Sophy, that is a great photo. I'm going to print it off and show my dad next time I see him.
I've just called him to ask if he ever met David your GGD or his son Tommy, unfortunately he doesn't recall ever meeting either.
Listen to this though, I told him about your post about David etc, and he said this which I thought was a bit weird, he recalls a memory from his childhood which was a conversation between his parents discussing his dad's brother David, something along the lines of 'David was the smart one and could anything he wanted'.
He can't remember anything else about it or even why that memory has stuck in his head, but I thought it was weird especially after your points about (intelligence).
So it looks like the intelligent gene might have gone down your line...
While I got the small and bold gene, bum deal there me thinks!
Mind you I think my kids are all smart but I'm bias.
Your grandad Tommy is my dad's first cousin, which will make your dad my second cousin and you must be third cousins to my children. I think that is the correct terminology.
I have four children, my eldest daughter (35) was to a different partner and my relationship with her has been on and off over the years. she now has four children.
I have two boys and one other daughter.
The eldest boy (25) is an electrician and lives in the midlands, he is naturally smart, a problem solver.
Next boy (23) is currently living in London, holding down a fulltime job as an estate agent and is also fulltime at Uni (Goldsmiths), don't know how he is managing both. He is smart but in more of a people way, very easy to get on with.
My youngest (21) is still living with us in Wales, she is a wonder to me, has been since she was born. I currently wondering what she is going to do with herself...
I myself, I'm a software developer and have been for the last 20+ years, mostly in Oracle, so I must have got some of the smart gene as well.
My dad knew there were a lot of Moffat(s) in Greenock that he was related too but never met. The only brothers of his dad he recalls meeting were Thomas and Robert.
I think you are right about being politically active, I know my grandad was in the Orange order, and I think a lot of the family were as well.
Here's a link to the Ulster Covenant signed by a Thomas Moffat, and a few lines above a David Moffat. However the handwriting looks too similar to me, I think one person signed both names.
https://apps.proni.gov.uk/ulstercovenant/image.aspx?image=M0040420006My dad however was not interested in that and I never even knew much about it until I was much older.
The next time my dad comes to visit me I will ask him to bring all the documents he has so I can scan them to upload. He has copies of marriage lines etc.
In terms of Thomas moving his whole family over from NI to Greenock, I think I was a bit presumptuous. I assumed they had all moved over, because I knew the oldest and youngest had and I know that at least one of the daughters moved as well, because she died in Greenock when she was young (21). That was Annie. So I assumed they all moved over, I could be totally wrong about that. One day when I get some more free time I'm going to try and uncover more. I did write the Church in Aghadowey to see if they had any records, but never heard back. Must have been busy with God's business.
Here's another weird thing when I was a kid my next door neighbours were Hemphills, a big family and one of the son's was a good friend of mine (passed now), they also moved from Greenock. I'm sure they weren't connected but it is a weird coincidence, how that name keeps overlapping with Moffat.
On a separate note, thanks to Kiltaglassan for the links.