More family resemblances

Thanks to Barry Nesbitt, a genealogist in my husband's family who published the book "The Dr James Macky Story: From a Farmer in County Donegal, Ireland to Physician/Surgeon in New South Wales" I was able to see some photos of my husband's ancestors and could instantly see the likeness between him and his great grandfather and great-great grandfather.

My husband, Dean Macky, on our wedding day in 2004, age 39

Age 27

Dr James Macky 1844 - 1909
Photo probably taken in 1885 at his graduation from the University of Edinburgh Medical School, age 41.

A beautiful bride, and a handsome groom

George Duncan MACKY and Amy Lisette KING 

While preparing another blog post on family resemblances I came across this photo of my husband's great grandfather, George Duncan MACKY (1880 - 1940) to Amy Lisette KING (1881 - 1963). They were married at the Methodist Church at Millers Forest, near Raymond Terrace, NSW on 2nd December 1908.

Initially I was stuck by how beautiful the bride was, then I noticed how much my husband looks like his great grandfather George, then I thought how hot the poor bride must have been in all that clothing in an Australian summer. I bet she was glad to get out of that dress by the end of the day.

A full day's distraction

As someone (can't recall who, sorry) said this morning, a bright shiny object has taken their attention all day, as it did with many of us genies. See Maria's blog post for a list of some more. Here is my breakdown of ancestors by country of origin. I had to expand it to 8 generations (the 8th generation is two columns wide - I should have factored in the extra people before allocating my cells!) to get everyone in that generation being born overseas. I guess that means I'm a 8th generation Australian.

Initially I included names as well, so my head didn't explode. This version has no names, only towns/cities, counties, then just countries.

Then the accountant in me couldn't resist breaking down the numbers in each country, & turn them into percentages.

Ireland 50%
England 45%
Scotland 5%

It was an interesting exercise to compare these percentages to my parents' Ancestry DNA results (mine are still processing and I posted them 3 months ago. My husband's were in the same box and his results came back 10 weeks ago. Go figure). The Irish component was about the same, roughly 50%, Great Britain was 50% in my 8 generations, but only 20% of my (estimated) DNA. Then the DNA results throw in Europe West (16%), Scandinavia (9%), Iberian Peninsula (1%), with the remaining smidgin being Finland/NW Russia, European Jewish, and Europe West. The DNA results obviously go back many more generations of influence than my 300+ years of research results could find records for, although I do know the Jewish person, my ancestor Esther Salamon.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

A full day's work!

International Women's Day 2016

In honour of all the women in my family on this International Women's Day 2016.

Here's to strong women.

May we know them.

May we be them.

May we raise them.

My mother, Kathryn, daughter Georgia (6), myself, daughter Kate (9) 2014

Edyth Mary Tuck Kerville 1920 - 2003
My maternal grandmother

Eva Ada Cleave Tuck 1891 - 1924

Edyth's mother, my maternal great-grandmother

Margaret Kennedy Tuck 1848 - 1929

Eva's mother-in-law, my gg-grandmother

Catherine Falvey Tuck 1813 - 1894

Margaret's mother-in-law, my ggg-grandmother

And on my father's side.......

Florence Mary O'Neill Collins 1910 - 1985
My paternal grandmother

Ivy Lorne Cruckshank O'Neill 1879 - 1947
Flo's mother, my great-grandmother

Elizabeth Lorne Brackenreg Cruckshank 1853 - 1949
Ivy's mother, my gg-grandmother

Rosanna King Collins 1890 - 1970
Flo's mother-in-law, my great-grandmother

Elizabeth Ambrose King 1862 - 1943
Rosanna's mother, my gg-grandmother

And to all the other female ancestors whose blood flows through my veins, thank you for being such strong and capable women. Through so much hardship you have paved the way for the generations of girls that followed you. Thank you all.