Of kings, puritans, and United Empire Loyalists.

My Dad is on a genealogy kick these days. (I think he is bored out in C'town.)

I don't suppose this is terribly unique, but it seems we can trace our family line back to Edward I, King of England. (I don't know if it's really possible to do this, but my dad is convinced it's all true.) By the 17th century, the family had moved to Massachusetts, so they were probably puritans. Later on, one son must have been a Loyalist: he moved himself to Nova Scotia, and the family stayed in the British colonies for several generations. My great great grandmother died in Cambridge, MA, and this is where my grandmother grew up. She and her husband (also an American) moved their young family to Ottawa after the Second World War. My dad was born soon after.

The other half of my dad's family (his father's) can trace its roots confidently back to the American colonies in the early eighteenth century. One relative was a general in the Civil War, while two others fought in the Revolutionary War under George Washington. Actually, there's a recent book about famous P's in American history. Kinda neat, if not particularly useful or telling.

My mother is French-Canadian. I don't know anything about her family, though they've probably been in the New World for quite some time.

But why am I thinking about this stuff?! Back to dissertation research . . . .