english

[didgery]

I am English and my ancesters also,
am I entitled to say this is My country and have I any say as to who should settle here or not Have I any rights being an Englishman yes or no ? and has there ever been a vote for just an English person to say yes or no to who he wants to settle here ????

[dot.hawkes]

Oh how far back have you traced your family tree then, I have traced mine back on several lines, the earliesy being to 1450 when my ancestors on my dad's direct line came over to Chester City to work as cordwainers (leatherworkers). I have a Welsh line from ruthin too, how far back do your English encestors go then?

[WaldoMcFroog]

Pah - johnny come latelys. What about the rights of the Britons, eh? No one asked them if they wanted to vote for the blumming English to come and settle... (etc etc)

[Lonnie]

According to this goverment, there's no such people as the English, you not allowed to put English on the national census, and when we were filling in a form for our daughter, under Nationality, we were told we couldn't put English.

Sorry to put this on your thread, as its not a poitics question, but this goverment, more than anything else, wants to destroy England, and they're succeeding.

[BrainMonkeys]

This does seem to be a political news-related question/rant rather than any specific historical one.

The English (the Angles) originally came from south Denmark, so even if you go far back as you can, the odds on your bloodline being that of an immigrant is very high. The British Isles lie in a unique place in northern Europe, so that anybody moving about in that area will no doubt come into contact with our fair isles. So, if you take a DNA sample of anybody at random (white caucasian that is), it would be very likley that you may see hints of French, Italian, Dutch, Belgian, Spanish, Celto-Gaelic or Scandinavian traits, to name but a few.

I am myself born in England, educated in Wales, with a family name that betrays a Norman-Norse heritage. We are a country of immigrants both ancient and modern, and we should try to embrace this fact.

[noxlumos]

didgery if you are "English" as you like to term it, then at some point your ancestors will have come here either as immigrants or invaders, so you have as much rights to your opinion as the next bloke, but no more than him to be honest. The English are a mongrel race made up of scores of different nationalities over the centuries. I'm Irish, but have dscovered that one of my ancestors was a Spanish seaman who was shipwrecked, you are never exactly what you think you are you know and is this really the catagory for a "little england" rant anyway?

[noxlumos]

Brain monkeys, Cross posted. Apologies :)

[BrainMonkeys]

No worries, noxlumos!

Just a thought, our language too is a mongrel one. How much of English tongue is actually 'English'? There's a lot of Latin, French and bits we've pinched from elsewhere.

[jno]

noxlumos is quite right. Unless you're somehow pure Briton, an undiluted descendant of the ones who were here before the Romans, your ancestors were immigrants, who almost certainly didn't ask the previous settlers whether they were wanted. (And even the Britons came from Belgium, I think.)

[BrainMonkeys]

Yeah, you're right there, jno...the original Britons were related to the La Tene civilisation that fanned out from what is now Switzerland, and it what is quite often considered as 'Celtic', although that term is no longer really used, as it brings to mind a homogenous civilisation, but it varied vastly from place to place.

What the original peoples of Britain were before the transmigration I don't know. Perhaps the Picts covered a larger area than the highlands which they were later pushed into by the influx of the Britons, and, much later, the Jutes, Saxons and Angles.

Oh yeah, and the Scottish are originally from Northern Ireland! Go figure!

[didgery]

Hi Thanks to all who answered my question all very interesting so it seems I am a mongrel ho well I stand corrected now I dont know where I come from ho well thats life,
I will now crawl into my dugout and hope we will not have a civil war on our hands but hold on a bit who will be the ones to sort this out mmmmmmmmmm ?. love you all Didgery

[Catso]

Extending the above arguments slightly, then surely everyone is an immigrant, even 'original britons', as originally there were no humans in the UK.

[jake-the-peg]

If it's of any help in the bigitory stakes , I believe at one time the BNP defined somebody as British if all 4 grandparents were born here.

I assume that's probably changed as too many foreigners would probably now count !

[Lonnie]

Catso is correct, and its true, we are a mongrel race, same as in America,

To be English, both your parents have to have been born here, otherwies your British.

As an Example, I joined the Armed Forces in 1966, My Father was born here, my mother wasn't, on my passport, issued by the Army, and on my identity card, my nationality was 'British/English', because my father was English, and my mother, as a first generation immigrant, was classed only as British.

To cofuse marrers further, as I said, I am British/Englis, but having been born here, and my wife also having been born here, my daughter is full blooded English.

Others may dispute my explanation, but I assure you, it is correct.

[Lonnie]

Sorry for the typo's, but i'm sure you'll understand.

[Whickerman]

Yes, you have a say. In fact, every four years or so you have direct input into electing the person who helps make the devisions affecting your country.