Tuesday 29 April 2008

Hargrave discovery

I realised that I haven't mentioned a small but significant discovery I made recently.

I thought I'd checked the Marriage indexes for Hargraves in the early 20th C, but playing around on Free BMD, what did I find but an entry for a Walter R. Hargrave in West Ham in 1915?

My great-granny, Lotty Elizabeth Hargrave had a younger brother called Walter Richard, who died at the end of WWI, out in India. However, it now turns out that he had married Lilian Sarah Bentley. The marriage certificate (how could I not order it?) was quite illuminating. Not only did it tell me that he shared my great-grandfather's occupation of book-binder, but it gave details of his first regiment, thus meaning that I would have a better chance of finding out more about his experience during the war.

And maybe there are some unknown relatives out there? Who knows?

This family history thing is full of surprises.

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