Family History
Written by Kylie Jegou
As a continuation of the work of one of our Uncles, on our Father’s side I have been able to track our family line back as far as the 13th Century. But I am going to spare you a full outline of our family tree, and try and only comment on the more interesting bits…
If we to go right back, it would be in Scotland (a damn long time ago) the name Scott, originally Scot, was a referral to a native of Scotland , and at a later date was adopted as a surname. Robert Bain in his book “Clans and Tartans of Scotland” describe us as “The Scotts, one of the most powerful Border clans, take their name from a race that invaded Scotland (from Ireland ) at an early date and filtered into many other countries”. The Scott Clan were divided essentially into two groups; one holding lands in Peeblesshire and another at the same time holding lands in Lanarkshire along Border Scotland . Our family and its fierce fighting spirit were integral in keeping the British out of Scotland (ironic because we invaded Scotland in the first instance).
Although a little more civilized today, the Scotts never backed down from a good fight. Looking at our family history, I wasn’t too surprised to find it littered with members who muscled there way into King/Queens’ High Court and a few war mongers for good measure. One of great, great, great, great (you get the picture) grand pappies – Robert Scott was a key player in the war between Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth.
From the research I conducted, it seemed that when a Scott was not wielding a sword or pick, or busy being knighted, they would wile away their spare time entrenching themselves in politics (what can I say – us Scotts love a good argument).
One of the more interesting of our direct ancestors was Sir Walter Scott, whose weapon of choice was not the sword, but the pen. Sir Walter was one of the most influential Scotsman of all time and is heralded as Scotland ’s most famous play-write and poet. His monuments still stand proud in Edinburgh, Scotland . His literature helped shape Scotland as it is today, from the Scottish currency to its independent standing in the United Kingdom.
Sir Walter Scott
Just to give you a small taste, below is an extract from his piece The Dance of Death:
‘Tis at such a tide and hour
Wizard, witch, and fiend have power,
And ghastly forms through mist and shower
Gleam on the gifted ken;
And then the affrighted prophet’s ear
Drinks whispers strange of fate and fear
Presaging death and ruin near
Among the sons of men; -
Wild as marsh-borne meteor’s glance,
Strange phantoms wheeled a revel dance,
And doomed the future slain. -
Such forms were seen, such sounds were heard,
With gestures wild and dread;
The Seer, who watched them ride the storm,
Saw through their faint and shadowy form
The lightning’s flash more red;
And still their ghastly roundelay
Was of the coming battle-fray,
And of the destined dead.
Being a writer myself, in the year 2000 I went on a pilgrimage to Scotland to see our ancestor’s stomping grounds, after visiting Border Scotland and Edinburgh, we continued onto the burial ground of Sir Walter Scott at Dryburgh Abbey.
Scott Family Burial Grounds - Dryburgh Abbey, Scotland
I happened to mention my heritage to the grounds keeper, when a tour guide and his handful of tourists overheard my conversation and,…in what I describe a rather surreal moment, I found myself having my picture taken beyond the barrier standing right beside Sir Walter’s tomb. Apparently, the famous Scott nose is quite distinct and unmistakenable (having been to a few family Christmas parties, I would have to agree).
Kylie Jegou (nee Scott) standing next to Sir Walter Scott’s Tomb
A couple of centuries before Sir Walter was another interesting character – Michael Scott “the wizard. In the last quarter of the 13th century Michael agred to serve King Edward I of England . Michael, also an important philosopher at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor, (whose writings and translations were valued around Europe ) was involved in alchemy, astrology and astronomy. These hobbies gave him a reputation for being a “wizard” which entered the mythology of Scotland , particularly in the Border area. Sir Walter Scott enhanced his reputation when he wrote about him in his ballad “The Lay of the Last Minstrel”.
Unfortunately, when the Scotts ran out of people to fight, we decided to fight each other (I guess there were no other worthy adversaries at the time). Ultimately, it was in-clan fighting that lead to our portion moving back to Ireland and then on to Australia as free settlers.
Fast forward to Australia and the last few generations (and not mentioning a supposed gay-bushranger Captain Moonlight), we go to our great grandfather who owned a property in New South Wales. After bearing him a number of children, his first wife died. Her sister (apparently common practice at the time) married our great grandfather out of family duty and more children were had. The discovery of an old family photo had re-ignited the rumour the children born during the second marriage actually belonged to an Aboriginal lady by the name of Daisy (whose family worked on the property and whom our great-grandfather had a long-term relationship with). According to certain family members, the second wife took these children in as her own. The result of which has left our grandfather’s exact genetic make-up in question. While there are strong aboriginal features in our family, this fact is yet to be proven or disproven. While the possibility of genetic testing has been talked about, no one in our family has stepped up to the plate to find out for sure. However, any hesitation aside, if it turns out our family are indeed part indigenous Australian, we will be quite proud of it.
Back to the history…
Our grandfather Robert Scott married Doris Price and moved to a property on Macklay Island, gave birth to two girls (one whom died as an infant), and five strapping boys. Our father Wayne Robert Scott was the second youngest in the family.
As you know, unless you live in some back-water part of America (with a penchant for siblings), hopefully there is another side to most people’s family history….
The Phillips Family History
To understand our connection to the paranormal, so to speak, we have to also draw on the stronger mystic side of our heritage and go back to Wales.
The Phillips family was originally from Wales dating back to Sir Thomas Phillips of Cilsant holding the castle from the late 15th century. The Phillips family immigrated to Ireland from Wales due to ‘religious persecution during Cromwell’s times’ (1649-1651).
After many generations in Ireland, our line moved to England and then according to the unassisted shipping records of 1826-1933, William Phillips and Ada Phillips (nee Bentley) came to Australia as English teachers.
Tragedy struck when Ada died during childbirth as our grandfather James Frederick came into the world. This was due to an overdose of chloroform (a recurrent occurrence at that time). William blamed his only son for her death and abandoned him to the care of his sister Rose Jackson. William gave up teaching to work for the railway and was dead by the time James turned 21 years of age.
Now known as James (Jim) Jackson (but never formally adopted by Aunt Rose), he married the matriarch of our family Eileen Mary Nalder (daughter of Charles Victor Nalder and Margaret Dean).
Matriarch – Eileen Mary Phillips
Born on the very day the Titanic sank. Eileen, like most of the females in our family was an extra-ordinary woman who was fiercely intelligent, viper wit and an unusual morbid fascination for tragic events and famous murder cases. While most grandmothers are quiet, sweet and demure, ours used to entertain us by interchanging her false teeth with great dexterity, stealing crochet hand-washers from the comatose lady next to her in hospital (and claiming they were her own work), traumatising her grandkids with “how sexy grandad was”, and generally getting family members off side with her volcanic tongue, (God, I miss her). With all the commotion she tended to cause most would have not even noticed how truly gifted a psychic she was. Her ability to see the dead, her uncanny intuition, and the way she would yell out the answers to Trivia Pursuit Questions (sometimes before the question was even asked) from two rooms away. Whilst we will never fully understand the extent of her abilities, her demeanour was so great, it often left even family members a tad uncomfortable in her presence. Even in death, she has been a frequent visitor to members of our family, with a number of sightings documented.
Jim and Eileen had four Children, Richard, William, Lana and Beverly.
Our father Wayne Robert Scott was an airframe fitter in the Royal Australian Air Force when he met our mother Beverly Ann Phillips of Windsor, Brisbane . When he first turned up at the Phillips residence, Eileen told our mother “there was no way she was allowed to date an islander!” (reference to Islander meant Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander). Dad had other ideas… after the first meeting at the Apple Creek Dance Hall he informed his best friend George that he was going to marry that woman. They were engaged just before Dad was posted to Vietnam .
Upon his return, they married and Brad Phillip Scott was born in 1971 and then I, Kylie Ann Scott was born in 1974.
Childhood
So, we may have had mad fighters, a poet, a wizard, a bushranger and a physic or two in our family history, so what? Doesn’t every family have an odd ball or two keep in their skeleton closet?
Maybe our genetics has nothing to do with who we are today…perhaps….but childhood, that’s usually something that shapes a person. So, if Brad is a Paranormal Investigator, and I’m a Medium…what type of childhood could have we both possibly have had that may have influenced our career paths?
A childhood home that also happens to be haunted…is a good start…
80 Wood Street
After the family Ipswich home was destroyed in the 1974 floods, Wayne sold his rifle for $50 to pay for the petrol to move his young family to a town called Gladstone in Central Queensland, Australia , where a new job awaited him.
After starting the new job, Wayne and Bev purchased an ex housing commission house, built in the 1950s. A nice enough home, friendly neighbourhood, icy cold temperatures in the front room, toys moving on their own, shadows cast (from people that weren’t there), lights going on and off by themselves, the TV or radio switching on by themselves (and changing channels), the list goes on…just an ordinary house really.
As children, while Brad would see the physical occurrences (which you couldn’t really ignore), I who was a little more sensitive (probably taking more after my Grandmother), could actually see and communicate to whoever was causing the disturbance. Particularly the dead girl who used to stand by my bed every night and just stare at me in silence. (Full details of which is in my second book “Ghost Stories – Adventures of a Medium”).
Sometimes our paths are chosen for us
As more events happened around our family, Brad took the path to scientific research and investigation of the paranormal to help find answers to what he himself had seen and experienced.
As for me, I spent most of my childhood just assuming I was weird (after all, my invisible friend was a dead person). It wasn’t until the death of our grandmother Eileen Phillips (and after inheriting most of her books) I commenced study and research into the paranormal, the occult and religion by reading, travelling and conversing with persons of various doctrines.
After meeting and working with like-minded (and equally gifted) individuals, for 14 years I used my gift to investigate paranormal occurrences. I decided to retire at the age of 30 to concentrate on documenting my research. While I still see and talk to people that have passed-on (unfortunately, that much hasn’t changed), these days I try and lead a largely reclusive existence and leave the investigative work to my brother, his team and his gadgets.
Brad, whose love for the work has never waned, still continues with investigating the paranormal. Upon relocating to Wellington NZ, he created the NZ Paranormal Group as you see it today. As his sister, I’m so proud of him and all he is achieving. After all, someone has to keep the dream alive (probably not the best tag line because we deal with the dead).
Either way…
Good on you Bro.