What do you know about your Granddad.

[MAD87]

Maternal grandfather was the 2nd youngest of 6. His mother died young but his father (Sporting Tom) remarried and went on to have 6 more. He was a landscape gardener in Dublin like his father and grandfather before him.
He married at 18 as he'd, ahem, been rolling in the hay with granny who was 6 years older.
He died at 86 when I was 13, but I saw him regularly in the 2-month summer holidays. He had 8 children including my mother. His family were 'quiet' nationalists.
Paternal grandfather was a copper with the Dublin Metropolitan Police. He and granny 2 also had to race up the aisle in an even more desperate sprint. They also had 8 children and were both ardent nationalists. I only met them once.

[Pathca]

It’s amazing how many of our great/grandparents made hasty trips up the aisle. No 2 was on the way when one set of my great grandparents married,they went on to have 14 in total

[Quiksilver]

Oh my goodness, @Char! That's a bit spooky....My maternal grand-dad was the grandson of a Jewish cigar-manufacturer. Four brothers but also two Hyacinth Bouquet-ing sisters He left school and became a butcher's boy Worked his way up to become a master butcher with his own shop. Married (hastily) my Grandma, a mannequin, who I never knew as she died at 46 when I was 6 months old. He never re-married. Grand-dad got called up to the RAF in WW2 as a cook. I've never known anyone before or since who could cook as well as he did.
He was a bit distanced from my mother, as a child and ado...perhaps that was a common result of the war years separations? Oh the Decembers! All hands to the wheel plucking turkeys and pheasants The first things I learnt to prepare were Yorkshire puddings and mint sauce No wizzy machine, though, just a sharp knife on the wooden chopping board.
He was born to live a different life really. He loved getting dolled up and going to classical concerts, with me tagging along. We used to go to London regularly to visit a great-aunt, although that was just an excuse to swan round Harrods, Gammages and Selfridges, the museums and exhibitions. I've never known anyone with such joie de vivre, either!
He died in my arms in 1982, having refused to go into hospital despite serious heart disease. I still miss him, too
Apparently, Dad's father was a grim, Victorian landowner in Derbyshire who fathered 12 children. Dad was the youngest. I don't think we'd have got on

[MAD87]

It’s amazing how many of our great/grandparents made hasty trips up the aisle. No 2 was on the way when one set of my great grandparents married,they went on to have 14 in total

Wow! 14!
Of course, sex out of wedlock wasn't exactly approved of, even less so in Catholic Ireland where even a thousand Hail Marys couldn't absolve such a sin.

[Ford Focus]

Paternal Grandfather I know nothing about at all. He was never mentioned. However, my sister-in-law Irene has given me 3 ring binders full of my family's history so I shall look at them all more thoroughly to see if I can find an answer!

Mum was on the way in 1913 when her Mum and Dad were married. My wife was on the way when her Mum and Dad were married in 1949. Not only that but her Father was 25 years older than her Mum!

[Sparkle]

@MAD87 "Of course, sex out of wedlock wasn't exactly approved of, even less so in Catholic Ireland where even a thousand Hail Marys couldn't absolve such a sin."

I was seven when my mum & dad married - my mother's surname on my birth certificate is that of my dad's surname. I think that is why they moved to Lancashire where I was born - it was a sin. Dad was from Orpington, Mum from Nottingham. How they met I have no idea. Mum had 6 kids previously and Dad 6 previously. Mum was 43 when I was born and had been brought up with the rest of her family as devout Catholics which is possibly why they did a runner to Lancashire. What I do know is that she was supposed to be having an operation on her foot and that's how she found out she was pregnant - the operation didn't happen. My half brothers & sisters on my mum's side were introduced to me (when we moved back to Nottingham) as my aunts and uncles - they were much older than me and I had no idea who they were until I was in my 20s! I was told that their children were my cousins! I never met the half brothers & sisters on my dad's side. Both Grand-dads died before I was born and although I've done much ancestry researching I cannot find any information as to when either Grandma died.

[basquesteve]

It was not my Grandfather but I new a man that had fought in both terrible 20 century wars, as a young man he knew a participant in the charge of the Light Brigade He told me the old Trooper said " I lost my horse I lost my friends and soiled my Breeches He then had to crawl back to safety under fire with his
dead horse's saddle and harness from the valley of death

[Blaze]

@basquesteve Not my grandfather, but my great-great grandfather .... a foot soldier from Selkirk who travelled with his regiment to Canada, the West Indies and fought in the Peninsular wars. I remember thinking of him when watching the Sharpe series ....

[hughnique]

Paternal granddad died 3 days after I was born, really was I that ugly, gran died in 1914, bit before my time, evidently pregnant with her 7th, Dad aged 4, and one of his brothers were then shipped off to an orphanage in Croydon where abuse was rife, believe up until the late 70's. Maternal grandparents, knew them but did not see much of granddad, evidently he was a P-ss artist, so I am informed, Granny used to look after me in the school holidays. Apart from that not a clue about what any of them did, never discussed, normally that means a skeleton in the cupboard.

[Blaze]

Apart from that not a clue about what any of them did, never discussed, normally that means a skeleton in the cupboard.

My maternal grandfather and his family were never discussed following my grandparents' divorce before I was born, and it was only by my own researches that I found family I never knew existed. It's been great to be able to share and exchange info with "cousins" found via Ancestry, many of whom live all over the world. With the information available today, it's easier to verify that the information is correct.
It is necessary to apply for BMD certificates to be sure of getting the correct information, and also to be able to learn other facts.