Did your British Ancestors eat better than you do today?

How did your ancestors in England eat in decades and centuries past?

Surprising results of a study of the diet of mid-Victorian residents of England show that they had an excellent diet and as a result, good health. In the early to mid-1800's, people ate very well in terms of eating food that contributed to good health. That, then and now, seems to be nutrient-dense food.

For various reasons, the mid-Victorians consumed many calories in comparison to the number consumed by present-day Americans, but their calories came from sources that were very rich in nutrients, including many fruits and vegetables. They didn't consume "empty" calories the way they are consumed today. The Victorian diet is said to resemble the Mediterranean diet, which has recently received recognition for its value in maintaining health.

Some of the hallmarks of the Victorian diet which would be easy to emulate are beans, vegetables, fruits, meat and fish, and few sweets.

An excellent overview of the study results can be found at NCBI http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2672390/.

Take a look at how it appears your British ancestors fared. Where did they live? How long did they live?  And take a very close look at those who lived in the early to mid-1800s. They may have had a diet that will be a model to follow in the 21st century.

Jasper Lisney in the Queen's Larder

Some ancestors have names that are so unusual that if they have been documented at all, they can be tracked. There is an amazing array of documents and ancient books now online, and some have great info on ancestors, easily found through a search engine.

Here is one example--you can extrapolate the results below using similarly unusual names in your own family tree.

Lisney is a last name generally found to belong to one family which can be traced to Surrey, England. Jasper Lisney is the name that appears most often in documents online. He seemed to be the most documented member of the extended family.

Names of other family members appear here and there, and making connections is challenging. There was undoubtedly more than one Lisney by the name of Jasper. But I was a little surprised to find a Jasper Lisney listed in the Queen's Larder in the 1680's. He, or another of his name, also worked in the King's Privy Kitchen.

If you have relatives who worked for the King and Queen in London in the ancient times, see the many online books which provide their names, years of service, and more. The link below sends you to just one such example of an online resource.

Online book:

A Collection of ordinances and regulations for the government of the royal household, made in divers reigns from King Edward III to King William and Queen Mary. Edited by John Nichols in 1780.
 (Google eBook)

Genealogy--it's Everywhere! Books, film...

Genealogy allows us a window through which to observe our culture, our history, our family, our traits. It isn't just a science of who begat whom, although I am convinced that it is the best logic puzzle ever discovered. We see politics, traditions, social structures, and much more through the simple framework of the genealogy search. Our ancestors were usually not just our ancestors, but also the ancestors of many others. We can find distant cousins, or choose not to do so, but at the very least we can place our ancestors in the fabric of the life that went  before.