The Other Family

by Linda A. Hardy

  Oh my god, she and George had children, my Pop’s half siblings, gee this family gets better, anymore skeletons hiding in the cupboard, I wondered to myself. I noted down their names, Albert, Matthew and Alice Lello and made a note to make sure I checked their births to obtain their full names, but first I needed to check if George actually married Louisa. I typed in George Lello’s name into the search box under marriages and found no marriage to a Louisa Alice Turner, ok they did not marry, now what?, I wondered.

  I then checked the children’s births, and found Albert Arthur Lello born in 1902, followed by Matthew James Lello born in 1904 and lastly Alice Louisa Lello born in 1908, all were born in Mitcham as stated on the census.

  I was trying to work things out in my head “so let me get this straight, George marries Carolyn, they had seven children, they split up, he meets Louisa and has three more children with her, they split up as on the 1911 census Louisa says she’s a widow, and Carolyn takes him back, is she mad?, only for them to split up again when his sons throw him out of the house, do Louisa’s children think their father is dead then in 1911?, poor kids, gee talk about make life complicated”.

  I thought I might give John a ring, and see if he can remember anything further about his grandfather George or his other family, the three siblings Albert, Matthew and Alice.

  “hello John, this is Lindsay Harrison, do you remember me?”

  “oh yes hello, I won’t forget you”

  “just wondering John about your grandfather George, after he split with Carolyn, he met another woman and had three more children”

  “yes I remember something like that, I don’t remember her name though but think she might of married someone”

  Don’t you just love elderly people who remember things but cannot remember until you actually jog their memory but first you have to find the thing that helps jog their memory, dear John he sounds so lovely and very kind on the phone.

  “so George’s girlfriend married someone else then is that right?” I said sounding astonished at this new fact.

  “yes that’s right, don’t know who though”

  “did you ever meet his three other children? Their names were Albert, Matthew and Alice?”

  “no I never met them, I don’t think my father ever met them either, we knew they existed but we never saw them”

  “do you know John if George and Carolyn ever got divorced?”

  “no they never divorced, people did not do that back in those days, was too costly getting lawyers, so they just separated”

  “just one more thing John, I know your grandmother Carolyn died in 1950, did you go to the funeral? Do you know where she is buried?”

  “yes I went to the funeral, it was at Earlsfield Cemetery in Wandsworth”

  “and did my grandfather go to the funeral?, your uncle Billy, did he go?”

  “no he did not go, he did not have much to do with the family, I think they disowned him”

  “why is that?”

  “they said he was just like his father, ran off and left his wife and children for another woman, just what his father did, so they did not want to know him after that”

  “that is very sad John”

  “yes it is, we did not see uncle Billy again, families can be so strange sometimes and most of the time it is all over nothing”

  I made a note to make sure I checked marriages for Louisa to whoever the someone else was, and thanked John for the brief chat and said I would call him should I find out anything else. Back at the computer I searched for a marriage for Louisa Alice Turner, then realised I should of tried Louisa Alice Lello as she claimed to be a widow and there she was:

  Louisa Alice Lello - June Quarter 1916 at Kingston

  A quick checked revealed her husband’s name to be Edward Carrington, I noted down the index number and applied for the Certificate, curious to know what it contained. n the meantime I still did not know what happened to George, I could not find a death in the indexes for him, there were several George Lello’s listed but they were all the wrong age, and thinking he may of married again I checked for a possible marriage as well, I found a few George Lello’s listed in the marriage index too, one in a place called Docking in 1926, wherever that is, and another in Plymouth in 1928 and another in Margate in 1940, but none stood out as being my George but I could not find a divorce record either for him and Carolyn so maybe he did not get married again or maybe he went abroad or maybe he just plain vanished, cannot find him anywhere, how can someone just disappear?

  Chapter 10

  I was sitting at work having a fairly quiet day, goes like that in real estate, it is either all or nothing most of the time, every week there is a real estate magazine printed and all new listings are placed in the magazine and also online on our website, well people start looking through these come Wednesday and Thursday and every man and his dog either phones the office or pops in on Friday wanting a viewing of the property or properties they have chosen to look at over the weekend, so Friday’s are hectic.

  As I was saying, it was fairly quiet so I logged into my genealogy website and searched once more for George Lello, I do not know what possessed me but I decided to order the marriage certificate for George Lello who married in Docking in 1926, which I have since found out is in Norfolk, I picked the one in Docking mainly because it was the only place I had never heard of and seemed to be as mysterious a place as my George is a person, my thinking at the time was “well maybe he is a relative that I have yet to discover” but to be honest I was really thinking “this is probably a waste of money”.

  Five days later George Lello’s marriage certificate arrived in the post, I was so certain I had wasted my money on it, I did not open the envelope for two days, all I could think was, that is not going to tell me anything.

  My phone rang and it was my cousin Natalie on the other end asking if I would be going to Uncle Bill’s on Sunday, I said to her, “I’m feeling a bit flat at the moment, not sure I will go this week, are you going?”

  “yes I thought I would, I feel sorry for old Bill you know, I am sure he feels lonely since Aunty Carol died, come on round, even if its only for an hour”.

  “yeah I know your right he probably does”

  “and why do you feel so flat then?, what’s the matter?”

  “oh it is nothing really, just I am stuck with finding any information on Pop’s dad, and it would be nice to find out what happened to him, especially for his grandchildren who do not know where he went or what become of him, he appears of just vanished off the face of the earth without a trace”

  As I was chatting to Nat, I was doodling on the envelope that I was yet to open, drawing little squares and triangles all over it, thinking I had better have a look at this marriage certificate in a minute.

  “hey Linds come along on Sunday, I will come and pick you up alright, I will be at your place about 2pm, what do you say?”

  “yeah go on then, you twisted my arm” not that it really needed much twisting, being around the family will help cheer me up and get me out of the slump I was feeling myself in. After finishing our conversation, I went and put the kettle on for a cup of tea and grabbed the envelope I was yet to open. I began to read

  George Lello, age 58, a widower, occupation Butcher, living at 22B Sherwood Park Road, Mitcham, Surrey, son of George Lello, Deceased, Butcher, Married on 25th June 1926 at St Mary’s in Docking, Norfolk, to Betty Jane Williamson, age 56, a spinster, no occupation, living at The Manor House, Well Street, Docking, daughter of Edward David Williamson, Deceased, Restaurant Owner. Witnessed by David Edward Williamson and Edith Williamson.

  As I drank my tea I thought to myself, ok what have I got here, the name is right, he is living in Mitcham where his three other children were born, he married in Norfolk, where my George has no family whatsoever, his occupation and father’s name and occupation is right, but his age is wrong, my George is ten years older and this George states he is a widower but my George is still
legally married to Carolyn, I started to wonder, could this be my George?, could he of lied about his age?, the thought was taking a hold of me.

  It was time to try and find out more information on this George Lello on the marriage certificate from 1926, my instinct was telling me that this was my George, I do not know why I thought that but my gut was telling me this was him and that he had lied about his age, and that is not all, if this is my George then he has also committed a crime, the crime of Bigamy.

  But when it comes to research you need facts, not assumptions, and I needed some proof that this was my George and I felt suddenly very determined to find it. My enthusiasm was back. I immediately tried to search for a birth of George Lello around 1868 as his age indicated on the marriage certificate, I did not find one, I found Betty Jane Williamson’s birth and found her on a census, I checked further and found her family all come from London, no connections to Docking in Norfolk anywhere in her family tree, her late father was a very wealthy man owning a number of properties in London including a restaurant as mentioned on her marriage certificate.

  Thanks to old Electoral Rolls being online now I managed to trace this George and Betty from his address in Mitcham to a Boarding Establishment in Bognor Regis in West Sussex, it looked like they were running a Bed and Breakfast in West Street, Bognor called Carlyon House, I thought gee even the name of the bed and breakfast is also like his wife Carolyn’s name but I was trying also to tell myself to not jump to any conclusions yet, it might not be him, I needed more proof other than my gut instinct.

  I searched for a possible death for George Lello and found he had died in 1936 in Bognor, only ten years after he had married Betty, I ordered the death certificate, his age in the index still showed him as being ten years younger than my George.

  Cannot believe I am on this wild goose chase, I said to myself, but I just had to keep going, it is probably not him at all I tried to tell myself, but I had to know one way or the other. On Sunday Nat came along and picked me up and off we went to Uncle Bill’s, I was feeling a lot more brighter by then, my mum Barbara and Nat’s mum Ellie were both busy in the kitchen trying to sort out cups of tea and coffee and had brought along some Battenberg cake for Bill, his favourite, and chocolate biscuits and lots of crisps and sausage rolls, we had a great afternoon and its nice to see Uncle Bill smiling and laughing, like his old self.

  Chapter 11

  I was getting ready for work on Wednesday morning when at about 7.30am I heard the postman dropping the mail through my letterbox, as I picked it up I could see the death certificate I had ordered had arrived. As I opened the envelope and pulled out the certificate, I read, George Lello, age 68, died on Friday 13th November 1936 at Bognor Regis War Memorial Hospital from Pneumonia, person who registered his death was…

  “OH MY GOD” I said out loud, I think my eyes were bulging out of my head, I could not believe what I was looking at, I have to phone Nat, she’s got to see this. “Nat pick up the phone, yes I know it is early but this is an emergency, well as close to one as I might get, I might wet my pants in a minute if you do not pick up, seriously you will not believe this” was the message I left on her answering machine. Damn she did not answer, where the hell could she be at 7.30 in the morning?

  I got to go to work, how the hell can I go to work after reading this, I won’t be able to think or concentrate all day, I decided to call in sick and say I cannot make it today. “This is Lindsay, sorry but I have a family emergency, my Uncle Bill’s been rushed to hospital, so I cannot be there today, should be alright tomorrow I hope, I do not think it is anything too serious but got to go to the hospital and see he is ok“ was the message I left on their answering machine.

  It was only a little white lie and they did not know Uncle Bill anyway, I will tell them tomorrow it was all just a flap over nothing and he is fine, it was the first thing that popped into my head when I rang. In the meantime, I grabbed my coat, and the certificate and placed it in my handbag and left my flat to go to Nat’s, I jumped on the tram in West Croydon and was up in New Addington by 8.30am.

  A short walk and I was at Nat’s place knocking on her door, I could see her car was not there but still knocked anyway and got no answer, great her hubby has gone to work as have her kids and no one is at home, now what? I wondered to myself. I went and knocked on her neighbours door instead, “excuse me I am Natalie’s cousin, she is not home at the moment, do you have any idea where she might be?”

  “no sorry she didn’t say anything to me”

  “ah ok sorry to disturb you, thanks”

  So I tried the neighbour on the other side, “sorry to disturb you but I am Natalie’s cousin, I was expecting her to be at home this morning but she is not in, any idea where she might of gone?”

  “oh try the Community Hall opposite the shops, this is her yoga morning”

  “her what!, oh right, yeah I forgot about that, sure I will try her there, she will probably be finished soon anyway won’t she?” I hoped, I also hoped the look on my face was not too dumb looking. Yoga!, Nat is doing yoga, what the hell for?, she does not need it, even after having three children she still has the perfect figure.

  As I wandered towards the shops I could see her car in the car park outside the Community Hall, thankfully there was a café opposite so I went along and got myself a cup of tea while I waited and watched for Nat to come out. As I was sipping my tea I had a thought that I would make a good detective, sitting in café’s spying on people, well not really spying as such, investigating, that is what it is called, I could be researching their family trees or looking for a long lost relative or I could even go the cemetery and take photographs of a grave for someone, I could do this genealogy stuff for a living, I was thinking to myself, an idea was forming. This waiting lark however was getting to me, I need to learn patience, the lady in the café asked if she could get me another cup of tea or something else?.

  “no thanks I’m right, just waiting for someone, is it ok if I wait here?”

  “yeah sure, no worries luv”

  Finally at ten o’clock Nat wanders out of the Hall, I dashed out the café and crossed the road yelling out “hey Nat, wait up”

  “Linds, what you doing here?”

  “waiting for you, your neighbour told me you would be at yoga class this morning, what you doing yoga for?, how long you been doing that?”

  “started about three months ago, thought it would help me relax, and help stretch my bones a bit, takes some getting used to, but it is very relaxing once you get into it”

  “if you say so”

  “why don’t you give it a try?”

  “and what let everyone see me in some skimpy leotard, I don’t think so, have not got the right figure for that, look at me?, are you having problems relaxing then? Everything alright with you and Gary?”

  “everything is fine with me and Gary, no problems there at all, just been feeling tense and thought I would give the yoga a try, and anyway what you doing here?, shouldn’t you be at work?”

  “I called in sick, got something in the post today, just had to show you”

  “well lets get back home and I will freshen up and then you can show me what it is”.

  Back at Nat’s, and while I went into the kitchen to make us a cup of tea, Natalie went upstairs for a shower, “right I’m back now” said Natalie, “so what is it that made you dash over here then?”

  “by the way I left a message on your answering machine, if anyone asks we had a family emergency today ok” I said, and pulling the Certificate out of my bag I handed it to Nat.

  “you got to be kidding me” says Nat as dumbfounded as myself when I first saw it.

  “yes that is right, the person who registered our great grandfather George Lello’s death was his son, William Clarence Lello, our Pop” I said

  “but how? I mean, I did not think he had any contact with his family, they disowned him didn’t they?”

  “according to John they did, they disowned G
eorge too after he got thrown out the house”

  “so how did Pop know where his father George was? or how did George know where his son, our Pop was?”

  “I do not know how they got in touch with one another, maybe George found out where Pop was living and wrote him a letter or went to see him, or maybe Pop found out where his father was living and went to see him”

  “Pop must of known about his dad marrying Betty then?”

  “well I checked, Betty was still alive when George died, she died twenty years later, I have not got her death certificate though, but Pop must of known her”

  “well if Pop knew his father had committed bigamy I do not think there would be anyway he would of dobbed him in to the police, imagine turning your own father in, but what about Pop‘s mother, I wonder if she knew about Betty?, my god I cannot believe this”

  “yeah but what I do not get is that Pop went along with the lie about his father’s age as well, why?”

  “poor Pop, he went to his grave with all these secrets”

  “I wonder if Nan knew about any of this?”

  “I think she would of known something, but she never let on did she, you know how she liked to keep things to herself”.

  Yes seems to be a common trait in this family, keeping things to yourself, I was thinking.

  Chapter 12

  Time to give John some good news, that I had found his grandfather George and where he went and what happened to him, everyone needs closure of some sort even if it is only a womanising grandfather.

  “hello is that John, this is Lindsay once again”

  “oh hello dear how are you?”

  “I am very well thank you John, how you doing?”

  “oh you know, a few aches and pains but must not grumble, could be worse”

  “John I have some news for you about your grandfather George, I have found him”