My Uncle Reginald (Father's older brother, above) was sent off to The Colonies to grow, and send back, Tea.
He went to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) where I imagine he did fulfil his remit, although I never heard much about Tea.
What I did hear, however, was of him sending back wooden crates filled with Furs to my father in London, with instructions about who to sell them to, etc.
He also sent back small packages of precious stones, one of which he gave to my father (Uncle R was later repatriated with a nasty dose of Paratyphoid).
The stone he offered was quite a large Ceylon Sapphire which Father had set in gold as a ring. It had finger-like clasps around the stone itself, and was/is a very pleasant piece of jewellery.
In the early 1960's my sister asked her mother if she could borrow it for an upcoming holiday to the Italian Riviera. Somewhere between Paris and the South of France, my sister's suitcase went missing, and we all panicked; simply on account of the ring. The guards were alerted, and a thorough search ensued. Eventually her suitcase was found, untouched, in a guards-van right at the very end of the train. The ring was safe.
Having come to me, sometime after the mid 80's one of the gold 'fingers' broke, and it was taken to a jewellers' for repair and re-polishing. The jeweller also offered a free valuation, which rather surprised us.
The ring is now in Australia, having been given to my daughter Tenpin. I wonder what will happen to it in the future? I hope that a wife of either George or Finn's will wear it, and that it will continue down the line. It's not the most valuable thing in the world, but, rather like our 1735 grandfather clock, it's a pukka heirloom; and we don't have many.
This immediately takes me back to watching The Moonstone on tv as a child. I can see and feel it all right now. Ta. Funny how we remember things isn't it..
ReplyDeleteI remember The Moonstone too.
DeleteOne of my distant relatives was sent off to Ceylon to grow tea but no story like yours has come down in history. The heirloom and it's story will surely be treasured by whoever gets it next.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that no tales about Tea followed my uncle, only tales of Furs and Jewels.
DeleteNow I remember that i have my grandmother's ring somewere in the house,i shall look for it.
ReplyDeleteSmall heirlooms are always nice to have; I don't really want anything too big.
DeleteDuring the war my grandmother saved a soldier. The soldier was so thankful to my grandparents, he wanted to marry my mother and gave her a watermarine ring but mother was not in love with him and refused the proposal. He did not want the ring back and gave it to my mums youngest sister. She never wore it but kept it all the time. Before passing away of multiple sclerosis, my aunt gave it to me. I wear it.
ReplyDeleteGreetings Maria x
Sorry, aquamarine gemstone ring, and not watermarine ring! X
DeleteWhat a nice story; sad but nice!
DeleteI do hope the story survives with the ring as it travels on into the future. I have the gloves my grandfather wore as a POW in WW1. Such mundane things can become so emotionally valuable.
ReplyDeleteIt always seems to be rings which have incredible journeys, adventures and repatriation eh?
ReplyDeleteIt is not the $ value, but the ❤️ value of what is passed down and treasured.
ReplyDeleteI wear my great-grandmother's ruby ring--I never take it off.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother's engagement ring, a prong mounted bloodstone, has passed from grandmother to grandaughter. That daughter wears her grandmother's engagement ring as her own.
ReplyDeleteSorry, we have been without electricity all day. This is getting beyond a joke!!!
ReplyDeleteGood that you posted that bit of history as things like that have a tendency to muddle up in time.
ReplyDeleteThere are a variety of family heirlooms in our family but I'm beginning to lose track of them.
ReplyDeletePrefer not to have heirlooms as I would be worried in case I lost them!
ReplyDeleteMy great uncle had a grandfather clock which was eventually offered to me. It would have cost me far more than the clock was worth to have it shipped to my house, so I made the long road trip to pick it up. I went to the local hardware store, purchased some lumber, built a crude crate to fit around the clock, and tied it to the rack on my SUV. It survived the trip in reasonably good shape. I liked the adventure more than I like the clock, but it reminds me of my great uncle of whom I was quite fond.
ReplyDeleteOurs is very simple, and was made for the family in 1735. No-one seems to own it, it just gets passed on. When I was originally given charge of it, I had to transport it from London up to Shropshire.
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