Inbreeding. Have You Been Surprised By What You Have Found Out?

[linmey]

Recently, when researching my Scottish roots, I found out that my grandparents were first cousins. I was mildly surprised because nobody had mentioned it before but when I questioned my Aunt I got the impression that I had stumbled across a family secret that she would rather I hadnt questioned her about.
     I was wondering if anyone else has unwittingly discovered a family relationship that has been kept hidden, and did it cause any problems when you did.
                Linda.

[Josephine]

Linda,

I didn't uncover this but it was a family secret back in the day. 

My mother-in-law's parents were first cousins.  They snuck off to get married in another city (in the 1920s), then each returned home to their own parents.  They lived apart for the next five to seven years.  My MIL's father was sickly, and her mother wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant, so they were surprised to learn she was five months along.  That's when they had to 'fess up to their parents and move in together.

I'm still waiting for the opportunity to tell my aunties that their grandmother's grandmother was Jewish.  That's the big secret (or lost detail) that I've uncovered recently.

Regards,
Josephine

[Romilly]

Hi there,

Looking at the Welsh side of my family, for generations it seems to be Rees marrying Rees!

I have no idea if they were closely related though...or if everyone in that part of Glamorgan was called Rees:-)))

Romilly.

[linmey]

Hi Josephine,
                      Thats very interesting, because its not against the law for first cousins to marry but obviously it has been something that people have tried to hide. Thats why I thought it would be interesting to hear others experiences.

[linmey]

Hi Romilly, I have had the same experience of the same names cropping up over and over again in the same families but I havnt been able to tie them together.
   I wonder also if views were different in Scotland and what the church thought about first cousins marrying.

[oldcrone]

My grandmother was banished from her home in Brighton by her parents, and sent to be a cook in Guildford, in order to curtail her relationship with her first cousin.  My mum says that this was because marriage between first cousins was frowned upon in Roman Catholic families at the time (1920s), but presumably it extended further than this particular faith.

Oddly enough though, my grandmother's aunt married HER first cousin (AND in a Catholic church) - and this was the same Brighton family....

Clare

[Romilly]

Hi Romilly, I have had the same experience of the same names cropping up over and over again in the same families but I havnt been able to tie them together.
   I wonder also if views were different in Scotland and what the church thought about first cousins marrying.

Hi Linmey,

I might be wrong on this...but wasn't it a Biblical thing, - that 1st cousins were forbidden to marry?

I know that my mother in law wanted to marry a 1st cousin, & neither of their parents would allow it. (I phoned him when she died last year, & he was terribly upset about it).

Romilly.

[Josephine]

Linda,

At some point in time, I think it was against the law in Canada for first cousins to marry (at least that's what my mother told me when I was young).  Maybe I'm wrong.

Regards,
Josephine

[oldcrone]

Despite whatever the religious didacts may be, or may have been, I must admit that in the here and now, and taking into consideration my own agnosticism, I still would think it was a bit weird if my daughter wanted to marry my sister's son.......!!!

But good luck to those who bucked the trend!

Clare