Hi All
This is my first post here so forgive me if I am not doing this right!
I am trying to solve the mystery of my great grandfather, his birth, his parents etc
According to family "history" (ie what people remember) he was born on 4th May 1897. He married Elizabeth Braxton in 1922 (I have the marriage certificate) and his father is listed as Thomas Royce, an engineer, deceased. Again, according to what my grandmother can remember she thinks he said his father worked in South Africa.
I can't find out who his mother was or where he was born. Or if he had any brothers and sisters.
There may be some connection with Hay on Wye or with Eardingly (sp?) in Herefordshire. Apparently he had a benefactress. There may be a Worthing connection.
Now, apart from the fact that he married my great grandmother, we know he ran a company in the 1940s making furnesses and he was listed as a stained glass maker when he got married. He was a skilled man and greatly respected in his profession (we have an obituary which lists his achievements from about 1940) but none of this answers the questions of his birth.
My Gran is now 84 and currently is feeling guilty that she didn't ask him anything about his birth or parents. She never met them. She also thinks he father made it all up, saw the name Royce and thought it would be a great name for a would be engineer!!!! It would be nice to solve the mystery and obviously time (although my Gran is in good health!) is not on our side.
Finally, my great grandfather had a raised shoe which presumably supported a damaged leg. It might have been a war wound but more likely some kind of illness. He didn't limp on it at all so we assume he must have grown up with it.
He was quite a character - he stormed out of his house aged 80 and got on a bus from Farindgon to Hertfordshire, claiming he had left my great grandmother because she thought he was having an affair with the local bar maid. He then laid our patio before returning home (to his wife - not the barmaid!)
I hope someone can help...
Cath
