Parents of a nation

Most little girls like to think of themselves as a princess – well, not me – usually when they’re playing. Fairy tales are littered with them. The reality is unlikely.

Except… my sister-in-law is actually descended from a Danish king, according to my brother’s research. Well, wow, I thought, genealogy turns up the most amazing things.

It’s not as special as you might think. Apparently the Danish royals had a lot of children born, shall we say, on the wrong side of the blanket? Yep, lots of kids born illegitimately to the king and just about every Dane has a royal in their background. Not such a burden then, but in doing the research, the mothers were paid off and kept their identities secret.

So, while we can trace the Danish royal family back, there’s no hope of researching the mother. That part of the tree comes to a full and complete stop, back in 1835, which is a shame. The best we can do is research the circumstances surrounding her coming to the attention of the King. That might be fun…

Skeletons, scandals and secrets make up every family tree, I think, if only you look hard enough. No one likes to think of themselves as ordinary, and no family is ordinary; there’s always something deliciously wicked somewhere.

For example, in my tree I have a number of ancestors who ‘had to’ marry – scandalous for the time – one who ran away from Scotland all the way to Australia to avoid an arranged marriage, and one who deserted during a time of war. I also think I have a convict ancestor sent to Australia. But I also have miners, farmers, innkeepers, tailors, teachers, a dairy maid – which isn’t what you think, blessed are the cheesemakers - wheelwrights, carpenters, a Household Guardsman, and others, hanging off the tree.

Some families simply stayed in one spot for a couple of hundred years, others were constantly on the move for work, a few travelled across oceans to help build a new nation, at least one who came to Australia didn’t have a choice.

So far, only Danish king is famous and rich and while there isn’t abject poverty, no one else made a significant mark – not that found yet.

It’s astonishing to think that I came from such a disparate group of people. Yet, here I am, and there you are.

One day, I might even write a book on some of them; an historical piece, but fictional and explore their time from mine.