Dear Rootschat members,
Due to DNA and massive help from an ancestry expect I have just managed to solve this mystery
My wife’s gran , hid a box of skeletons that all all got released on the revelation she was actually born a Dawson - Mary Dawson born 1914 in Ashington to a George William Dawson and wife Hannah Fenwick.
She had married Boardman , then ran away from her family , to marry for a second time saying her madden name was Mary Boardman with DOB 7 years younger than she actually was.
No wonder I could not find her or trace the family. All this time I was looking for a Boardman when it should have been a Dawson.
The man in regalia is her uncle who married her father’s sister, a man called John Bonnard 1977-1961 and the regalia was due to a position held as former president of Lancashire and Cheshire council of the national federation of Boot Trades Associates.
She must have used this picture to fabricate a story and escape to her new life.
Fascinating stuff after about a 7 year hunt for the truth.
Thanks for your kind help
Steve
