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Michael Portillo~Sad?
Just a useless bit of trivia to block up your brain cells!LOL
Having watched Michael Portillo on the Railway Journeys programme,I thought I would see (as he has a Scottish Mother) whether he was born in Scotland(no he was born in London).
However,I did discover that in 1946 (Michael was born in 1953) his Mother had another boy that died before he was even a year old,called Denzil( strange name).Michael's middle name is Denzil too.
I wonder (as he was born 7 years after the deceased Denzil) if he even knows the other brother existed?
Families can be so secretive over such things.
Well, this may be interesting to you guys who like Genealogy Trivia?
Having watched Michael Portillo on the Railway Journeys programme,I thought I would see (as he has a Scottish Mother) whether he was born in Scotland(no he was born in London).
However,I did discover that in 1946 (Michael was born in 1953) his Mother had another boy that died before he was even a year old,called Denzil( strange name).Michael's middle name is Denzil too.
I wonder (as he was born 7 years after the deceased Denzil) if he even knows the other brother existed?
Families can be so secretive over such things.
Well, this may be interesting to you guys who like Genealogy Trivia?
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They never talked about anything! My gt grandma has a son die aged 6 in 1903. Her daughter (my nan) lost a son at the same age in 1930. No-one mentioned the earlier death, my Mum knew nothing about it until I found the death certificate!
then to cap it all, a few months ago my Dad said he married my Mum twice - once in the war and then had the 'big do' afterwards. No-one else knew, they got witnessess off the street, then he went to France to fight. he said he did it because he knew her Mum & nan were widows and if he was killed then Mum would get a widow's pension. isn't that lovely? A few months ago Mum went in a home and he is lost.
then to cap it all, a few months ago my Dad said he married my Mum twice - once in the war and then had the 'big do' afterwards. No-one else knew, they got witnessess off the street, then he went to France to fight. he said he did it because he knew her Mum & nan were widows and if he was killed then Mum would get a widow's pension. isn't that lovely? A few months ago Mum went in a home and he is lost.
I agree gingejbee,
and unlike some presenters he is never patronising,and always seems genuinely interested,
and yes when he was in politics I couldn't stand him either! LOL
carole,
Yes it's sad isn't it?
Hopefully with the Internet etc we will begin to uncover all these "lost souls".
A friend of mine has discovered that his granny had an illegitimate boy (half brother to his father) who died in WW1,and nobody in the (present) family knew of him,and the friends father never mentioned him either.
It's almost as if when we rediscover them,and put them back into the family tree tha they live again,or am I being soppy and sentimental?
and unlike some presenters he is never patronising,and always seems genuinely interested,
and yes when he was in politics I couldn't stand him either! LOL
carole,
Yes it's sad isn't it?
Hopefully with the Internet etc we will begin to uncover all these "lost souls".
A friend of mine has discovered that his granny had an illegitimate boy (half brother to his father) who died in WW1,and nobody in the (present) family knew of him,and the friends father never mentioned him either.
It's almost as if when we rediscover them,and put them back into the family tree tha they live again,or am I being soppy and sentimental?
If you care to read this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Portillo
the article says he graduated from Cambridge with a first class degree in history, so in making the Railway Journeys programmes he was doing the subject which he was educated to do. That doesn't make you a good presenter automatically, but I dare say that the stint in the House of Commons is an education in all kinds of subjects (!), and putting over your point in an agreeable way is one of them. I haven't seen all of the programmes but I have enjoyed those I have watched.
As to children dying young, I think most families suffered in this way. It was 'normal'. I was shocked when I read my first 1911 Census Return as to how many children in that one family had died young. I then looked at that one surname (Cox) in one area of Bristol (Bedminster) and counted up the number of deaths over a 20 year period. About one third were infant deaths. Statistically, hardly representative, but it makes you think. The questions in the 1911 Census about number of years married, and number of children produced, those alive and who had died, stemmed from a growing concern by those in authority that 'something should be done' about it. But first you have to get some 'ammunition'; and this Census was the gathering of data. We have Florence Nightingale to thank for the start of medical statistics!
Names were often recycled. I have found families where the same name was used for three or four children.
And early deaths haven't stopped. You need only look at websites such as those belonging to SANDS (Stillborn & Neonatal Deaths Society) and other charities such as Cuddles, Loving Hands, to be shocked at the sheer number of miscarriages and premature births/deaths. I crochet burial layettes for some of these charities, anything to make the
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Portillo
the article says he graduated from Cambridge with a first class degree in history, so in making the Railway Journeys programmes he was doing the subject which he was educated to do. That doesn't make you a good presenter automatically, but I dare say that the stint in the House of Commons is an education in all kinds of subjects (!), and putting over your point in an agreeable way is one of them. I haven't seen all of the programmes but I have enjoyed those I have watched.
As to children dying young, I think most families suffered in this way. It was 'normal'. I was shocked when I read my first 1911 Census Return as to how many children in that one family had died young. I then looked at that one surname (Cox) in one area of Bristol (Bedminster) and counted up the number of deaths over a 20 year period. About one third were infant deaths. Statistically, hardly representative, but it makes you think. The questions in the 1911 Census about number of years married, and number of children produced, those alive and who had died, stemmed from a growing concern by those in authority that 'something should be done' about it. But first you have to get some 'ammunition'; and this Census was the gathering of data. We have Florence Nightingale to thank for the start of medical statistics!
Names were often recycled. I have found families where the same name was used for three or four children.
And early deaths haven't stopped. You need only look at websites such as those belonging to SANDS (Stillborn & Neonatal Deaths Society) and other charities such as Cuddles, Loving Hands, to be shocked at the sheer number of miscarriages and premature births/deaths. I crochet burial layettes for some of these charities, anything to make the
What I was more interested in was his Mother's child Denzil. and whether he knew it had died in 1946 aged under one year,and how families tended then (and now?) to keep such things secret.
His Mother & Father were married in 1941,so I don't know where his brothers come(in order I mean)
Hopefully someone with access to Ancestry.com may help you?
His Mother & Father were married in 1941,so I don't know where his brothers come(in order I mean)
Hopefully someone with access to Ancestry.com may help you?
A Daily Mail article about Michael from August 1997 claims that the infant died from whooping cough...
http://tinyurl.com/5takd6l
http://tinyurl.com/5takd6l
My mother often said some strange things to me when I was growing up which always lead me to believe she lost a girl before me who would have been my older sister. Being a shy and embarrassed teenager I always wanted to drop the matter and I never pressed it. I then got married, moved away and ran a business so I never got a chance to ask my mother when I got older. My mother then died in 1999 so I never got the chance to ask. I just wish she had come out with it straight and told me so I would have known.
I've mentioned this to my father who I was reunited with in 2000 after he left when I was 15. He knows nothing of a miscarriage but he was often away flying. My mother was a very secretive person with various problems who I've found kept a lot from my father. He didn't even know I was in hospital for two weeks when I was 6 or that I got knocked down by a car when I was 7. She may well have kept it from my father that she had lost a baby, especially if it was early.
I wish I knew for sure.
I've mentioned this to my father who I was reunited with in 2000 after he left when I was 15. He knows nothing of a miscarriage but he was often away flying. My mother was a very secretive person with various problems who I've found kept a lot from my father. He didn't even know I was in hospital for two weeks when I was 6 or that I got knocked down by a car when I was 7. She may well have kept it from my father that she had lost a baby, especially if it was early.
I wish I knew for sure.
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