St George's Day (celebrating my English Ancestry)
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| St George's Cross, the true flag of England. Not the more commonly seen Union Jack Flag a lot of people associate as the flag of England. |
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| Union Jack Flg patch I picked out with my Mother as a five year old during the US Bicentennial of 1976. Even as a five year old I knew where my family came from and was proud of my ancestry. I grew up in a unique place and time. I was five year old and the nation I was physically born in was having a 200 year old anniversary of severing ties with the nation that gave birth to the United States. The "main line" ancestors of mine were all born in one of the nations that made up the Mother Entity that the U.S. grew out of. That nation is, of course, England. In 1976 I was five and whilst the U.S. celebrating becoming an independent nation, my parents would get letters in the post with stamps that bore the outline of E.R. II's outline. One of the things I recall from being a child was my Dad getting letters and cards from relatives in England. At that time he had begun to trace family ties back to Blighty. Which in reality was not all that long ago, as he was the second generation born this side of England. His family is from the West Country, mainly the North Somerset area in the Chew Valley and Mendip Hills region. In 1976 with all the hoopla going on here in the U.S., I failed to grasp the fact that we actually lived in the U.S. and I was scared that a bunch of Americans were going to find me and kill me. I knew our family came from the "enemy nation", and I did not grasp that I actually lived in the U.S until later that year. Anyway as I child I grew to be very proud of being of English ancestry. My Dad's family also has ties to the Midlands as one of my sets of Great Grand Parents comes from Madley, Herefordshire. When I picture England in my mind, the place where my Dad's paternal family comes from in Somerset is what I think of. I tend to think of a rural England in late Victorian or Edwardian era England. My Mum's family has ties to the London area, but I don't picture London for some reason when I think of where my DNA comes from. Maybe I should because the capital city is iconic the World round and I should be proud of my connection to it. As for my Mother's family... Her Great Grand Dad was from Farnham, Surrey, not far from the large British Army Centre at Aldershot, Hampshire. From what I understand my Great Grand Dad Francis Albert Fry had actually grew up in the East End of London prior to moving to Canada. He ended up in the U.S. just as the nation had split in two and was at war with each other. He Served in a in Cavalry regt. in the Union Army (2nd Ohio Vol. Cav. Regt.). He ended up marrying a lady from Canada who's family original came from...Engand. See a trend here? From what I understand the Ticknor family was from London and came to the New World early one in the 1700's. That part I don't know many details. This particular Great Grand Mum of mine had been on the American continent quite a longer than the majority of my family which came over in Victorian times. Her family had been in the U.S. and ended up in Canada after the events of the 1770's. If I see where the Lodge family came from in the West Country in Somerset as what I see as how I view the England my family comes from, the I feel I get my love of England from my Great Grand Dad Fry from London. What little I know of him, he was proud of being English and the one photo I have of him just oozes that vibe over the decades. My Mother also had one set of Grand Parents who came from the Berlin area in West Prussia, but the Royal Family is of German Ancestry. Being of English Ancestry in the United States can be lonely really. It seems that not a lot of Americans are of English Ancestry, or if they are, that don't care. I'd love to see that change. It seems that every other ethnic group celebrates their heritage, except us English. People go outer limits over St Patrick's Day, there are quite few Highland Games events for the Scottish, there are Octoberfest for the Germans, etc. But when St George's Day pops up on 23 April 2023, I'd sure I will be the only house in the place I live to fly the flag. My dream is from those of us Americans who are of English Ancestry to learn to love our heritage and celebrate it!!! |
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