David Forrest

I don't think this will be the only post I write about my 2x great grandfather David Forrest.
I am finishing reading a book by one of his grandsons, and he is featured in the early chapters quite prominently.
It gives me a sense of his presence.
And I felt his presence far before reading this book (WORSE COULD HAVE HAPPENED - ANDREW FORREST)

He travelled...he lived in other countries...and as I researched and learned more of him, I found he had been to Canada.
I suppose this was a big deal because before my mum, I didn't know of anyone in my direct line who had been to this country.
He spent some time in the Prairies...I found him in Saskatchewan at one point.

When his travelling days were over, when his 10 years in Australia were brought to an abrupt end (family duties, returning to Ireland as his brother was ill, and David was to manage the family land), I got a sense of who he evolved into.

an activist who worked for farmers rights in establishing the dairy collective
a well-read man who delighted his grandchildren with stories of Egypt and the pharaohs
a man who spent hours sitting out under the trees reading
someone I feel I have met through time and ancestral memory.

margaret christie mcfarlane stokes

two years ago my father died

and I never felt connected to him

this is partly why I started researching my family tree

to find some connection, for something familiar
through servants and weavers
illicit affairs and suicides

and then - my elusive 3x great grandmother

MARGARET CHRISTIE b 1820, married 1837, d 1889

well, she has been a research challenge

and now I know her, I know what she gave me. She is my first paternal link to health care work, and perhaps I am hers.

her husband committed suicide in 1856, I glean from it that he had possibly been involved in union organizing, and was being banned from other Clydebank factories, and it was publicized enough to find him.

but I have wondered about her - 36 years old in 1856 and 8 children later and a husband who committed a very public suicide in front of his co-workers...well I wasn't sure

I found her..in the 1861 Scotland Census married to a John Stoker (sp Stokes)
The irony is I already have Stokes in my happy Cork family roots

But Margaret - well she must have been so resourceful

she became a MIDWIFE in BELFAST!
I stumbled upon an article in 1869 that mentions her

and she is my first link with my health care career.
so I thank her
and she knows now I carry her with me.
I carry part of her spirit as I also treat others...funny my affinity for treating pregnancy and fertility issues


and now, my 3x greatgrandmother, I can nearly hear you whisper as I work with others.
I trust you are with me.
I carry you
I carry you in every cell