Several years ago, we shared on this blog how Ella got in touch with distant cousins she didn’t realize she had - these were relatives on her mother’s side who are living in Shetland. What’s really neat: We recently had a similar experience as we met for the first time cousins on Ella’s father’s side - the details are below.
As the generations continue on and families spread geographically, there’s something special about knowing that there’s kin elsewhere. And it’s even more uplifting to the soul when we can foster these relationships.
I’ve referenced our Bruce and Findlay cousins that we’ve connected with on Ella’s side, but I also wanted to give a shout-out to the McRae and Inglish cousins who have reached out as well, through this blog. We're glad to be in touch!
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It was perhaps about 2 years ago that I was asking Grandma Ella: Your father, George Findlay, was the oldest of 11 children (though just 7 of them lived to adulthood).(1) Where in the world did they all end up? And their children? I had heard about her father and one sister who had emigrated to America, and about the youngest brother who settled in New Zealand. But the others? We had cousins that we might not know about! And any still in Aberdeen?
Ella had emigrated from Aberdeen to the United States with her family in 1949 when she was 15, and at the time these were one-way boat tickets.(2). Now in America, even having a telephone in their home in Arizona in the late 1940s and early 1950s was such an unimaginable luxury, let alone calling overseas on one. I suppose there was letter writing, but Ella unfortunately fell out of touch with much of the extended family. And time passed on. Who would have thought that someday traveling would be what it is, and even that communication methods would advance so greatly?
As time passed on, it made sense that Ella’s father’s younger siblings would have children, that there would still family in her homeland as well as elsewhere in the world.
In the late 1990s, one of Ella’s first cousins visited them in Utah, coming from New Zealand. Cousin JF and his family! This was the first time they had ever met in person.
Then fast forward to early 2015: I received a message through this blog, a note from that same Cousin JF in New Zealand, which then kicked off an email correspondence that continues. He knew the answer to my question about where all the Findlay siblings and cousins ended up. And we were excited to hear that he was in touch with many of them!
On our May 2017 to Aberdeen, we finally met some of Ella's first cousins in person: We visited Cousin DD at her home, and Cousin CS joined us for dessert at our hotel’s restaurant. Upon that initial glance (at least for someone super sentimental, like myself!), it was as if they were instantly familiar. And we hugged as if we were reawakening a relationship that had simply been dormant. It was a mini family reunion!
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| Left Photo: KF, Cousin DD, BR, Ella; Right Photo: Ella and Cousin CS |
As you can imagine, during our time together we showed photographs of our families, we shared some of Grandma Ella’s prominent memories of common ancestors, and we enjoyed getting to know each other a little bit more.
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| Ella's parents Kate and George (on the far right) on their wedding day in 1927 with George's siblings (left to right, Carrie, Alec, Ethel) |
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| George Findlay's siblings (left to right): Madge, Ethel, Jack, Lizzie, Carrie (we think!) (3) |
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| Ella (bottom right) with older sister Ina (bottom left) with their Aunt Madge (back right) and a friend (back left) |
Cousin CS said that our visit had prompted her to revisit and sort through some photographs and documents that she inherited when her older sister had passed away.(4)
Our breaths were taken away when she showed us the first photograph: Ella’s parents (Kate and George Findlay) holding Ralph and Ella’s twin babies Bruce and Bonnie, out in front of Ralph and Ella’s home in Wilmington, California, in 1953. Then a realization: I assume that it was Kate Findlay (Ursula Katherine Bruce Beattie) who was keeping in touch with this family so far away, sending letters with photographs, and sharing the joy of their first grandchildren and the first great grandchildren of the Findlay family (and the novelty of twins!).
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| Ella's parents, Kate and George Findlay, holding twin grandchildren Bonnie (left) and Bruce (right), Wilmington, California - 1954 |
This was likely a photograph that Kate Findlay sent to her in-laws, George and Charlesina Findlay, and perhaps she sent some to her husband’s siblings as well (was this particular photo sent to Cousin CS’s mother?) In fact, Cousin MM, also in Aberdeen but whom we didn’t meet in person on this trip as she was on holiday, mentioned over email that she remembers seeing photos of her relatives in America, shown to her by Grandpa George Findlay.
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| Ralph and Ella marveling at the photo of Ella's parents with their twin babies |
What a thrill to think that on the other side of the world, these relatives grew up with a vague awareness of their extended family. And now, Cousin CS was meeting one of the twins shown in that picture. (Note: Ella’s older sister, Ina, I learned, was in closer contact with some of the extended Findlay family, and Ella was in touch with some of the other cousins years ago. But it can be easy to fall out of touch!)
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As I reflect back on the interactions with these cousins, I'm amazed at how Ella’s mother made such an effort to keep in touch with family, even sending photos to the other side of the world. It seems that those family connections were so important to her.
We're grateful for new technology and for the internet that is reconnecting us. We’re grateful for family stories that were told about these photos - for example: the photo of Kate and George holding the twins was unmarked, without names or dates on the back. And we’re grateful for mementos that were stashed away in a box and saved until a later time. In the current craze of minimalism and purging of belongings (or is this just a fad in America?), it’s significant to know that these items remain and that made for some meaningful icing on the cake for our visit.
We look forward to more family reunions, both virtual as well as face-to-face!
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Notes:
- See footnote #3 for the list of all 11 children, here: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2016/09/meet-charlesina-smith-love-findlay-1883.html
- Read more about their emigration story here: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2014/10/across-oceans-and-continents_27.html
- Ella did her best to try to identify her aunts and uncles in the photos. Is what's listed in the photo captions correct?
- For details of another document that Cousin CS shared with us, check out this blog post: http://greatflyingscots.blogspot.com/2017/05/john-mcdonald-and-ursilla-katherine.html
