A Family Tree

At a scientific conference dinner the other night, a young woman named Eliza across the table was describing her family and how on the male side they first came to Australia in the 1700s – her great-etc-grandfather having been transported as convict for stealing a few yards of hessian. She mentioned in passing that her mother’s side was quite different, including “a philosopher”.

“Which philosopher?”, I enquired.

“Bertrand Russell” was her reply.

So in one package, a genuine convict descendant and a descendant of a famous atheist philosopher. My brother is fond of saying that everyone has an interesting story, but they aren’t often quite this good – or pertinent!

Naturally, it being a scientific conference, I was carrying some postcards advertising The Australian Book of Atheism, so I handed one over. She is, fortunately for Russell’s memory, an atheist too, so it will be a nice “karmic circle” if she gets value out of the book – which of course contains references to Russell and to the convict influence on atheism in Australia.