Hahahahaha Nigel! Actually, two members of my family are called Weir. So not far wrong! (and of course, they inevitably got called 'weird' at school) It was strange looking at this old photo and seeing a woman who was my double and with exactly the same name. I wonder what she was like, and if she had a happy life. There's sadly no way of knowing now. And to see my venerable grandfather (who I knew in his eighties when I was about four; he'd managed to get through WW1 with only a thumb shot off) standing there as a young man in his prime. And his brother, Great Uncle Temple, who emigrated to Australia and made a lot of money farming sheep. My husband finds all this weird (sorry Nigel) as in his culture they have 'griots', who sing a long account of a family with all the ancestors in the correct order, with small details about each one. You pay them and they come to a wedding or a funeral and sing the family history. They pass it down so their sons can sing too. No need for family trees or photos! I believe that's how Kunta Kinte in the film 'Roots' was finally discovered by his descendant, due to a griot who recited the family tree. So fascinating.
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