The accidental Genealogist

Regrettably, I only got into family history after both my parents had died (and my in-laws). My father died in 2006 and the next year I was going through some papers and found the will and accounts etc for my great aunt, who had died towards the end of the 20th century. A bit of history here - my mother's birth mother died when my mother was under 3 (of the flu), my grandfather remarried 2 years later (not surprising, given he had a 4-year old child). My mother's aunt effectively looked after my mother for these two years - and beyond, because the story was that new stepmother and my mother didn't get on too well at first, although by the time she was around 10/11 things had improved. Great aunt lived in Arnold, Nottingham, and the story explained why we visited Nottingham quite a bit and she came to stay with us regulalrly.
Back to the story, and I found that my great aunt (the one who had looked after my mother), after a small bequest to myself and my brother had left 2/3rds of her estate to my mother and 1/3rd to someone I had never heard of! A couple of years later I was able to take early retirement and started to do some detective work. Obviously in those days there was very little available on line in the way of records, so I didn't get very far. If I remember correctly I had a trial membership of "Ancestry" and was able to find out grandparents' details but not much more.
When the 1911 census became available I took out a full subscription to Ancestry and was able to find the family living in Arnold, Nottingham, plus great-great grandparents etc. I discovered that my great grandmother had been born in Ireland. I thought this might be the end, as I knew about the lack of Irish census records. Her parents were John and Isabella, he had been born in Nottingham but she was from Hawick, in Scotland – another twist! The linking factor was the textile industry. John was a framework knitter (as were many of the family) The textile industry was strong in the Scottish Borders and I assume that he moved to Scotland to find work. As far as I know, they married in Hawick – I have been unable to trace any records, although Isabella already had an illegitimate daughter who was living with her parents. Their first child was born in Scotland and later became a miner but again I have been unable to find a birth/baptism record. They then moved to Balbriggan, near Dublin, at the time known as the silk capital of the world, and had 4 children there, including my great-grandmother. In the late 1870’s, they moved back to Nottinghamshire. (which, of course, meant that I could find them on census records). They had 4 more children before John died in 1888 of bronchitis and epilepsy. In July 1895, my great-grandmother married Henry, a cabinet maker, at the age of 22. However, in June 1893 she had given birth to an illegitimate daughter – Maggie Elizabeth. I suspect (but do not know) that this was the result of a liaison with Henry, as Maggie Elizabeth was accepted by the family and was later took their surname.. In 1917 she married Cyril in Nottingham, naming Henry as her father. Later they had a son, Kenneth – who was the person named in my great-aunt’s will! I also discovered that he had only died in 2000 in Wales.
This was the gateway into a what has become a fascinating (and time-consuming) hobby. It was also helped by the fact that I also found in my father's papers a self-produced book on the family of my great-great grandparents (on his maternal side) completed in 1989 - by personal visits, of course - by a 3rd cousin, which has one line back to 1496. With the help of the internet, I have been able to flesh out some of the lines where he was just unable to confirm things.
It's just such a shame that I didn't talk to ny parents about their families before they died. My brother was able to talk to my father about some of his experiences, especially in WW2, but that was about it. A lot has come from my uncle (my mother's step-brother) and some came from my father's eldest brother (who died in 2015 at the age of 103) which has all been helpful.

 

So did you discover who the stranger was who your great aunt left money to?

 

Welcome Paul, great story, like you I left it too late to ask questions of my parents and grandparents, but with the many recourses available on the internet these days, it is easier to find some of the missing pieces of the puzzle.

 

Yes, see “Kenneth” above. It was very annoying to find that he had only died a few years before.