Randy Seaver is an American genealogist and prolific writer on his blog, Genea-Musings. Each week he poses a “Saturday Night Genealogy Fun” question. A while back I was inspired by his question which sent me down some rabbit holes. His question:
Did your grandparents know their maternal and paternal grandparents?
This is my response to the question as posed.

Denis Kunkel and Catherine McCorkindale. Authors collection.

My paternal grandparents were Denis Kunkel and Catherine Kunkel nee McCorkindale, while my maternal grandparents were James McSherry and Laura McSherry nee Melvin. Two of my grandparents were immigrants to Australia. Catherine McCorkindale immigrated from Scotland as a young adult with her mother, one brother and her sisters. James (Mc) Sherry arrived as an infant from Ireland, with his parents and older sister.

PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

Denis knew both his paternal (Kunkel-O’Brien) and maternal (Gavin-Murphy) grandparents who lived on the Darling Downs and at Murphys Creek. As the eldest grandchild in the Kunkel family, he spent time with them both as a child and as an adult and oral history confirms this. His nuclear family was living in the same area as his maternal grandparents for some of his youth so I can only assume he knew them too. His maternal grandmother, Ellen Gavin nee Murphy was the first to die when Denis was 16 while his paternal grandmother was the last when Denis was 39 years old. I have no idea if he attended any of his grandparents’ funerals.

Catherine wouldn’t have known either her paternal or maternal grandmothers but may have met her grandfathers who died only two years after her birth. However, she knew the areas they came from and may well have visited there before she emigrated. She herself would meet her eldest great-granddaughter as an infant.

Mary and George Kunkel at centre front with descendants. Authors collection.

MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS

Mary and Peter McSherry (centre) 1941. Authors collection.

James and family emigrated the year after his paternal Sherry/McSharry grandparents, aunts and uncles so it’s likely he saw them again in Australia. How often he saw them, or when, isn’t known and we have no photos of them. His maternal grandparents (Callaghan) were still alive in Courtown, Co Wexford and they likely met James as a baby as they lived nearby. However, James wouldn’t have remembered them, emigrating as an infant. Similarly, his maternal grandparents, the Furlongs in Tullamore, were still alive so also may have met this infant grandson.

Laura knew only her paternal grandmother who came to Charters Towers to live towards the end of her life as her grandfather, a mariner, had died young. She would likely have known her maternal grandparents as both were alive until she was a teenager, but as they lived in Ipswich, she may not have known them well.

My parents’ grandparents

Dad’s maternal grandparents, Duncan McCorkindale and Annie Sim. Authors collection.

Dad did not know his paternal grandparents who both died in 1901. He would have met his maternal grandmother as she did not die, in Brisbane, until he was about three. His grandfather had died in Glasgow.

Mum knew of her McSherry grandparents but only met them once that she remembered, mainly due to religious issues. Mum knew of her maternal grandfather (Stephen Melvin) but never met him, as he died in London soon after her birth. Her maternal grandmother had died well before mum’s birth.

And what about me?
I was obviously remarkably fortunate as I knew all my grandparents and have memories of them all though I was only three when my maternal grandmother died.

Immigration can have a significant effect on whether the generations may know, or only briefly meet, earlier generations including grandparents. This raised a further question given 9 of my 2x great-grandparents were emigrants to Australia, however I don’t want to over-complicate things by adding them here.

Pauleen’s grandparents. Authors collection.

All of which raises a question or two:

How much difference does it make to be grandparent-ed, and how much did you learn about your ancestry (not much in my case)?

How could a child have any sense of their parents’ or grandparents’ birthplace when they had never visited and likely never would? Just think how much difference it’s made for us to be able to explore these ancestral places virtually.

What are your thoughts on this topic?