Reply #43: Yes, if you're a natrural enthusiast as we both appear to be, genealogy

[Joe Chi Minh]

can be all-consuming in terms of our interest and attention. I've got most of it out of my system now in the sense that I only occasionally browse through it.

Actually, I said twenty or so charts, thirty or forty pages on different families, but there are a lot more pages my own researches have brought to light and genealogies I've got from the library, tying up individuals from one source with others from another source. Trying to fill in gaps and often getting confused. Then there are grey areas I have to be less sure about.

Something very intriguing happened. I discovered that one of my later grandmothers from the line of 'big shots' married an ordinary seaman who served in Nelson's navy (in which, incidentally, there were a some Africans, many Irish, many Americans and men from various other countries) at the Battle of Santa Cruz and the Battle of the Nile.

In that day, social moblity wasn't that notable, so I wondered about it, and found out that Nelson's sailors were the 'pop singers' of their day. Mindful of the value of motivation, as well as having a certain empathy with his men, Nelson insisted to his superiors that they share in the booty they were able to get from the enemy ships they were able to overpower. So, it explains how he was able to buy a farm in South Wales, marry this women, raise a large family and die in ripe old age.

Funny you should have told us about your Mexican forbears. Earlier this evening I'd been saying to my wife what a geat film Mariachi is, and how Hollywood spoiled its sequel. Literally overkill. Minute-guns galore.

I will be looking at your genealogy site for sure. It's wonderful to have such a consuming interest, isn't it? It's bizarre how you feel connected in spirit with the later generations, almosts as if you felt they were watching over you and enjoying your interest. Fudge Stripe Cookie and I were talking about it some time ago. Others too. Also, improbable 'deja vu'-type discoveries.