Totally OT: I LOVE coincidences!

[Jenny M Benson]

I don't know why, but I always love coming across something that makes
me say "Wow" What a coincidence!"

A few weeks ago I found, in a Census record, the future bride of a
relative of mine living in the same small village as another family of
relatives from a different branch of the family. I thought that was
rather amazing but to-day, in the 1891 Census, I found 2 next-door
neighbours in Brighton, one of whom was the 2nd Cousin of my 4xGreat
Grandfather on my father's father's side and the other was the 2nd
Cousin of my 4xGreat Grandmother on my father's mother's side.

That was worth an even bigger Wow!

[Sam Plusnet]

Post by Jenny M Benson
I don't know why, but I always love coming across something that makes
me say "Wow"  What a coincidence!"
A few weeks ago I found, in a Census record, the future bride of a
relative of mine living in the same small village as another family of
relatives from a different branch of the family.  I thought that was
rather amazing but to-day, in the 1891 Census, I found 2 next-door
neighbours in Brighton, one of whom was the 2nd Cousin of my 4xGreat
Grandfather on my father's father's side and the other was the 2nd
Cousin of my 4xGreat Grandmother on my father's mother's side.
That was worth an even bigger Wow!

I would go on to wonder if it _was_ a coincidence, or was there some
bigger family story which was now lost.

[Chris]

Post by Jenny M Benson
I don't know why, but I always love coming across something that makes
me say "Wow" What a coincidence!"
A few weeks ago I found, in a Census record, the future bride of a
relative of mine living in the same small village as another family of
relatives from a different branch of the family. I thought that was
rather amazing but to-day, in the 1891 Census, I found 2 next-door
neighbours in Brighton, one of whom was the 2nd Cousin of my 4xGreat
Grandfather on my father's father's side and the other was the 2nd
Cousin of my 4xGreat Grandmother on my father's mother's side.
That was worth an even bigger Wow!

Oh yes!! You might like this one, Jenny. Last year Wunderkind moved from
a 2 bed flat to a three bed Victorian terrace house in a short road on the
opposite side of which are some once identical Victorian terraces. My
paternal great grandparents moved from Oxford to Reading just prior to WW1
because great grandad had passed to be a loco driver. Depot was (and is
still) here. My gran became pregnant, got married and lived with her
parents, I assume her slightly younger sister was still there and her
brother who would have been about nine years younger than dad. *How*
everyone squeezed in is still a mystery! My dad’s second cousin gave me a
photo of that house. I told Wunderkind the number: one of her daughter’s
class mates lives there but the youngster was poorly on Claire’s birthday.


That’s one of my better coincidences possibly.

Mrs McT

[Serena Blanchflower]

Post by Jenny M Benson
I don't know why, but I always love coming across something that makes
me say "Wow"  What a coincidence!"
A few weeks ago I found, in a Census record, the future bride of a
relative of mine living in the same small village as another family of
relatives from a different branch of the family.  I thought that was
rather amazing but to-day, in the 1891 Census, I found 2 next-door
neighbours in Brighton, one of whom was the 2nd Cousin of my 4xGreat
Grandfather on my father's father's side and the other was the 2nd
Cousin of my 4xGreat Grandmother on my father's mother's side.
That was worth an even bigger Wow!

Throughout most of the 19th century, most of my Blanchflower
relatives[1] lived in North Norfolk, in the area around Kings Lynn. For
a number of years, in the same period, a member of my mother's family[2]
was a rector in the same area. When I was looking into my family tree,
I lived in hope of finding that the Rev. Currie had married / christened
/ buried one of my Blanchflower relatives. Alternatively, that he might
have had a Blanchflower working in his household. No such luck though.
If he had any contact with any of the Blanchflowers, I've never found
any evidence of it.

[1] or, at least, most of the ones I know of.
[2] I forget whether he was an n x gt uncle or a cousin of some kind