What is my nationality ?

[Willow 4873]

I am very boringly 100% English - think my ancestors suffered from travel sickness

Willow x

[Wendi]

Going back there is English, French, German, Irish......

and Welsh, from Monmouthshire   back at least to 1790.

For years,  I lived in Wales -  and although I am now "rooted" elsewhere I truly feel Welsh is my Nationality and "The Land of my Fathers" 

[XPhile2868]

I'm from Preston in Lancashire, although my family seem to have migrated quite a lot within England -

Parents from Preston
Grandmother from Wigan
Grandfather from Leyland
Paternal grandparents from Preston

2 great grandparents from Leyland
2 great grandparents from Wigan
4 great grandparents from Preston

Before that i have ancestors from Preston, Colne, Gloucestershire, London, Ireland, Bracewell (East Lancs), Wigan, Leigh, Leyland, Liverpool.

My ancestors were diverse religiously as well - both Anglican and Catholic, and a possible Swedenborgian.

[Lloydy]

I was born in Shropshire, so consider myself to be 100% English.  However, my parents are both Welsh, so are both sets of grandparents, and all the great grandparents.  When I get to the great great grandparents only one of them was English - he was born in Cheshire.

Suppose I'm more Welsh than English really


Jan

[ryan]

I simply think of myself as Devonshire, having been born in Exeter and living in Exeter as we speak. I did make a shoddy attempt to imitate Bob's idea (nice one Bob!!):


                                  Me - Exeter
                              Dad /              Mum\
                  Cowes                                       Exeter
               /              \                                   /         \
      Canadian          Germany                 Exeter  Stoke-on-Trent
      /          \                /       \                /    \               /\
Lodon    London   Germany Poland     Exeter  Ireland       Both Stoke   


There's some more Ireland on my Mum's Mum's side, along with some more Ireland on my Mum's Dad's side plus some Shaftesbury & Essex, too.

Ryan.

[D ap D]

I was born in north Wales (Caernarfonshire as it was then), my brother in Clwyd (that makes him FOREIGN!).

My mother in Anglesey, my father in Flintshire.

So that makes me 100% north Walian.

BUT,
My pat. gf was born in Aberystwyth, my pat gm in Cwmbach (GLA)
My mat. gf in Anglesey, my mat gm in CAE.

That makes me 25% Cardi 

Both parents and all grandparents of my pat. gf were from Aber
2 grandparents of my pat gm were from the Vale of Glamorgan, the other 2 from Aber
(So that increases my Cardi blood share)
All grandparents of my mat gf were from Anglsey
1 gp of my mat gm is from DEN, the other 3 from CAE

So going back 4 generations, I have only Welsh ancestors.

Going back another generation, I have 2 English - one from London, one from Yorkshire.
Doe that make me 2/64 th English? (3.125%)

Another generation back I have an Irish Ancestor. (Makes me 0.078% Irish?)

I would say though that that blood line is too diluted for me to play rugby for their national team though.

Perhaps if my grandfathers dog had cr@pped on the east side of Offas Dyke, I could play for England?

D ap D

[Burrow Digger]

I was born in New Zealand of Scots and English ancestry on my fathers side. (mother was adopted & I havent started on her family yet).

My husband is French Canadian, so my son is - in Canadian terms - "half french and half english", even though he's not entitled to any English passport.

[MarieC]

I'm a genuine Aussie.  About four generations on both sides of the family.  And I strongly identify as an Aussie.

However, in the background I have English (London, Yorkshire, Somerset, maybe Northumberland); Scots (from the very beautiful country around Fort William); Irish (more than I originally realised); possibly Welsh (still looking for those); and one Frenchwoman, a long way back.

Haven't been to Ireland, but when I go overseas, it is Scotland that I deeply resonate with and feel at home in.  But I am researching the English ones, as there are several cousins beavering away on the Scots.  There is a book by one of them being launched on 16 April - 600 pages long, I believe!!!

And the Irish stuff defeats me at present, from this distance, so it is all just sitting there, though another cousin has been delving into it...

MarieC

[Paul E]

This is a really interesting thread, as it draws into focus exactly what we mean by our 'nationality'.

One's nationality can really only be conferred by birth in a particular country, I would think.

If you start to delve back amongst the ancestors for national roots you're bound to come unstuck - if only because as you go further back, the bit that you might have imagined was French could turn out itself to be part German and part Dutch: there's really no stopping.

I was born in County Durham, so am technically a Geordie, but with the help of this site have discovered roots in Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Lancashire and Scotland.

As I go further back, I expect to further dilute my genes, so you see it really is hard to proclaim that I am 5% Scottish (although I suspect its my right hand that's the Scottish bit as it doesn't like opening my wallet!)

best wishes

Paul