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Ok. Dyslexia would have been an evolutionary advantage in times past and probably still is in some non-literacy-dependent cultures. To be able to think outside of the box, which dyslexics can often do, would be just the kind of person you'd want in charge in many situations. Did you know Winston Churchill was dyslexic? I don't go with the idea that all dyslexics are geniuses by the way, just that dyslexia is a particular manifestation of "normal" which confers particular cognitive advantages, creativity often being one of them. Just the same really as some of us being better at maths and others at languages. We would never dream of describing those of us who struggle with one of these as being "defective". Dyslexics are however disadvantaged in a society which equates being literate with being intelligent. Your son just has a range of talents that are currently undervalued by society.
In terms of the Bates family, they could well have added to the dyslexic gene pool through their marriage partners. Hope you manage to find your thread of the family.

Christine.

Christine.


Christine.


Christine.

Hi Phil,

I don't think of dyslexia as a curse, just a difference that societal attititudes make into a disability. Interestingly, although figures for dyslexia are the same world-wide, it's less noticeable in languages such as Spanish and Italian where the spelling system is straightforward.

Christine.

Hi, I have never seen any photos of my grandfather or his siblings as a children. So no, I'm sorry, I don't have one of Merrick. Thinking about it, I guess Merrick and my grandfather were blood relatives. Something like second-cousins through Merrick's grandmother being Arabella's sister. Are there any dyslexics among your family members? Two of my children are dyslexic and I have carried out university research on dyslexia and am going to be teaching on it at university next term. I will talk about the genetics of dyslexia (not straightforward, possibly an inherited susceptibility) and it would be great if I could use my own family as an example. My grandfather always came across as an intelligent man but clearly preferred practical stuff. I also get the impression that he was the class clown. Possible signs of dyslexia.

Christine.

Is it a coincidence that there was a Mr Merrick Selby-Lowndes who lived in Mursley?

As a child, I was always told that my grandfather had been raised with an illegitimate member of the aristocracy but I didn't know who it was until very recently. Which Thomas Beecham was Merrick's father, the pill maker or the conductor?

What would you like to know about the Bates family? I think my grandfather might be what you would call a "lovable rogue". I loved him to bits as I think so did several of us grandchildren. Although, I think my grandmother and their children may have thought differently. He was quite fond of a drink and inclined to be bad-tempered when he'd had a few. I'm fairly sure he had an illegitimate child, a daughter who is about the same age as me.  Legend also has it that he got expelled from a local school for "accidentally" locking the headmaster in a walk-in cupboard overnight. He joined the army under age at the start of the first world war and ended up in hospital in Barnards castle after being gassed.  We were also told that his mother, Sarah, was the daughter of a vicar. It seems clear to me now that this was not true. However, Grandad used to talk about a Salvation Army chapel and I wonder if maybe Sarah's father was involved in preaching there. Grandfather was one of a big family of children but the only one I can ever remember meeting was called Aunt Tot who lived in Hillmorton, Rugby. I think she may have been Mabel and was called Aunt Tot because she was tall for a girl (grandad's father was also tall. I do actually have just one photo of this great-grandfather.


Christine.

Hi, Thanks for this. It's really puzzling because my grandfather was Dora's twin, so only 4 in the 1901 census, but it seems that he was already living with his grandparents, Philip and Arabella Bates on a farm in Fenny Stratford. Why when they still had so many children at home could they not have kept him? Christine.