More Cousins

Last night my cousin Kevin and his wife Sue invited me over to their house for supper.  Every Friday they go for carry-out from a local place that serves fish and chips.  I couldn't leave England without having fish and chips at least once!  The breaded cod fish fillet was enormous, and I ate my chips (French fries) in the traditional way with malt vinegar instead of ketchup.  It was a very tasty supper... so much better than the fish and chips served at some restaurants in the U.S.

(photo taken by Sue)

After supper we watched a tennis match from Wimbledon, the famous tennis tournament that is held each summer just outside of London.  The United Kingdom's top tennis pro, Andy Murray, was playing against a player from Spain.  Murray won the men's title last year, the first time that an Englishman had won in over 70 years.  The British are hoping that he can repeat his success this year.  I enjoyed watching the match, and even though I love Spain, I was rooting for Murray along with Sue and Kevin.  Murray won easily, and advances in the tournament.  His toughest competition will probably come from another Spaniard, Rafael Nadal.

Today I went to St. Pancras station and caught a train to the town of Market Harborough.  Market Harborough is located in the East Midlands about an hour via high speed train to the north of London.  My reason for going there was to meet yet another cousin, Clive.  I had made contact with Clive through my genealogical research.  His great grandfather was a brother of my English great grandmother.  That makes him my third cousin just like Kevin, but Clive is descended from a different brother.  We have been in contact via e-mail and Christmas cards, but we had never met face to face.  Clive said that we should meet the next time I traveled to England, and we had made arrangements to get together.

Clive was at the train station to meet me, and he drove me to his home in the nearby village of Lubenham.  There I met Clive's wife Helen, and two of their three children, Emily and William.  In addition, Clive's brother Nigel and his wife Julie had come from Gloucester.  So I met another third cousin!

(photo taken by Nigel's wife Julie)

 Clive is to the left and Nigel to the right.  I felt quite short between my two cousins.

Helen served a lovely lunch for us all.  Afterwards, Clive and Nigel showed me old family photos.  The picture below is of their great grandfather William and his wife, who would have been my great-great-uncle and aunt.

Unbeknownst to my parents when they named me, William is a recurring family name in the English branch.  My great-great-great grandfather was also named William.

Unfortunately, it was raining all afternoon.  I was unable to explore Lubenham and Market Harborough which both are very old and picturesque towns.  But the hospitality and good company of my distant relatives more than made up for the dreary weather.  They are all very lovely people, and I am so fortunate to have met so many wonderful cousins through my genealogical research!