Letters My Grandfather Wrote Me

Family Origins

The Douglases are traced from 100 A.D. with ancestral background in Ireland around 300 B.C. There is an American branch from the 18th century with connections to the U.S. war of independence and the anti-slave movement. The Crawfords are shown in their early history around the 12th century, then since the early 19th Century in Scotland, Ireland and New Zealand. The Clarks are shown since the mid 19thcentury but with strong Huguenot roots in the 17th century. The Gagens are traced from Germany to Norfolk in the U.K. in the 17th century; and to Canada and America in the 19th, where Dan Gagen married into the Chippewa tribe. The book is about Cyril Gagen who settled in New Zealand with his mid-wife mother in the early 20th century, and is written by his grandson. The last chapter is autobiographical with an in-depth discussion on Social Control and the ethics of its use in modern Britain and New Zealand. The Clarion review states that the book is anti-monarchist which is totally incorrect.