Synopsis "Made in Britain: Stories of our British Ancestry"
READERS OF THIS BOOK will journey through much of recent British and British empire history as seen and experienced by many of our ancestors, their in-laws, and their cousins, close and distant. It tells stories of people from different levels of British society-the upper, middle and working classes-who represented various occupations. We have put them in context within their historical periods, with historical background to describe great and small, national and global events to explain the reasons for their situations and in making the choices they did.Religion was then a powerful force in shaping lives, and many of our ancestors and their families exercised their religiosity, especially those who dissented from the established church of England as Nonconformists and those who served as lay or ordained ministers or provided services to widows and orphans. They exemplified by their lives the Christian values they espoused. Some of our familial lines may be traced back to the seventeenth century or earlier. Many families remained in their ancestral communities for generations; others were more mobile; and some migrated to improve their economic situations, to preach the gospel, to live among others of their religion, or out of a sense of adventure. Some made new lives in far distant lands. These expatriates and their children are included in our concept of "British." Our ancestors' adventures took them throughout the Empire. As a Christian missionary in India, one translated the bible into forty Hindu dialects. In China, one was a harbormaster and temperance worker. A set of brothers were among the first Settlers in Cape Town, now part of South Africa. One was a medical missionary in Africa. Others became land holders and merchants in the British colony on the Falkland Islands. And still more settled in the United States and Canada. Their occupations include shoe manufacturers, wine merchants, bakers, watermen on the Thames, tavern owners, soldiers, ministers in both the established Church of England and in various Non-conformist denominations. One, a contemporary of John and Charles Wesley, was a lay Methodist preacher. Some were employed in the insurance business, others in surveying and land speculation, and a few as civil servants or school teachers. Many were subsistence farmers who also operated cottage industries to provide for large families. Some worked at the cotton mills as the Industrial Revolution took hold. A few were entrepreneurs, engineers, inventors, or manufacturers. They produced shoes, coal, bicycles, automobiles, and airplanes. One worked as a conductor on an early passenger railroad. A few were politicians who served in Parliament or as local officials. There are also aristocrats; and one who married a European prince.Enjoy with us the adventure of following our curiosity down interesting and sometimes surprising paths.
