Puzzles from family history

[Guy Etchells]

Perhaps I should also have added the following, but I did not want to barge in on Geneius’ thread.

For some unknown reason my grandfather deposited an inscribed (to my mother) volume of the book of the Guy pedigree & wills etc., I mentioned in a different thread, with the family solicitors in Nottingham.

The inscription reads-
To Nita, 1st July 1948
J.P.G.

The solicitors sent the book to me 22 September 2011, the strange thing is she was sent three copies in the 1950s (presumable for me and my brother & sister) but the 4th copy was withheld.
I can only think of two explanations for this.

1) As above copies for my brother & sister and me, as my mother had re-married in 1946, though this would be strange as George was our eldest brother and lived with us throughout his life.

2) The copies sent were for my mother's three sons (my eldest brother George (really a half brother as he had a different dad to the rest of the family) Frank (a full brother to me and me) and my sister Dianne was missed out.
My grandfather had a rather old fashioned view of a woman's place in society and though he ensured the female members of his family where provided for her left the bulk of his estate to his eldest grandson (his only son having been killed in the war).

It is something that has puzzled me since it was sent to me. I know he fell out with my mum for leaving her first husband and wonder if the book was supposed to have been forwarded to her in 1948 as a way of making amends.
I also wonder if he was angry with my mum because she had done what he himself had done years before.
Grandad was married twice once in 1896 and a second marriage in 1934 after his first wife (by whom he had a daughter) had died, all well and good but in the meantime he had 4 additional children (between 1912 & 1922) 1 son and 3 girls to my grandma (his eventual 2nd wife).
Was his anger with my mum a manifestation of guilt he felt for leaving his first wife?

That is part of the fascination about family history the twists and turns of the lives of our ancestors.

Cheers
Guy

[Peter_NB]

Hello Guy. Perhaps the explanation is no more complicated than just having several copies made, without intended recipients in mind.

However........ talking of mysteries. Why were 6 pages carefully cut out of a diary, that started in 1895 and was written in up to the 1930's. No logic to the entries, it is just a plain paper notebook, with leather binding. The pieces of the cut pages that remain attached to the spine, reveal the start of sentences, so something was written there. have puzzled over it for years and have isolated the years of the missing pages. The cuts were done with a sharp knife the pages were not ripped out.

[geneius]

Guy, I love the twists in your family, makes family's appear normal these days with 'his /her and our children all under the same roof!

Peter I am jealous of your mystery's, me coming from lines of Ag Labs.

[Ladkyis]

This is my mystery - at least it is one I haven't solved and probably never will.

My grandmother's elder sister ran away from home in 1894 age 14. I know this from the notices her mother put into the Manchester paper (thank you British Newspaper Archives). There was never a follow-up to say she had returned BUT in 1896 great grandmother is recorded as having a third daughter. She is 41 years old and last gave birth 12 years before. As soon as the baby is born they up sticks and move to South Wales, with all their children including the one who ran away.

As genealogists your minds will wrap around the possibility of the child belonging to the eldest daughter, just like mine. Having recently acquired copies of pictures of eldest daughter and youngest daughter There is a HUGE likeness. We'll never know and the official records are there so we have to keep that generational gap but ... ah yes, but.

[Guy Etchells]

Hello Guy. Perhaps the explanation is no more complicated than just having several copies made, without intended recipients in mind.

However........ talking of mysteries. Why were 6 pages carefully cut out of a diary, that started in 1895 and was written in up to the 1930's. No logic to the entries, it is just a plain paper notebook, with leather binding. The pieces of the cut pages that remain attached to the spine, reveal the start of sentences, so something was written there. have puzzled over it for years and have isolated the years of the missing pages. The cuts were done with a sharp knife the pages were not ripped out.

Perhaps Peter, but I don’t think so as only one has the hand written inscription, all the other copies that I know of are compatible with the combination of the daughter of my grandfather plus number of male children in her family when the books were published (There were also copies made for various copyright libraries).
Only the one that came to me through the family solicitors (after my mother’s death) carries an inscription.

As to your puzzle it seems there could be two explanations, either the pages contained information someone wanted to censor or they contained information someone wanted to have without keeping the book.
Do the years of the pages offer a clue?

Guy, I love the twists in your family, makes family's appear normal these days with 'his /her and our children all under the same roof!

Thanks Geneius, I could write a book about my grandfather’s life but he has already written one about his “early” manhood shipping cattle to Australia, New Zealand and Argentina. Though a follow up about his first marriage, “kidnapping” of his daughter to try to force a divorce and his subsequent life and eventual second marriage could make an interesting book, whilst a combination of the two parts of his life would make an intriguing film.

I am convinced that most families have characters or events that would be of interest to many.
Part of the family historian’s job is to find those interesting interludes and ensure they are not wiped from history.

Cheers
Guy