I'm so glad I started this thread as it's ended up being so positive and made yesterday much better for me. We were out for a meal last night and I made a toast to my dad, even though dh and I were the only ones who'd known him.
Lol at all the naughty ancestors! My dad's dad was in a lunatic asylum at the time of the 1901 census - not sure how he came to be in South Africa by 1907! I haven't found out much more on that side beyond my G-grandparents marriage cert but when I've more time I will carry on.
On dad's mum's side, I've traced back to 1688, when a French Huguenot refugee emigrated to SA. He was 4ft 8" tall, a blacksmith, and had 16 children! Another ancestor was a baker in SA (Originally from Norfolk) and got prosecuted for selling underweight bread. He also seems to have left his family to fend for themselves when he died but made provision for his horse!!
One thing I was told by an expert in tracing family history is that most family stories passed down the years usually have some basis in fact, so don't dismiss old Aunty Gertie's improbable ramblings!!
Shosha, 100 pages - that's a lot of history. Dh's family has a varied history, with an ancestor winning a VC at the Indian Mutiny, most of the family being born/raised in India, then fil coming to the UK to join the RAF, fighting in WW2, posted out to Africa with his family and so on. Oh, and let's not forget dh's Aunt Lily, who ran a wartime tea shop where she allegedly 'entertained the troops'. Luckily bro-in-law is doing that research so I can just enjoy the results.