MY GRANDMOTHER'S BIRTHDAY

This may seem a strange blip for Midsummer's Day, but on this day in 1896, my Grandmother, Mabel Gertrude Williams, was born - so today she would be 118 years old, but she died in July 1976 when she was 80.

I have been researching my family history and on my Grandfather's side, I have gone back to 1794, but on my Grandmother's side, it is, as genealogists say "a brick wall".

Although I have a copy of her Marriage and Death Certificates, and can find a record of her at school in London when she was 6 years old, I cannot trace a Birth Certificate for her, nor can I find anything about her life from the time she was 6 until she got married when she was 22 years old. She must have had quite a hard life back then, as she had a young baby, my Grandfather was away in the Royal Navy during the war, and didn't come back for nearly 5 years. Strangely enough, I have a handwritten diary that my Grandfather kept for four years, but there is no mention of my Grandmother. Perhaps I need to go to Portsmouth and look in the library archives there.

I have asked relatives if they have any information or photographs, but this has drawn a blank too. Sadly, I only have one photograph of my Grandmother and that was taken at my wedding in 1968. However, I did meet several cousins and second cousins a few weeks ago, some of whom I had never met, so that has been a bonus and I daresay one or two might read this when it appears on Facebook.

I have spent hours poring over documents on the internet - but am still not sure whether the documents I have found relate to my Grandmother. I have tracked the different places she lived on a map, and they are all very close to each other, so they didn't move far until of course, she moved to Portsmouth and married my Grandfather. He was born in Swindon, so I guess that's how they ended up living here.

My Mother remembers that my Great Grandfather was a Rag and Bone Man in London - on the Marriage Certificate his occupation is stated as a "Wood Dealer" - a posh name for a Rag and Bone Man, I guess! I may have to travel to Lambeth and have a look in the local archives there - and I guess that's as good an excuse as any to have a weekend in London!

I have a friend who is a professional genealogist who is now helping me and as we go deeper and look at different scenarios, I feel more and more that I want to know where my Grandmother came from and how she lived when she was younger.

Sadly, I didn't ask my Grandmother many questions when I was younger, as she and my Mother were often estranged - so I would encourage those of you who still have Grandparents to ask questions and to make sure you know where various important documents are kept - and also ask your parents lots of questions too.

Maybe I will never find out much about Nanny Randell, but at least I will know that I tried my best and remembered her on her birthday!

“We are all the product of things we've never seen
and people we never met.
In fact, if just one little detail had been changed
in their lives,
we may not even exist!”
Melanie Johnston