[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Well, bringing this back on topic a little (the horror!), this thread inspired me to do some digging of my own, since until now I had been relying on third hand information, which it would seem is inaccurate.

So far I have found no evidence of involvement in the Light Brigade or of riches of any sort. However, what I have found has been quite fascinating. The family has been mostly agricultural based, although my great-great-grandfather did have a shoe warehouse in Swindon in the 1850s, and Charles seems to be a very popular name for the men, about four generations worth of Charles dating back to 1748 with a Philip thrown in for good measure.

There is quite a cute tale around the 1850s that involved Henry Hayes, my Great-Great-Great-Grandfather who fell in love with the family servant, Mary Ann Hall, married her, had two children but then sadly died eight years later. I mean, it's like something out of a Catherine Cookson novel!
Then there's the wife's side who had her great-grandfather marry the girl next door!

It's been quite fascinating work.

Speaking of the horror: My Kincaid forbear near Glasgow was burned at the stake 1588 for hiring her man servant to murder her abusive husband; so much for women's lib. The rest of the Kincaids and the Mclain's of my wife's side were all cattle thieves and extortionist-and those McClains actually gave comfort to shipwrecked Armada crew in exchange for cattle raiding assistance-all being good Catholics at the time which foundered off Scotland after the great channel fiasco trying to get home via the Northern route. No wonder good King George gave us the option to flee to the colonies after 1745 ; all that energy could be used on Indians and the French in Canada. The Kincaid House restaurant in the Bay area is my favorite-naturally and out of respect, theres no corkage fee (if I bring my own Scotch) for clan members...