What I have found so amusing, and a little sad, in researching my family is how many myths and legends have been proven to be just that. In some cases you wished they were true, like the existence of a unicorn.
Back in the day, before the Internet and then before there was vast quantities online, you simply had to believe, or perhaps you chose to. I was very young when I was told the stories, so I was unlikely to question my "elders and betters" and had not, at that time, developed a degree of scepticism or requirement of proof.
So now I know some of the truth, or rather what is not true (or proven by facts).
Myth 1
The father of Nelsie Rossiter was called William Rossiter who was a slightly "mad" tea planter. He tried to build a railway up a vertical mountain and designed his tea garden in one long line, so he could ride from end to the other and see everything and everyone at work.
Nelsie's father was Harry Daniel Rossiter. It would have been impossible and probably seen as anti social to plant your tea garden in one long line, due to available space.
Myth 2
The Richardsons on my mother's side are part of the (in)famous Richardson gang which was the rival to the Krays in the East End.
I have really tried on this one, but no success yet.
Myth 3
John Gordon Benson and his brother Guy William were sent to Dr Graham's Homes in Kalimpong because they were orphans.
Untrue! Their father William Benson had started the application process, but died suddenly, before he saw them safely installed. The boys' mother was still living at the time, a Ghasi woman called Mina, who asked her employer to write annually to ask for news on how her sons were doing. They died not knowing this. The truth came out when my family and I visited the Homes in 2017 and got copies of the records.
Myth 4
The Wangers on my mother's side had a connection to Walter Wanger, the American film producer, who was involved in such films as Cleopatra and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. More information on this Wanger can be found at: Walter Wanger.
I have been unable to find a link between my Wangers and Walter, though somewhere back in Germany this may exist.
Frank Rossiter
19 December 1858 - 5 November 1944
He is my 1st cousin 3x removed of the husband of my 2nd cousin 7x removed.
He was born in Woolverton in Somerset to William Cousens Rossiter and Mary Anna Jones. His occupation in the 1939 England and Wales Census, is listed as retired sexton.
He served as a Corporal in the Infantry, Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) and was killed in action in Western Europe.
His wife Eliza Bowyer had died before him 1940, but he was survived by 3 children: 1 boy and 2 girls.
Stanley P W Seymour
23 January 1916 - 29 November 1942
He is the nephew of the husband of my 2nd great aunt.
He was born in West Ham in East London to Sidney Percival Seymour and Eliza Sarah Seilor. The 1939 England and Wales Census shows that he was single and working as a laboratory assistant in a brewery.
He had married Doreen Olive Marchington at the beginning of 1940 and was living (presumably with her) in East London. The couple had no children, after her her husband's death, Doreen married her second husband, Peter Breeze, in January 1947.
He served as a Gunner in the Royal Artillery and was sent to the Dutch East Indies, where he was captured by the Japanese and taken as a Prisoner of War to Hong Kong. He died during his imprisonment and is mentioned on The Sai Wan Bay Cremation Memorial in Hong Kong.
John Edward Mignot
September 1922 - 6 February 1942
He is my 2nd cousin 2x removed.
He was also born in East London, in Walthamstow, to John Edward Mignot and Florence Lillian Leagas. I have not found much information about him as yet and at the moment I have him listed as an only child. At the time of his death he was unmarried.
John had joined the Merchant Navy and held the rank of Assistant Steward on the Merchant Vessel Opawa. Full information about the ship, including a photograph, can be read at https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/1319.html.
I am quoting about the incident, from the site.
At 12.10 hours on 6 February 1942 the unescorted Opawa (Master Wilfred George Evans) was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-106 about 400 miles north-northeast of Bermuda. The ship had been chased since 08.32 hours and stopped after the hit. The U-boat dived to get closer and observed the launching of four lifeboats. At 14.17 hours, U-106 surfaced and shelled the ship with 93 rounds until she sank at 14.59 hours. However, 54 crew members and two gunners were lost. The master, 13 crew members and one gunner were picked up by the Dutch steam merchant Hercules on 11 February and landed at New York.
