# I want to be British **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919 "2004-06-12T01:49:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/41 "2004-06-14T03:46:35Z")
Nah, I’m still here. Thanks, though! ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/42 "2004-06-14T06:50:29Z")
So, hypothetically, would it be possible to write a letter to someone explaining that the whole American Revolution thing was a bad idea and that I had no part in it and gave no consent to it and that I was sorry so please could I have my British citizenship back? ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/43 "2004-06-14T10:13:23Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > So, hypothetically, would it be possible to write a letter to someone explaining that the whole American Revolution thing was a bad idea and that I had no part in it and gave no consent to it and that I was sorry so please could I have my British citizenship back? Deep down all you damn colonials want to be British Citizens again. You never realise how much you miss something until its gone. ---
**Author:** ![Jervoise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d2c977/32.png) [@Jervoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jervoise)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/44 "2004-06-14T10:18:42Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > It’s far less simple. It’s only for Commonwealth citizens, for starters, and as far as I can find by google, one UK-born grandparent wouldn’t be enough. Here’s the Canadaian British High Commision info: [britainincanada.org - britainincanada Resources and Information.](http://www.britainincanada.org/Visa/abode.htm) One English granny is enough: I’m in London on an Ancestry visa (which is the new name for the Right of Abode) based on my quarter-English heritage. I just wrote a longish post explaining what I dislike and what I like about being in the UK, but deleted it. Suffice to say, despite coming from a place consistently ranked as one of the most livable cities in the world, I heart it here and will be staying around for a few years, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2004, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/45 "2004-06-14T12:04:06Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > . . . particularly Scotland. . . And they can’t play cricket for crap. What the Scots? Well yeah they’re keener on golf up there 🙂 BTW _England_ just beat New Zealand three times to win the latest test. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/46 "2004-06-15T03:31:40Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Nah, I’m still here. > > Thanks, though! What…you wanted to LEAVE? Well, that explains it. My noggin bonker doesn’t work when your brain is all discombobulated. See, it WOULD have made you British, so long as you were going to be a Brit-on-BirchBay. Start to think all weird and such, and it just doesn’t want to take any chances. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/47 "2004-06-15T11:43:19Z")
> [@Small Clanger](#): > > BTW _England_ just beat New Zealand three times to win the latest test. Erm… yes, but that’s New Zealand. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/48 "2004-06-15T11:53:08Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Erm… yes, but that’s New Zealand. > 😃 OK, best not mention the Rugby. . . or the football ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/49 "2004-06-15T12:32:05Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather on my father’s mother’s side came over to America from England in the late-1600s. His cousin was John Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury. My surname is a common one in England. Hey! that’s my family name! Perhaps we are in some way related, distantly. England rocks. My post is my cite. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/50 "2004-06-15T12:46:29Z")
**Scotti** : You know I love it here! But I liked London when I was there. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/51 "2004-06-15T12:51:31Z")
Well, I’m a little amazed, but pleased, to see that nobody has shambled in and suggested that you stop brushing your teeth or start eating ‘kidney pie’ or some other such ignorant stereotype. Seriously though, by all means live where you like, but why not just be _you_? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/52 "2004-06-15T12:54:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Hey! that’s my family name! Perhaps we are in some way related, distantly. Could be! I have a family history that goes way back. I’ll have to read it again, as I’m not sure if I’m directly related to Sir Nicholas de Tilston (1200s) or if the name just came from the place where he settled (“on the border of wild Wales”, as it said). John Tillotson the Immigrant came over in 1695, I think. John Tillotson the Archbishop of Canturbury had a daughter who married into Oliver Cromwell’s line. The history details the Tillotson line up to the 1960s. I found a site by Philip “Pib” Burns online, and we’re related very distantly. He has the same history online. I’ve added a few details to it, making it slightly more current. As for the Woods line, I don’t know anything about that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/53 "2004-06-15T12:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Seriously though, by all means live where you like, but why not just be _you_? Because I’m boring! 😛 Seriously though, there is no way I can be other than who I am. But I’d still like to live in England. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/54 "2004-06-15T12:56:54Z")
I never looked into the family name history. Perhaps I should. There’s a jazz pianist with my name too, who’s american. It ust surprised me when I opened the thread to see my name there. Small world. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/55 "2004-06-15T15:02:57Z")
What’s wrong with kidney pie? 🙂 (Well, steak-and-kidney pie, actually. My mom made great steak-and-kidney pie…) Now I’m hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/56 "2004-06-15T15:34:37Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > What’s wrong with kidney pie? 🙂 There’s no such thing, that’s what. > [@](#): > > (Well, steak-and-kidney pie, actually… See? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/57 "2004-06-15T15:40:47Z")
Doubtless someone will now come along with a link to some _actual kidney pie or other_ - what I mean to say is that, if there is such a thing as ‘kidney pie’ (as opposed to steak-and-kidney pie), it is not at all common. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/58 "2004-06-15T15:47:52Z")
When come back, bring [kidney pie](http://search.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=20084). ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/59 "2004-06-15T15:48:31Z")
I always thought that kidney was more difficult to get than steak, so that Mom had to fill out what would otherwise be a kidney pie with other meat. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919/60 "2004-06-15T15:50:45Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Maybe that’s it. History. We have 400 years of it here. England has thousands! from the perspective of what we can actually go out and look at here, you are right. It’s even much worse (=there’s even less history) here in L.A., as you know. But from the perspective of pride in our heritage, there’s no reason we can’t claim the thousands of years as our own. After all, those of us having European ancestry all descended from people who were there for most of those thousands of years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-be-british/249919.md?page=4)