NORTHERN IRISH ROOTS - Reflections on Empire and Family
As a child, I had always looked up to The
Silver Bowl. Literally. All that I knew of its origins
was that it had been given by the Emperor of Japan to one of our
family members whose first name was "David". I had also
been told that its particular chrysanthemum design could only
be used by the Emperor. One of my jobs was to keep The Bowl polished
and to wash out the syrupy stains which resulted from its use
as a fruit bowl. Our fruit, such as it was, usually wasn't so
fresh to begin with.
During the 1950s The Bowl travelled from British Columbia, to
Manitoba and then on to North Bay, Ontario. From there, it travelled
to Longueuil and St. Bruno, Quebec, always tracing the path of
my father's career in the RCAF. Later, when our family moved overseas
for a five year posting in France, it went into storage - along
with two unemptied garbage cans and one teapot which had two sodden
bags of Orange Pekoe left inside for the duration.
Such was our life.
In tracing the story of The Bowl, I have discovered that the
early history of the Hongkong
Shanghai Bank was an integral part of our family history.
In fact, without the contributions of our ancestors, the bank
might not still be here in its current manifestation as HSBC.
Dozens of its staff in the mid to late 1800s at senior levels
came from the families of small town Northern Irish bankers, linen
merchants and "gentleman farmers".
The story of these families, beginning with The
First Jacksons to come over with Oliver Cromwell, is also
the story of my ancestors - glories, warts and all. The various
pages on this web site tell the stories of their lives, stories
which I am still in the process of unearthing. I hope you'll
enjoy and have fun with it all and also let me know how I
can tell it better.
