Famine, royals and Canadian link - all in my family history
A MAN whose ancestors include four generations of Scottish royalty has recorded his family history in a book of memoirs.
Stewart McCaw, 63, who grew up in Cleethorpes but now lives in Brigg, published a letter from his great-great-great-grandfather Duncan MaCaw to try to trace distant relatives during the summer of last year.
Originally from Ballintoy, Duncan had written a letter to his daughter in Canada in 1857. Stewart hoped that in printing the correspondence, it might generate some replies – which it did.
Through ancestry websites, Stewart traced a cousin in Canada and the pair later decided to create an online blog with stories of their family history.
Now, Stewart – who has also lived in North Somercotes and Grainthorpe and had numerous jobs around Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Immingham and Keelby – has compiled the family tales and produced a book entitled Galloping To Space – a detailed history of the McCaw ancestry, which is due to hit the shelves in coming days.
Stewart said: "It gave me a lot of pleasure reading short stories about my ancestors in the original tree my father gave me, about when they first set foot on Canadian soil and how some of them fought to keep their roots and traditions."
His discoveries cover the potato famines in both Scotland and Ireland, evidence of ancestors crossing the Atlantic on a passenger ship, links to four generations of Scottish royalty and even the king responsible for the English version of the Bible.
He has also been able to prove his ancestors were landowners at the time of Alfred the Great and the Domesday Book.
Stewart said: "The stories gave me the inspiration to give up my time and make it possible so we can all share these stories and be proud of our ancestry.
"If it had not been for them we would not be sitting here sharing these true stories about something we are all part of."
The book, called Galloping To Space, will soon be available to buy at Amazon, Waterstones and Priceminister, and also at local book stores and in the eBook format.
See your Grimsby Telegraph for extracts from Stewart's book and details about a forthcoming book signing.
Stewart McCaw, 63, who grew up in Cleethorpes but now lives in Brigg, published a letter from his great-great-great-grandfather Duncan MaCaw to try to trace distant relatives during the summer of last year.
Originally from Ballintoy, Duncan had written a letter to his daughter in Canada in 1857. Stewart hoped that in printing the correspondence, it might generate some replies – which it did.
Through ancestry websites, Stewart traced a cousin in Canada and the pair later decided to create an online blog with stories of their family history.
Now, Stewart – who has also lived in North Somercotes and Grainthorpe and had numerous jobs around Cleethorpes, Grimsby, Immingham and Keelby – has compiled the family tales and produced a book entitled Galloping To Space – a detailed history of the McCaw ancestry, which is due to hit the shelves in coming days.
Stewart said: "It gave me a lot of pleasure reading short stories about my ancestors in the original tree my father gave me, about when they first set foot on Canadian soil and how some of them fought to keep their roots and traditions."
His discoveries cover the potato famines in both Scotland and Ireland, evidence of ancestors crossing the Atlantic on a passenger ship, links to four generations of Scottish royalty and even the king responsible for the English version of the Bible.
He has also been able to prove his ancestors were landowners at the time of Alfred the Great and the Domesday Book.
Stewart said: "The stories gave me the inspiration to give up my time and make it possible so we can all share these stories and be proud of our ancestry.
"If it had not been for them we would not be sitting here sharing these true stories about something we are all part of."
The book, called Galloping To Space, will soon be available to buy at Amazon, Waterstones and Priceminister, and also at local book stores and in the eBook format.
See your Grimsby Telegraph for extracts from Stewart's book and details about a forthcoming book signing.
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