I took Friday off work anad went to Victoria, because I felt guilty for reasons. I didn’t want to go, and until I was on the ferry I was in danger of changing my mind – but I did my daughterly duties (and then some), so I’m off the hook for a little while. I do plan on scooting to Victoria this summer (because it is one of the greatest times ever), but I think we’re going to call it a vacation and stay at a hotel: I hate my mother’s place, and I hate the week of back pain I get for every night I sleep on plywood.
I gave my mom all the presents this weekend, which covers me for Mother’s Day and her birthday in early June. Ed and I gave her a new TV to replace the dinosaur 27″ CRT she had (and still has, because the two of us were unable to lift the damn thing to move it out of the living room), and I had a couple pictures of her cat done up in fancy frames by Hatchcraft. I also used the Power of the Internet to order her a CD she mentioned, and took her out to lunch. I am a Good Daughter <tm>.
Before leaving yesterday, I got a chance to go through my dad’s papers. While I couldn’t find anything belonging to my grandparents, I did find my dad’s birth certificate and my parent’s marriage certificate. While I was away, I also received the birth certificate of the correct Edith Jane Cornes in the mail. All this means that I can:
- Prove my grandmother was born in England
- Prove my father was born of the woman who was born in England
- Prove I was born
.. is that enough?
My grandmother had many siblings, some of whom helpfully attended the official birthing ceremony (or whatever they did in the early 1900s) of my dad – two of her brothers are listed as witnesses. Thanks to the work Ken did, I’m certain the line he found is the correct one, and people from that family can be traced from birth in England, through immigration to Canada, and in some cases, death. I still don’t know how my grandparents met, when they got married, and what happened to Edith after her husband died. I may never know, but that isn’t the pressing point here: is this enough to get me to the UK?
If I can prove the blood lines, it seems weird and archaic that I would have to prove the legality of it all. After all, I missed being illegitimate by two weeks – even if my parents hadn’t married, I’d still belong to them.
Interesting stuff. Still all hypotheticals, but at least I’m getting somewhere.
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If I recall correctly, Neil had to supply birth and marriage certificates for his grandparents, Birth certificates or UK passports for his parents, and their marriage certificate (plus a ‘letter of marriage intent’ from his dad, since he was (is?) illigitimate.
“Do not underestimate the UK’s fixation on bureaucracy” says she who needs to surrender her passport for A MONTH just to get a driver’s license.
You could have just driven under your BC Driver’s Licence, couldn’t you? Or was a local permit better for general identification purposes?
So… You’ve got the newly improved, completely over-hauled build of Grandmother, hence “Gramma v.2.0”?
Meanwhile, I’ve located the start of the same stuff above, and learned it used to provide automatic citizenship, but not after the early ’80s, and it might have been specific to an all-male line using the qualifiers above. Again: no longer, and thank goodness they got rid of the sexist notion. Granted, I’d love it if they had both genders giving the status to passport ownership, but… work visa is enough for me anyway.
Options are good! We like options!