My mother's family had an interesting story of how the Powis-Patis came to Australia. It was the story told by my Great Grandfather, Reuben Thomas and my Great Grandmother Emily. We were supposed to have been descendants of a distant Earl of Powys, from Wales. They came to Australia, not out of need, but as a wealthy family. Their lawyer, sent on ahead, skipped out with all the family money, leaving them to start from scratch in a new country. We all knew the story, and the girls especially loved it because it involved a lovely castle. And we all believed it too. So much so that when my mother went back to Wales for her honeymoon, my grandfather and grandmother warned her that when she visited Powys Castle not to tell anyone she was related or they might press her to cough up for money as it was in such bad repair!
We had a great feeling of belonging to that place. Everyone visited Powys and the castle when they traveled in Europe, and had photos of themselves in front of it.
I was pretty interested in where we came from and ended up gathering the family photos, letters and documents to do a family history. Everyone was keen. Things came together, then the cracks started to show, dates didn't match, addresses on birth certificates seemed to be from the wrong side of the tracks and pretty soon the truth came out that it wasn't the same history we'd been told. Most of my family were well amused...but some seem to have put so much store in having that particular history that they can't let go. I think the truth, with the struggle and poverty and hidden stories is far more interesting, although my daughter says the lack of castle in the story is a bummer. Luckily she has a great great grandmother on her father's side who was actually a marquesa, who was also called Isabella. Although she did have a castle, apparently it was lacking most of it's external walls and she was dirt-poor!
No comments:
Post a Comment