In search of a FAMILY LEGEND

Do you have an unsolved family mystery? You might think that the secrets have been buried with your ancestors, never to be revealed. Or perhaps, you wonder if there is any substance at all to the stories you’ve been told. But you could be in for a surprise revelation! My recent experience shows that the truth could be out there, just waiting for the right circumstances to bring it to light.

Alfred’s letter

My story starts in the early 2000s, when I was given a family tree and a letter that my husband’s late grandfather, Alfred ‘Alf’ Saword, had produced years before. The letter (transcribed in part below) was full of interesting stories about his family history, but one in particular caught my attention; Alf wrote about two relations he had known personally – Emma and Harriet – who he believed were his mother’s half-sisters (his maternal grandfather had been married before). Emma had simply ‘married a Mr Horlick’, while Harriet had led an extraordinary life. Alf writes:

Harriet became a well qualified nurse working with Sir Frederick Treves, the foremost surgeon of his day in England. He operated on the king for appendicitis in 1902 [Edward VII – two days before his coronation] and Harriet stayed with him during his convalescence and with the family for some years after as a nurse to King Edward & Queen Alexandra. She travelled with the Royal family to their various castles and estates in England and Scotland, and when they entertained parties for pheasant or grouse shoots, their retinue would send unwanted birds to relatives and friends.

I can remember a decorative display of pheasant tail feathers on the wall of our house at Southend-on-Sea which came from that source.

After Sir Frederick Treves retired Harriet