52 Ancestors in 52 weeks week 3 –Longivity

I had always believed longevity was not an attribute I possessed as all my close rellies ‘popped off’ by fifty.
This week’s challenge has prompted me to take a deeper and closer look at my familial life spans and  the outcome has been somewhat surprising. Using basic statistics to analyse the life-span of 46 direct line ancestors, I conclude it’s not as bad as I had first thought, but I would like to see the longer bars at the end of the scale...     

                                   
Closer analysis of my closest direct ancestors included parents through to great-grandparents however brings both good and not so good results; with analysis of the past 4 generations only, the mean average of life span dropped to  55.5 yrs (-6.5 yrs) on my father’s side and rose to 68 yrs (+2 years) on my mothers.

George Edward KING- father- 48yrs-heart disease
Edna Rose O’MALLEY – mother- 73yrs- chronic lung disease (emphysema-smoker)
George Henry KING- paternal grandfather- 55yrs- heart disease
 Phyllis Olive GREENFIELD- paternal grandmother-57 yrs- breast cancer
Thomas Augustine O’MALLEY- maternal grandfather- 69yrs –myocardial degeneration and  
                                                                                                                         broncho-pneumonia
Beatrice BIRD-maternal grandmother-58yrs-heart disease and emphysemia (non-smoker)
Paternal  great-grandparents:   
                                             Thomas KING-79yrs- heart disease
                                             Isabella MILES- 45yrs –deciduoma malignoma  (due to post-partum issues)
                                             Henry GREENFIELD- 69yrs- unknown
                                             Frances MOFFETT- 37 yrs –uterine cancer
Maternal great-grandparents:  
                                              Patrick O’MALLEY- 68yrs- carcinoma of larynx (smoker) and heart failure
                                              Eileen Marianne SHERIDAN- 66 yrs- cerebral thrombosis and
                                                                                                                                      myocardial degeneration
                                              George BIRD- 65yrs- Carcinoma of the rectum
                                              Sarah TIPTON-78yrs –Myocardial degeneration

Once bringing the information together  I see heart disease is prevalent in the paternal side, whilst making itself known on the maternal side it would appear to be mostly degeneration probably due to other issues.
Lung weakness in one form or another prevails on my maternal side, and cancer in various forms from both lines.

An online test by My longevity considers 5 areas that effect longevity; surroundings, health, attitude, parental relevance, and eating...   it predicts I will live to 81ys..... that will mean I’m beaten by only  3 of my direct ancestors.
http://www.mylongevity.com.au/Analyser.aspx?PageSection=IntroPage&Questions=9&Pool=n/a

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks -week 2-favourite photograph

Week 2 prompt: FAVOURITE PHOTO

How can one have a single favourite photo? Photographs are like children, all special in their own right, associated memories and feelings.

For this reason I have chosen my most precious photograph. It is not old; but the people, related sentiment, and reminiscences are priceless.

    
                  

The first photo is my precious gem...
Taken in early 2005, it depict my mother Edna Rose O’MALLEY and my step-father Raymond Henry BRETT.

When I relocated to Australia in October 2004 I purchased a voucher from ‘pixie photo’ and asked mum to get a decent photo taken of her and Ray for me. This is the resulting photo.

Never could I have realised that within four years both would be gone.

This is their last photograph together.

Raymond Henry BRETT, son of Wilfred Henry BRETT and May Victoria STOW, was born 27 April 1937 in Dagenham, England. He was the second youngest of eight children. Ray set to sea quite young where he jumped ship in New Zealand early 1950s. He married Betty WEHI, and had six children; Christopher (adopted, died as a baby), Christina, Maria, Raewyn (died aged 19 due to car accident), Stephen, and Vicky, before divorcing and subsequently meeting my mother about 1975. Ray was the most significant male in my life, I considered him the closest to a father I would ever have and I loved him as such. I called him Da. Ray was a car/metal spray-painter by trade back in the days of little legislation or monitoring of occupational health and safety. Ray died unexpectedly on 11 April 2006 in Christchurch, New Zealand due to complications from a prescribed medication interacting with a occupationally compromised lung condition.

Edna Rose O’MALLEY, daughter and only live issue of Thomas Augustine O’MALLEY and Beatrice BIRD, was born 21 June 1935 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Edna had a checked life having married three times to produce four children; Corinne, John, Steven, and Ricky, before meeting Ray. I often say mum was a woman before her time; her own life experiences ensured  compassion, tolerance, and understanding of people from all walks and she was loved and respected by many in return. Always a smoker, Edna died from Chronic Respiratory Disease (emphysema) on 13 October 2008.

Mum and Da were introduced by my paternal uncle and, until ill health made it impossible, they often enjoyed  rock and roll dancing, it was always wonderful to watch them and see mum so happy.

Edna and Ray taken early 1985

RIP Mum and Da

                                                       

52 Ancestors in 52 weeks -week 1 -START

 Week 1 prompt: START

A three word blog for this prompt could well be ‘where to start?’ fullstop.
Where is the start? Is it how one started? Who got one started?
Is start a person? A time? A place? A memory? A reason? The first amazing discovery?
Is it the first ancestor? The farthest away ancestor? Myself? My newest great-grandchild?
Each in itself could also be a complete blog.

I started my family history about 45 years ago. My best friend introduced me to her ‘hobby’, and I was hooked! By that time my four grandparents had all passed, my parents divorced when I was young, and my mother was an only child. My mother knew very little about either her father’s (Catholic) family history, or her mother’s (Church of England) upbringing. There was not a lot of extended family interaction. When I asked her why she hadn’t enquired about her own parents’ family history she replied ‘you just didn’t’. Not conducive for beginners or oral family history.

                                                   Paternal grandparents                         

  

               George Henry KING                               Phyllis Olive GREENFIELD
                      1893-1949                                                 1904-1962

                                         
                                                 Maternal grandparents



    Thomas Augustine O'MALLEY                             Beatrice BIRD                 
                       1903-1973                                                1902-1960

Research was very different back then. Personal use computers were still about ten years away, very complicated, and expensive. Research consisted mainly of physically visiting the library, Church of the Latter Day Saints, or by snail mail. One would write away for information and if that was overseas the process could take MONTHS... take for example my two year ongoing correspondence to find if my 2x great grandfather was indeed a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary... no conclusion after much to-and-froing, but confirmed serendipitous online decades later.

My research habits were different too... very lacking in documenting resources -sadly. There are things I definitely remember hearing or seeing but can’t recall from where, other things I think I remember, and no doubt some things I have totally forgotten😡.
The habit of gathering information and ‘filing’ them in a box to sort later is one I have unfortunately found hard to break, and as numbers of family tree members and availability of information has increase exponentially... so has my disarray of priceless facts, figures and photographs. My two filing cabinets, two bookcases, and numerous boxes would surely rival any hoarders stash.

Finally, there is the start of new friend and cousinships discovered and developed along the way, time and distance presenting no barrier. Some will only ever be cyber family, but the blood and history of those who started our lineages flow through our collective veins.

...and PLEASE don’t get me started on DNA genealogy!!!!!

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