Wednesday, May 16, 2007

My History As A Bird-Lundy

Recently I created two shadow boxes, for my Dad, of the coins and stamps that are created in our name.

If you have been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that I spoke of The Children of Peace who settled in our region in the late 1700's here in Canada's York Territory (The Toronto and surrounding areas).

Our family started out in Canada with these pioneers. Then our Lundys moved to Burks Falls to seek more land. The connections and marriages in that area would create the two direct descendants who are the only ones left of this particular line, left in Ontario today. Dad and me.

My Dad has 3 cousins in Michigan and Hawaii.

Before the trip to The New World, the Lundy's had a fascinating past. I do not know it all, but I will tell what I understand.
The Lundys share the tartan of the Lyon clan. The name is broken down in a few ways. Lundy, Lund, Lundi, and Lun. The names changed depending on what place the families settled in Ireland, Scotland, or England, or Wales and France. Those with the full name Lundy passed through Scotland and settled on the Island of Lund (known today as Lundy island). The name means Puffin. Those that kept the Y on the end of the name saught the approval of the Scottish and British subjects, yet settled on British favor, and only then were they accepted into the Lyon clan.( I don't know the exact marriage that did this)

Lundy Island got its name when those Lundy's settled there and took the Island in the name of England as the Knights Templar. This was not a known fact to us till recently, and I find it very interesting as the Knights Templar are intertwined with The Masonic Order, a fellowship in which my Father is a Past Master, and active member of.

The Island contained settlement farms. But the income and commerce of the Island has always been two things. Coins and Stamps. The shadow boxes below contain collectors stamps and a coin from the 1920s and 50s.

Today, one can take a ferry several times a day from the Port of Devon to the Island during the good weather months, but in the winter the Island is only accessible by helicopter once a week.

Stamps and coins are still produced on the Island, and there are only a few permanent families on the Island now.


(you can click on any photo to make it larger)


The Lundy Coin
with the puffin on it.
1924

The Puffin below is painted on Walrus Tusk
which has been extracted and used
by an Eskimo for his art.
These ivory pieces are excavated by Eskimos
from the areas of the North West Territories and Alaska
where the snow and ice is receding to reveal the claim.

The 1954 First Day Editions
of
The Lundy Island Millinary Stamp Collection

6 comments:

Teena in Toronto said...

I've never heard of a shadow box before. Very cool!

Lynn said...

The first shadow boxed created were from original print set letter drawers. The little wooden partitions create many different sized spaces in the drawer.
The drawer would be turned on its end and then hung that way upon the wall, and each box would hold a trinket or souvenir, or photograph.
A miniature montage diorama of a lifetime of history through little things.

Anonymous said...

Very cool! I love family history!

TorAa said...

This is very, very interesting. You must be proud to track back your ancestors so far.

We do have a family "tree" that goes back to 467. How exact it is, is rather hehehe, as we all know only who was the mother in the former days (and in some cases not even that).

Have a great weekend

Anonymous said...

Very interesting coins. I collect some coins too. I've got one old penny that's bigger than our twoonie!

Informative post, nice to learn a bit of history.

Here for Green Thumb Sunday. :)

Mother of Invention said...

Great that you know so much of your family history. I don't recall hering about shadow boxes. ??