Family connection

We had a phone call this morning. Some time ago, in the autumn, my  husband had written to an address in the village where he used to live because we had discovered that someone with  his family name was still living there, as the family  had done for over a hundred years.

To our surprise and delight we received a response to his letter in this morning’s phone call.The lady who rang shares the same great-great grandfather, a Henry Colgate (only distantly, very distantly related to the tooth-paste people!) We exchanged new of cousins, family stories, including the tragic death of Horace Colgate who died on his  birthday at the Battle of the Somme. She told us that her father had been a chauffeur to a rich family of jewellers; he drove their Rolls Royce, and had been taught to drive by the company of Rolls Royce!

How wonderful it was to make contact,and maybe we shall meet her when we are next in the area; the wonders of the internet!!

Horace is commemorated at Thiepval