Tell me one interesting fact about one of your grandparents

[listsandbudgets]

Because I'm bored and nosey.

My nan could speak Italian but only in the imperative because she and my grand dad had Italian prisoners of war on their farm during world war 2

My maternal grandmother was a national cycling champion in the late 1920s/early 30s. Allegedly she won the first ever women's race to be run at Herne Hill velodrome in London. We have books of her press cuttings and photographs. She taught me to ride a bike when she was about 70 and I was about 6.

My sister recently had the chance to do a track cycling day at Herne Hill and it was very special knowing that our grandmother also rode in the same place.

My paternal grandfather was German and an artist who left Germany in the 1930s to get away from the Nazis before WW2 started. He died young, many years before I was born, so I never met him.

My granddad was a prisoner of war in ww1 and ww2

My grandparents bought each of their five children a house outright, left all their grandchildren (including me) enough for a house deposit, car or wedding on reaching 18.
My grandmother also used to rescue dogs and feed random undernourished kids. Apparently her house was always full of people and animals. She sounded amazing but sadly died just before I was born.

She stood on the cliffs with her little sister and watched Bleriot fly over making the first plane channel crossing. Before she died, she saw the moon landings.

My grandma had a stroke when I was just a baby and could only use a handful of words.

I never thought this was unusual until I was about 8 and a school friend said "why can't your grandma talk?"

I had grown up just being able to understand what she meant without her having many words. I just knew and communicated with her exactly as she was. And I loved her just as she was. I miss her every day.

Oh Gorgeousjaws! Love that! We're learning about Thomas Coram in my class at the moment!

Have really enjoyed reading these.

My Nan born in Ireland recalled collecting seaweed off the beach with her mother. Some of the seaweed was used as fertiliser on the potatoes they grew around the cottage the family lived in. The rest of the seaweed was cooked to go with the daily meal.

My great grandfather was an antiques dealer and a Freemason. My grandfather (his son) was one of 14 children. He and one other brother were known as "the black sheep of the family" but I have no idea why. His family were very well to do but my grandfather most definitely was not "well to do".

My grandad used to be a dustman and on his wedding certificate is described as a 'council highwayman'. My great great grandfather went to Lewes Prisonin 1874 for attempting to bugger a cow.

My Nan was born in 1915 and is still alive today!
She worked in HMV as a teenager. I used to think that was hilarious when I was young and couldn't imagine she'd ever been young.

My grandfather was the illegitimate son of a Prime Minister

We didn't know when he was alive (we knew he had been brought up by his granny with no father on the scene) but my cousin is into genealogy and did some digging.

My Grandad was in the d day landings, he went in the second wave so made it up the beach. Whilst running through a field a bomb went off, he couldn’t see where he was going so kept running. Turned out some of his head had been blown off and his face was hanging down over his eyes. He lived until his late 70s.

Great idea for a thread and some amazing brave stories. I bet our grandchildren won’t be as impressed with us!

My grandfather was a fairly well known opera singer back in the day and sang with the D'Oyly Carte opera company.

My nan used to work in a chocolate factory.
My other nan and grandad owned a hotel

My Grannie had very bad asthma. She loved dancing but was too breathless to walk home afterwards. So my Grandad would carry her all the way home after the dance every Friday night.

My Grandma's organs were on the opposite side to normal. So her heart was on her right, liver on her left etc.

My grandad played double bass in a jazz band in the 40/50s ...... my grandma delivered the milk for a long time and got most of her relatives involved too

My grandad was a gunner on Lancaster bombers in WW2. He flew in 25 bombing raids including Dresden.

He and my gran died within a few days of each other both age 71.

My maternal gran ended up in the local workhouse twice and had 2 illegitimate children by the time she was 20.

Someone (we think) connected to the workhouse encouraged to marry a much older man who was 'a confirmed bachelor'.
They were obviously ill-suited and she left him for a married man and this caused a local scandal resulting in them leaving the place they both lived. She had 6 further children with this man.

My paternal grandfather lay in no man's land for 3 days during WW1. We have the letter to his mother from the army padre saying he was presumed dead and then a later letter telling of his injuries. He came home after the war but was never the same man and died in his 30s.

Love these threads btw

My grandfather went drinking with Lawrence of Arabia (before he was ‘of Arabia’), they were in the RAF together. He also helped design a tiny, but vital, spring in Concord!

Tallace my grandfather was also a gunner in the Lancaster Bombers! And we have just had his funeral today!

My grandfather was a merchant seaman during the war, he got torpedoed three times, but all he would say about it was he was lucky it was warm water.

His money got stopped when his ship went down, my grandmother had to go to the shipping office to ask for money and find out what happened.

Not my immediate grandparents by a great grandparent invented things and one of those things was the pilot light which now pretty much every house in the country has one

At least 3 of my 4 grandparents were bonkers.

My grandmother was born out of wedlock, her father already being married to someone else, she was given as a baby to her fathers mother who lived in the countryside her mother was never seen again I believe she was a young girl of maybe 17 or 18, must have broken her heart.