Fifteen years ago, all I knew about my family history, was my mum and dad were from Harrow, in London.
I’ve always been curious, i was one of those 5 year olds that constantly bugged my mum with the question, why? So i started to wonder why when we lived in a town in Norfolk, over 100 miles away from London, did i have Great-grandparents buried in our cemetery?
It turns out my dads side is originally from Norfolk but in the 1930’s my Great-grandfather and his wife, followed his brothers and sister down to London, to find work (supposedly, i’ll explain later) My dads father grew up in Harrow but met my Nan is Southampton during the Second World War. They then settled back in Harrow and had my father and his siblings.
My mums side are actually from London. Her dads side I havnt been able to work out yet, due to him being put up for adoption when he was younger and his mother married a few times, so it makes it all rather complicated. My Nan and Grandad lived and brought up their four children in Harrow.
My dad and mum met at Harrow Boys and Girls Brigade. They’d been dating for four years when both sets of my Grandparents made plans to move out of London. My dads parents, so they could run a shop and Post Office in the front rooms of a larger house, located in Cambridgeshire. They also provided a place for their parents to live out their final years.
My mums parents, they decided to move to Norfolk to run a Public House in a village. My mum and dad followed to start a family out of the city. They worked at the Pub for awhile then got married and had me. When my brother was on the way they decided to relocate from the Pub and found this house that i’m currently still living in. So because of my Mums family we ended up living in the town that my Dads dad was born in, by happy coincidence.
Now, in respect to why I’m not 100% sure that the reason, Grandads family moved to London, was to find work. My Great-great Grandad Percy was born in Upton, Norfolk. His mother died when him and his siblings were young. His father remarried and that’s when the children seem to just spread. Two sisters and a brother moved to Canada, in the late 1800’s that wasn’t as easy to orchestrate as it is now. Percy he seems to go AWOL, he turns up in a village near to the next town from me in 1901, recorded as Peter, a lodger. Then gets married in 1903 to a Florence from a village nearer to me. Her family were quite wealthy, by standard and lived in my town so thats where Percy and Florence settled and had four children. One was sadly killed in a bicycle accident. In 1911, Percy was a Clerk at a local Cider Factory. Then war came. Percy got killed in France in 1917, his children were 14, 10 and my Great Grandfather was 8. As yet I do not know what happened to the family during this time but unfortunately, Florence, their mum dies in 1918, just a year later. My family has always said she died of a broken heart.
The children lived with their Grandmother, Florences mum, for, as far as I know, the rest of their childhood. Sometime during the late 20’s/early 30’s the two oldest children move down to London. In 1934 the Grandmother, Florences mum, dies in the August and later in the year, My Great Grandfather marries my Grandads mum, Alice. Now, theres always been a rumour that Florences family, after her death, cheated the children out of their parents inheritance (it does state in Florences mums probate that Florences brother was executor to her will, which I havnt had the chance to find yet!) and thats why they moved to London as soon as they could. I’m not sure why my Great-Grandfather hung around for so long afterwards, it might just of been that he had a steady job at his brother-in-laws cycle shop. My Granddad was born in 1937 and they left Attleborough a little time after he was born.
In time, I will be able to order the necessary birth, marriage and death certificates to shine some light on this little mystery but for now, it will stay family rumour. Watch this space!
Sherbet Liquorice 