Begin by talking and listening to those older members of your
family but old memories can be faulty and people do not always tell the truth.
My maternal Grandpa told me all about himself and what a
romantic tale that was.
He said he was born on board an English ship the son of an
Irish Lord and a French maid. A French family adopted him and his natural
father paid for his education at the French military academy. He was an
officer in the French army when he met Grandmother. I have photographs of him
resplendent in a uniform, which I accepted to be that of an officer. I
accepted all his stories until I began my research.
Amongst my late mother's effects I found a torn out page of an
army medical record book. It gave Grandpa's birthplace as Calais. Further
enquiries revealed his discharge papers and he was a private not an officer!
In the Calais record office I discovered the record of his
father's death. He had been found drowned in the channel. His birthplace and
parentage were unknown. His late wife was born in Mansfield England. Twelve
months later when their first child was born she gave a different maiden name.
Were these two the Irish Lord and his French maid incognito? Possibly but he
was illiterate and a lace worker.
Unfortunately I have been unable to trace either of the names
Gt. Grandmother claimed so my research has come to an abrupt halt.
