General Chat

That is indeed a humanitarian act by Allan - well done :-) And yes I did know that.

My grandfather was a very strong trade unionist - Grandma nearly left him at one stage because he couldn't get work. He eventually got work with his brother in law tanning hides to make shoe leather - a job that contributed to his ill health.

S x

Janey, the book has been launched and copies are available at the Restaurant at the End of the Universe lol

Allan

Okay, two good ones! I'm partial to union organizing working-class MPs, myself, but old dead rich white guys who did public works, okay.

Allan is a humanitarian himself, of course. His donations of early 19th century sketches of military buildings (well, of digital copies of them, anyhow, and the rights to use) have contributed a good bit to modern knowledge of Canadian military history!

Betcha you all didn't know that, then.

Of course, without me being doggedly on the case, it wouldn't have happened.

I wanna book!!! Has that launch take place already? I was going to go and claim my copy -- of the just published book about the barracks in Toronto that contains Allan's ancestral watercolour.

Not an ancestor, but me.

I've survived the end of the world, unless it occurs later today. :0))

Allan

One branch of my family had 3 sons go to New Zealand via Australia and settled a large area on the south coast of the South Island. One brother - William Barnard Rhodes - was not known as a humanitarian =I However the other two Robert and George Rhodes were popular and made a huge difference in the areas they lived. George financed the tower in the Christchurch Cathedral that we sadly saw tumble to the ground during the earthquake. They settled in the Timaru and Lyttleton areas.

Funnily enough my father told me a story that came from his father. My great grandfather apparently liked a drink but gave it up and turned to religion after learning that he had missed out on an inheritance from a wealthy relative who had gone to Australia. My great grandfather's mother was a Rhodes.

Sue

Well; if you insist...

My ancestor was Ben Pickard - a Yorkshireman who was down the mines at 14 like his ancestors but got into union activity. He lead the Yorkshire miners then was leader of the Miners Fed of Great Britain. One of the first working class British MPs. Good enough? ;-)

You start your own thread. XP

I'll jjust wait and see whether the world ends sometime in the next few hours (the Aussies can't really expect it to end on their time) and then try boosting this up again on the weekend when the lazybones in other times zones are awake.

Somebody must have somebody! I know I've heard the odd one talk about suffragist rellies, for instance.

None of mine did anything significantly worthwhile but I bet one of mine had the longest tapeworm. All seven yards of it!

We've seen how many people lost ancestors (and ancestors' close relations) to drowning deaths, in my recent thread on that topic, and what truly fascinating insights into our social history stories like that provide.

Now I want good ancestors. Not exciting ones or funny ones -- good ones. People who are or were known for some significant humanitarian contribution to the world.

Just as there are no drowning deaths in my own tree, to my knowledge, I have no leading humanitarian figures. A bad poet or two, a novelist, an actress -- we'll have another thread about the arts later I guess.

Well, maybe not quite true. My second cousin four times removed was Viscount John Sankey, who was Lord Chancellor in 1929 and sat on the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords. He first stated the "living tree" doctrine of constitutional interpretation, which has contributed greatly to the expansive equality rights that we enjoy in Canada. Gay men and lesbians who have been able to marry their partners in Canada for several years now, along with members of other minorities, and women, would surely say that his was a humanitarian effort.

My maternal grandfather was a marvelous man, kind and gentle with everyone, and at the same time a staunch trade unionist who fought for the 40-hour week. His legacy is felt in his family and among others who knew him (including that lefty lesbian clergywoman, who knew him as a child and still remembers him fondly).

But I'm looking for big deeds.

Woman suffragists?
Anti-slavery activists?
Tireless campaigners against child or animal cruelty?
Politicians who stood up for the rights of colonized peoples?
Union organizers?
Nurses and doctors who worked for the public good?

Come. Boast. ;)