The Narrative of the Ancestors.
The following words are from my preparation notes prior my talk with the Pencarrow Rotary Club.
During the past 18 years I have dwelled upon a discovery of my meaning. To fully discover this meaning I needed to understand myself. Through understanding myself I needed to learn about my whakapapa or my geneology. I needed to understand why for one, been drawn towards the arts and who memories I carry within my genes.
Painting of old England possibly Nottinghamshire. Painted by my Great Grandfather G.A. Lidgett c1900s
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Painting of farm track in Halcome, NZ. Painted by my mother J.E. Browne. 1960s
Miramar Brick Works. Photographed by my father D.H Browne c1940s
The above 3 images are just a portion of what I grew up with and part of the influences that has inspired me to create.
To carry on. Within my family home hang many paintings created by Mum and my Great Grandfather. At times my Dad would show his old photos some of which showed a good level of skill in perspective and subject matter. All of this is important for my journey into discovering my genealogical make up which at this stage of my life I had only been scratching the surface. In later years I discovered links that went back 100s of years. While in the UK I spent much time walking and reading about history of Britain. As far back to the early inhabitants, Celts, Vikings, Saxons, Normans and the Romans all make up what I am today. During those times if a old family name appeared in a manuscript you could generally bet your cotton socks that the possibilities are high that this person is a distant relative. A strange thing happen on one of my journeys to Hastings. While on the train I went pass Battle. Hmm!! whats that all about I thought. While in Hastings browsing a bookshop ran by a man who could have easily been a pirate in his pass life I found a wonderful book called The Saxons. I looked up Battle and discovered that this was the ground William the Conquer fought with his men against King Harold. Well 6 months later while in Edinburgh while reading a book on the Cummings Clan (Cummings is my fathers, mothers maiden name) I then discovered they to were side by side with William the Conquer and of high rank. Now one thing that life tells me is that the heart is stronger than the head and by following the heart or going with the flow things happen like this for a reason. My hunch and I like stories is that one of my ancestors fought hard out next to William.
To carry on. Within my family home hang many paintings created by Mum and my Great Grandfather. At times my Dad would show his old photos some of which showed a good level of skill in perspective and subject matter. All of this is important for my journey into discovering my genealogical make up which at this stage of my life I had only been scratching the surface. In later years I discovered links that went back 100s of years. While in the UK I spent much time walking and reading about history of Britain. As far back to the early inhabitants, Celts, Vikings, Saxons, Normans and the Romans all make up what I am today. During those times if a old family name appeared in a manuscript you could generally bet your cotton socks that the possibilities are high that this person is a distant relative. A strange thing happen on one of my journeys to Hastings. While on the train I went pass Battle. Hmm!! whats that all about I thought. While in Hastings browsing a bookshop ran by a man who could have easily been a pirate in his pass life I found a wonderful book called The Saxons. I looked up Battle and discovered that this was the ground William the Conquer fought with his men against King Harold. Well 6 months later while in Edinburgh while reading a book on the Cummings Clan (Cummings is my fathers, mothers maiden name) I then discovered they to were side by side with William the Conquer and of high rank. Now one thing that life tells me is that the heart is stronger than the head and by following the heart or going with the flow things happen like this for a reason. My hunch and I like stories is that one of my ancestors fought hard out next to William.
Could there withing this tapestry of the famous battle in 1066 have an image of my ancestor Cummings of Birness.
