My 6yr journey has ended - I hope & pray!!

[Colin Rowledge]

Congratulations on finally resolving it Colin. Are you sure you are not writing a movie plot?

As I said fact can be stranger than fiction. F.F. could may be convert to a novel and you and I do the adaptation for the 'big screen'?

Seriously though, as I was proofing this before posting, even to me it sounds incredible.

[Procat]

F.F. could may be convert to a novel and you and I do the adaptation for the 'big screen'?

Good idea - then we can both live the life style to which we would like to become accustomed.

[Waitabit]

For as long as I can remember, my dad had an expression - "the family that plays together, stays together". All through the years since I found out about his illegitimacy, all he would say was 'the family knows more than they're saying".

Just goes to show we should 'watch' out for all of the little tips & games people play.

So good for you Colin, the circle wasn't broken just loopedabit.

[Colin Rowledge]

You all think that my post #31 was induced by 'something' I was smoking. I know what I have found!!! I also have the letter than came with the pocket-watch to my dad in 1976, so know the history of it.

I also know how my much my grandmother's 2 sisters-in-law 'hated' my dad and why they would have done anything possible to deny him what was rightfully his.

So, please, don't think I am either being melo-dramatic or just plain crazy!!!

[arthurk]

Great news, Colin! I may have missed it, but did the letter come to light before your father died, or only afterwards?

Arthur

[Zen Rabbit]

I think your tenacity is an inspiration

[Colin Rowledge]

Great news, Colin! I may have missed it, but did the letter come to light before your father died, or only afterwards?

Arthur

Actually, Arthur, there were 3 letters.
Letter #1
Was written by the owner of the pocket-watch. It was written on board the "Capetown Castle", bound for South Africa in November 1957. At this time he was terminally ill with cancer. Upon his arrival in South Afica, this letter was mailed, along with the pocket watch was sent to his younger brother and sister in law who lived in Australia. This watch was a 30th birthday gift from them [1926] and he wanted them to have it and to ensure it stayed in the family [the Rowledge family]. By the time the letter and watch arrived in Australia, the owner was dead.

Letter #2
This letter was written on October 21st 1976, just after the widower of my grandmother had written his last Will and Testament. As his one surviving sister hated my father, he wanted ensure that my dad got the watch. While I knew that my dad had the watch, I didn't know how he got it or why. This letter was found after my dad died.

When I found the letter, I asked my son in law if he would like to have it [the watch]. I explained that it didn't work, but was prepared to attempt get it fixed. He said he would. A few days ago, I was told the watch, could not be repaired, but that there was someting inside the back cover that they had found. When I picked it up, and came home, I then found the 3rd letter.

Letter #3
Was written to my dad, at the same time as the letter #1. I won't go into detail, but it told everything about my dad's conception and how his brother had agreed to marry my grandmother.

Kind of ironic isn't it? Almost 35 years on from the time he got the watch, my dad had the knowledge of his birth "right under his nose"!!

[cristol]

Oh Colin

I’m so glad you have resolved this so decisively after all your hard work and anguish.
We’ve all been on the roller coaster with you and how wonderful to have got to the bottom of all those clues and theories and have your suppositions and beliefs verified so completely.
It’s easy to say “how lucky” but as the quotation goes – It’s funny, the harder I work – the luckier I get” and no one could have worked harder than you on this. Ok maybe there was an element of fortune in finding the letter at this time, but then again, somebody very integral to this story may have been helping you !?
Well done you
Lesley

[Jonesy]

As has already been said, your tenacity is impressive, although from personal experience that there is an element of not being able to give up, when trying to discover one’s own past (or that of a loved one).


Anyway, congrats. You’ve inspired me not give up on my own brickwall (that of my grandfather’s real identity), which is also based on his illegitimate birth.

[thecouch]

Hi Colin,

What an unbelievable story - truly an "Ancestors in the Attic" type of story! (For those members who don't know, in Canada, there is a family history show on tv called Ancestors in the Attic). Congratulations on your tenacity to stick with things even when they made no sense whatsoever. Your story also certainly brings new meaning to the expression "family time". Perhaps a good title for your book/movie would be 'The Pocket Watch'

Cheers,
thecouch