Week 39: History of Cockfighting

I grew up with a chicken coop in the back yard.  That right, right there in the city of Toronto, my grandfather had a small chicken coop and about a dozen chickens.  As a child, I loved going in the coop to feed the chickens, get the fresh eggs and then delivering them to the neighbours.  The chickens got to know me and would even allow me to pat them and one would allow me to hold her.  

So I am sure you can imagine my surprise as a young sheltered adult watching the first TV mini series “Roots” and in one of the shows there was “Chicken George” played by Ben Vereen who trained the chickens to fight.  In that episode there was an English Squire that really like Chicken George and wanted to buy him and even offered freedom, but Chicken George’s owner/father would not let him go. 

Ben Vereen as "Chicken George"

The idea of cockfighting as a sport or a gambling venue was shocking and the idea that the “proper” English did it as well was a real wakeup call.  I have always wondered if it was widely accepted in England or just a back room sort of thing.

So the day that I found someone in the tree that was a cockfighter, I knew I had to research the history of cockfighting.

Week 38: William Joseph Henry Palin

My maternal grandfather was one of 16 children.  Fourteen of these children lived to adulthood and each one has an amazing story to tell.  This week's blog is about the first born son.

Week 37 Architects, Part Two

Last week I started to write about the eight important architects that are found in the family tree.  Then I realized there was far too much to write in just one blog and decided to break the information shared in two blogs.  A natural break seemed to be by country and last week covered the architects that lived in the UK.  This week’s blog will be on the last 3 architects that lived in Canada.

Week 36: Architects, Part One

I love walking downtown.  I love seeing the old architecture, the doric columns, the arched windows, the fancy moldings. There is something so beautiful about these old buildings, a timeless grace if you will.

I am thrilled to share information about eight important architects that are in our family tree.

Week 35: Scotty’s Little Soldiers

There are some times when it is so hard to stay on track.  I could not begin to tell you how many times I would do a search on a particular person and then find something of interest about a totally different person that turns out not to be related at all.

There are other times that I would find something of “Palin” interest that leads me in a totally different place and I “stumble” upon something else which could then lead to something else and so on and so on.

Then if I am lucky, I might find a missing piece to the puzzle and possibly a lot more than I was searching for.