Yes, that's right folks. 330 years of ancestors.
I've always been interested in genealogy (the tracing of ones family tree back into the depths of time). And I've always known there was info floating around out there. Now. Until recently (yesterday, in fact), the furthest back any one branch of my family has managed to trace itself was the late 1700s, and we had a tendency to loose track of people after one or two generations in England.
But the miracles of the internet have prevailed. Whilst doing a surname search I ran across THIS SITE - the Essex area is where one branch of my ancestors came from. And I ran across a woman who had submitted 2 Surnames - that happen to be married to one another in my family tree. I got my hopes up (stupidly, as I thought they would soon be royally crushed), but for once my optimism paid off. One email later, I have managed to trace two branches of my family tree back a few more generations to the year 1679. How cool is that?
In other news, I attended a lecture at St. William's College, which is right near the Minster this evening about "Gunpowder, Treason and Plots" - ostensibly Guy Fawkes-esque, but I was actually impressed that it wasn't really about Guy Fawkes - it was actually more about the social history of Bonfire night (tomorrow night), and about the uses of gunpowder in royal assassinations in the early modern period. It was kinda nice, although I have issues with one lecturer's associations of gunpowder attacks with those of the modern suicide bomber. Anywho.
Just to keep you all amused, you can see that I've included a few photos I took this evening.
Up top there is York Minster - the main (West) doors. Dunno why they're lit up like that - must be something to do with Bonfire night? The colors in the middle stayed the same, whilst the colors on the two colums/towers on the outsides were changing color slowly but surely (I tried taking a pic from further away as well, but it didn't turn out so hot).
The middle picture is a Roman-era column excavated from the grounds near the minster (the Minster and the Roman basilical sort of overlapped in one corner).
And last, but not least, is the exterior of St. William's College. Not hugely detailed, and dark, I apologize. That's what I get for using a digital camera my mom won free in some lottery. But, hey, at least I can show my pictures to you all.
