I mentioned that my cousin gave me a box of what can only be described as ‘stuff’ which came from my late aunty. My aunty was always fascinated by her family history, but sadly she declined before I was able to share all I had discovered and for her to understand what I was showing and telling her.
In among the papers and photos was a family tree she had made with a few intriguing hand written notes and one of them referred to Annie Davey. Her name is on information about my maternal great-grandmother’s family but I can’t find an Annie, or Ann or Ann Davey or Davie in the tree I have, although there is a family connection by marriage to a Sidney Davey.
I would follow up any such jotted notes, but what particularly fascinates me is what my aunty wrote about Annie:
WHO WAS Annie Davey? adopted Vivian (child) when about 60? married in white with bridesmaids at aged about 70?
Isn’t that just such a tantalising glimpse of an interesting person?! Was Vivian a boy or a girl? I’m guessing a boy, but was the name actually Vivien or Vivienne? My aunty wrote it as she would have understood it from hearing the story. I am guessing this was something my aunty was told when she was a child, so these events probably would have happened before 1920 when she was born. I would also guess that her mother would have told her the story, and it might be about a relative who she knew about when she was a child, and my grandmother was born in 1888. I am also guessing it is the Northamptonshire, maternal line, not the London/Tasmania Jewish family that Annie was connected to…
However, was Vivien a boy or a girl? Was the name actually Vivivien or Vivienne?
… but who was she? Who was Annie Davey?
(By the way, the photo is of my grandmother and her brother and sister-in-law – not Annie or Vivian!)
Lois Elsden 