You are here because an ancestor survived

D

Dsmichel

Joined Jun 2012
392 Posts | 68+
My mother was born in a country in war. At an early age she was sick and her mother miraculously found penicillin. My sister and I could easily not be here.

Can you share the story of an ancestor who survived a pandemic, war, natural disaster, etc., and made your existence possible?

Here is a good article:

 
Mathias

Mathias

Joined Jun 2022
3,748 Posts | 1,350+
Norway
How about these madman:



I am not making a «my ancestors were kings» claim here, but fact is, anyone before year 1000 who left children in northern Europe is the ancestor of everyone living there today. Well, obviously not migrants, but you Get what I mean.
 
O

Oldandeasilycofused

Joined Dec 2021
8,823 Posts | 4,298+
Australia
Dsmichel said:
My mother was born in a country in war. At an early age she was sick and her mother miraculously found penicillin. My sister and I could easily not be here.

Can you share the story of an ancestor who survived a pandemic, war, natural disaster, etc., and made your existence possible?

Here is a good article:

Click to expand...
Both my father's and my mother's people left Ireland around 1870. The population of Ireland dropped from around 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.5 million in 1851. That figure includes a million who emigrated, mostly to the US, but also to Canada and Australia. Today, the population of Ireland is 5.38 million

The "almost not born" happened in Australia. We think 3 brothers went to Kapunda to work in the copper mines. One died. Luck of the draw I guess.
 
Dave Evans

Dave Evans

Joined Feb 2017
1,295 Posts | 971+
Birland
Well I suppose my maternal grandfather was 'lucky' in that he made it through the First World War in spite of being wounded three times. Shot, buried alive and concussed by shelling, and gassed just for good measure.
 
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vans

vans

Joined Oct 2010
2,127 Posts | 350+
Wessex
I like to remember that for me to exist, every single one of my ancestors for the last 3 billion years or so have lived long enough for produce at least on child who then lived long enough to produce another. One unbroken chain of reproduction from a single cell creature through to humans.
 
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Mathias

Mathias

Joined Jun 2022
3,748 Posts | 1,350+
Norway
vans said:
I like to remember that for me to exist, every single one of my ancestors for the last 3 billion years or so have lived long enough for produce at least on child who then lived long enough to produce another. One unbroken chain of reproduction from a single cell creature through to humans.
Click to expand...
It is a very healing world view imo. It reminds us that we are not aliens, but part of a chain and off the earth. Much healthier than rampant individualism IMO.
 
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T

TupSum

Joined Jan 2016
1,788 Posts | 344+
Collapsed wave
fun fact, if you go back 30 generations, you have over 1 billion ancestors. We should all be related at that point I guess.
 
Mathias

Mathias

Joined Jun 2022
3,748 Posts | 1,350+
Norway
TupSum said:
fun fact, if you go back 30 generations, you have over 1 billion ancestors. We should all be related at that point I guess.
Click to expand...
This is not correct. I dont remember the exact reason why, but it has to do with women being waaay more succsesfull in leaving off spring compared to men. That is, a few man have several children with different women, while many men leave none.
 
Mathias

Mathias

Joined Jun 2022
3,748 Posts | 1,350+
Norway
IMG_3215.jpeg
The horse, the wheel and the language by David Anthony.


The past lives in you.
IMG_3216.jpeg
 
Willempie
Netherlands

Willempie

Joined Jul 2015
16,914 Posts | 9,355+
Netherlands
Mathias said:
This is not correct. I dont remember the exact reason why, but it has to do with women being waaay more succsesfull in leaving off spring compared to men. That is, a few man have several children with different women, while many men leave none.
Click to expand...
Your father really needs to have the talk with you.
 
AlpinLuke
Italy

AlpinLuke

Joined Oct 2011
40,550 Posts | 7,631+
Italy, Lago Maggiore
My Great-grandfather survived to the disaster of the battle at Caporetto ...
And during the counteroffensive he entered Innsbruck taking a blond German woman as part of the war booty [she was my Great-grandmother!].
 
Mathias

Mathias

Joined Jun 2022
3,748 Posts | 1,350+
Norway
Willempie said:
Your father really needs to have the talk with you.
Click to expand...
In short, you likely have twice as many unique female ancestors as male ancestors. This is because the uneven distribution of offspring among men, coupled with the practice of polygyny, has resulted in fewer unique male ancestors contributing their genetic material to the population.
 
Willempie
Netherlands

Willempie

Joined Jul 2015
16,914 Posts | 9,355+
Netherlands
Mathias said:
What are you talking about? That way more women than men had children is a fact
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That was not the point. The point is that in 30 generations you have a huge amount of ancestors:
Take 3 generations (parents, grandparents and greatgrandparents)
1st generation: 2 ancestors
2nd generation: 4 ancestors
3rd generation: 8 ancestors
Totaling gives 2+4+8=14
So each generation consists of 2^g where g is the generation number. When you put in 30 you get around a billion. However that is assuming each ancestor is unique. And that is not the case, since it would require the world population to be way over 1 billion 30 generations ago. This discrepancy is caused by the fact that people will turn up multiple times in your ancestry. Ie Charles II of Spain had only half of his 6 generations above him as unique (iirc 34 in stead of 2^6=64). I think that this is what you are trying to refer to.

However your total ancestors is the sum of all generations and then corrected for doubles (let's call it the Habsburg correction: H). So that with 30 generations you are again at around that 1 billion number.
 
T

TupSum

Joined Jan 2016
1,788 Posts | 344+
Collapsed wave
Mathias said:
In short, you likely have twice as many unique female ancestors as male ancestors. This is because the uneven distribution of offspring among men, coupled with the practice of polygyny, has resulted in fewer unique male ancestors contributing their genetic material to the population.
Click to expand...

If anything it will make it more likely that we have a common male ancestor.
 
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