By Ron Williams
Genealogy, as well all know, is a magical tool to discover the rich, mysterious and sometimes scandalous lives of your ancestors. If you’re willing to dig, possibilities can be endless, and the stories are sometimes worthy of a Hollywood script.
But what about the other benefits of genealogy? I’m talking about connecting with our long-lost relatives who are, well, living. In my short, modest experience as a genealogical hobbyist, I’ve been fortunate to discover unknown cousins all over the place.
In my case, “all over the place” basically means England, which is particularly enticing if for no other reason than us Canadians are wholly charmed and fantastically entranced with our neighbours across the Atlantic. Maybe because we love the Beatles? I think so.
Personally, much of my research focus has been on my mysterious grandfather, Alfred Victor Williams (1889-1968). Learning he originally hailed from a small village in Worcestershire, I figured I must still have some long-lost relations in the area or close to anyway. And, thus, I had a project!
The Way It Was
Alfred had two brothers, Charles (1886-1952) and Dennis (1894-1958), however, one-time contact between the families had long expired before my dad’s time. My goal was simple: connect with grandchildren from both my deceased granduncles. Some quick figuring and a very helpful ‘cousin chart’ informed me that I was actually in search of second cousins.
Not lost upon me, was the very poor job Alfred and his brothers had done of keeping in touch with one another while they were actually alive. In possession of a handful of old letters from Charles to my grandfather, I read, “I had long given you up for dead… killed in the last war,” followed by the weak promise, “we must not again lose touch with each other.”
In a subsequent letter, Charles shares of their youngest brother Dennis, that he had “kept in touch with him and visited him regularly until about six years ago, and then we had a row,” It was in another letter that I learned of the bombastic reason for the estrangement.
It seems that in a bid to help a struggling family, Charles had informally adopted one of Dennis’s daughters, Dorothy. In a 1943 letter to my grandfather, Charles reports that Dorothy “had grown up and was able to earn a living. [Dennis] wanted her back.” In a 1966 letter, written by Dorothy herself, she shares, “my father sent two detectives to Charles’ house accusing him of kidnapping me.”
Kidnapping accusations? Seems like reason enough for a family estrangement. Now… how to put everyone back together?
3-2-1 Contact
In 2016, I was able to make contact with two of Charles’ granddaughters, Nicki and Sally-Ann. I soon learned that the two made up the totality of the family left to Charles’ legacy. As luck would have it, they were in touch with a Fay Elson, grandchild to Dennis and daughter of the once-kidnapped Dorothy. That made the total of three second-cousins discovered. Yes, I was chuffed!
However, I was aware that Dennis Williams had been responsible for the birth of no fewer than six children, suggesting the potential for many more second cousins. Regrettably, Fay was in touch in none, an unfortunate byproduct of the kidnapping accusations, no doubt.
After months of fruitless efforts, I made contact with more of Dennis’s grandchildren, two lovely siblings, Mark and Maureen Purcell. Mark had a vague memory of his grandfather Dennis. However, with regret, he informed me that he was in touch with no other of Dennis’s grandchildren, a natural byproduct of his upbringing. Although his mother was no longer with us, he shared that “it was always her dream to reconnect with her siblings.”
Around this time, my very helpful and beautiful wife, Lana, offered her much-refined Facebook detective skills and was able to locate one, Sandra Thompson, another grandchild of Dennis Williams.
For those keeping track, I had now located four first cousins of the Dennis Williams family, all living in close proximity and all complete strangers.
Finally, in early 2017, I made what I thought would be an impossible discovery: the existence of not a grandchild, but an actual child of Dennis Williams. Kenneth Desmond Williams was an 87-year-old former Rolls Royce engineer from Hamel Hempstead, who also connected us with his wonderful daughter, Brenda. Sharing the monumental news with my father that I had discovered one of his first cousins would be a highlight of my modest genealogical triumphs.
Back Together Again
For those keeping track, I had located both daughters born from Charles Williams’ only son, as well as offspring from four of Dennis Williams’ six children. I had to admit, however, it seemed a pity that all these cousins, so close in location, hadn’t ever met one another.
It had to change.
In reality, each time I made a discovery, I put my new connections in communication with one another. It wasn’t long before the natural happened. As Mark Purcell eloquently put it in an email, “let’s put this Williams family back together again!”
Thus, it was set. On the afternoon of Sunday, August 20th 2017, the Dennis Williams clan finally met in person. I could only be envious from my location across the pond, as I wondered about the conversations, histories, and secrets that were being shared.
Checking my phone throughout the day, it was after midnight when I received the following from Mark Purcell.
“Hi Ron, I just wanted to congratulate you on your fine work. We had our meetup today and it went great. They are our family one hundred percent.”
As I contemplated adding some Merlot to my almost empty glass, my phone pinged once again.
“Huge thanks for everything you’ve managed to do. All this from the other side of the pond.”
Okay, one more glass before bed, and I selected ‘In My Life’ from my iTunes library.
The Lost Fifty-Seven: A Genealogical Journey of Discovery, Deception, Secrets and Scandal by Ron Williams will be available in all formats on Amazon and other locations this November. Visit www.ronwilliamsmemoirs.com for more details.
