This photo shows my father and his older brother; a right couple of junior swells!
The picture would have been taken well over 100 years ago, and was amongst a bunch of old photos I recently brought back from France.
I never really knew my Uncle. He didn't live too far away from us, but he obviously wasn't 'family orientated'. He had no children, so we had no cousins on my father's side. However, my father looked after his interests to the end. He was a bit of a Playboy.
One enigma about my Uncle, that will now never be solved, is about his 'given names'. His third Christian name was Terenzio. Why he should have been given an Italian name was never explained; my father just laughed about it. There were no heart-throb singers/actors around at the time with that name, and as far as I know we have no Italian ancestors. Although, looking at his photo above, he does have a rather 'Mediterranean' look about him!
I really know very little about my Uncle. He was sent off to Ceylon to grow Tea, then a few years later had to be repatriated having contracted para-typhoid. He later ran a business in Crawley. After his death his wife (my Aunt) moved to Hove, but we never met.
I would have liked to have known him; he was a bit of a 'character'.
I love family history. Such a pity they're not around now so you could interrogate him. The name is most unusual. One of my Uncles was in Ceylon too. On a tea plantation. Wonder if they ever met? Seems to have been the thing to do. Or go down to the colonies
ReplyDeleteI think it was the wayward sons who were sent away to grow Tea. If they were there at the same time, they would certainly have met. The British Tea planting community was very close-knit.
DeleteHow sad that you didn't really know your Uncle Terenzio and did not have contact with his wife, your auntie, after he died. Sometimes when we look back it's frustrating to recognise that it is too late to make amends.
ReplyDeleteYes, I regret it, especially as we lived so close.
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