ancestry

This is the Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England. It was owned and lived in by my ancestors. My mum's last name, Mounsey, is a variation on Monceux. The Castle is now an international study centre for Queens University (Kingston, Ontario). There also appears to be a B & B and apparently (whether at the castle or not, I am unaware) there is a museum with my forefather's paraphernalia. I'm sure it would be shields and swords and such. Items that would have our families crest on it (whatever that is). Tables and chairs. Chamber pots. Boring articles that contain my DNA. No big deal.

Susanna (Strickland) Moodie and Catharine Parr (Strickland) Traill (Catharine or Catherine??),if you haven't heard of them, are two of Canada's most important 19th century writers. Susanna Moodie was a pioneer writer and wrote mostly about living in the bush in Ontario in the mid 1800's and Catherine Parr Traill wrote mostly about nature. Both were also painters. They were my Grandma (Strickland)'s (on my dad's side) third cousins fifteen times removed. Or something. That's just an approximation. The two eldest Strickland sisters, Eliza and Agnes also became famous writers as historians of British royalty and nobility. Before immigrating to Canada, Susanna and Catharine had both also established themselves as children's writers and poets.
This is Catherine Parr. She was the sixth and last wife of King Henry the VIII. She outlived the tyrannous King and apparently, my bloodline can be traced back to her, which is why Catharine Parr Traill was named as such.

So basically my family history is littered with nobility, royalty and upper class. On both sides.

I'm kind of a big deal.

SO BOW DOWN!