‘MUM AND I MET OUR LONG-LOST COUSINS THANKS TO GENEALOGY’
Harry didn’t want Mum to look into his family. It was a taboo subject
Old photographs can tell many stories, few more so than this treasured image taken in India. It shows Squadron Sergeant Major George Essex, his wife Frances (known as Fanny) and their children Dorothy Frances, Harry Edward and George Douglas. None of them had any idea that a cruel twist of fate was about to tear their family apart.
Harry’s daughter Christine and her son Richard Nichols have spent over 40 years trying to piece together the story. “I knew that Grandad Harry was born in India and that my great grandparents died there tragically,” says Richard, who lives in Kibworth, Leicestershire. “Mum has been interested in genealogy for many years, but Harry didn’t want her to look into his side of the family. It was a taboo subject.
“After he died in 1975 we began piecing together his background, although
