative is immensely helpful but I am embarrassed because I have so little to offer by way of return. So I will phone some Scottish relatives today and see if I can get anything out of them. It's a little grim, because the recent family past has not been so easy, but it seems only polite, given this new contact's readiness to share info.
Why do I write about things like this, when so much else is going on? Because certain things are best discussed when finished, but genealogy is never finished, so one can rabbit on about it at any time.
This person comes from the line I had pretty much given up on, due to being unable to find much info about my mysterious paternal grandfather. I had traced part of the line back to the early 19th century and gave up, because what was the point if I couldn't verify anything about his actual life? I suspected he was adopted. Well, the DNA link is real and it's through his line, so hello Grandpa! Stop being so damned elusive!
The links go back to Belfast and County Down, where we bumped into an interesting name: Jardine. That's pretty old - though it does exist as a clan in Scotland, a Du Jardon, variant on that name, crossed the seas with William the Conqueror, so it would be a misnomer to automatically link it to Scottish-French ancestry. My relative's theory is that the family were originally Huguenots fleeing to Ireland from persecution in France. As far as I can see, the theory is based on two things; the French name, and the fact that the family all seemed to have a background in weaving and the linen industry, the skills through which Huguenots massively influenced the economy in what we now call Northern Ireland. Of course, we've barely started communicating on the matter, so maybe there will be more information to back this up.
The relative is immensely helpful but I am embarrassed because I have so little to offer by way of return. So I will phone some Scottish relatives today and see if I can get anything out of them. It's a little grim, because the recent family past has not been so easy, but it seems only polite, given this new contact's readiness to share info.
Why do I write about things like this, when so much else is going on? Because certain things are best discussed when finished, but genealogy is never finished, so one can rabbit on about it at any time.