Here are some extracts from the emails my Grandad has been sending me about Herbert.
hear are some extracts from sis's letter Al ' As far as I can work out Gol ( this was my sisters pet name for me ). the old man starte life in Cornwallround about 1888, his surname then was Hall - his mother was of spanish descent and he said she was very beautiful and modelled for various artists, however, she had no time for Dad and treated him pretty badly. there were two other offspring but dad always referred to them as 'his half brother and sister '. These two are a bit of a mystery, I never found out whether they were older or younger than the old man ! .The boy Roland became an artist and migrated to Australia - Florrie the girl married and I never found out what became of her eventually , I believe dad still had some contact with her up until he joined up for the Great war.' Al, the letter goes on and apparently relatives of the old man owned The Tilling bus company, and the grandfather owned land in Farnham. As sister wrote " the buggers must have spent all the money when you and I arrived on the scene " Sisters' letter goes on " Dad arrived home unexpectedly one day and found his mother had other talents beside modelling and was entertaining a few ' suitors' on the side, his father had also found out the bitter truth and decided to take his son away from it all. Dad's father then changed his son's name too Lake and set up his own dairy business in London ..................... Well Al, there is much more but, I won't bore you any further today so, hope it's of interest if nothing else G'd xx
Dear AL, Yes, the Lake family seems to be shrouded in mystery. I repeat half of what I know , or think I know, could still be a bit wide of the mark. The truth is I can never recall talking to my father about roots and to be honest , I never had much interest until of course it was too late. I grew up without any uncles, aunts, or grandparents, the only family that I was aware of was simply my mother and father, sad innit ?. I do rember though, my mother taking me when I was very young possibly 3 to 4 years old to visit her mother. As I recall she seemed a nice , gentle old lady I believe she died not long after that. According to my mother, the old lady was born in the county Down , northern Ireland. I do remember that my mother was always singing the old Irish songs, songs that I can remember even today. It was my mother who intimated that my father's real name was Hall, but the why's and when's I do not know. Herbert Lake joined the Navy about 1907/8 he deserted in Kuala Lumpa, Malaya around 1912 ,eventually arriving back in U.K. 1913. He then apparently joined the Hussars, the cavalry, and in 1914 when hostility's broke out was shipped to France as part of the 'old contemptables' army. He served till 1919 was wounded three times, he had terrible wounds to his legs that he'd show you if he was drunk enough. He did try to get a pension for a wound to the head but was turned down because " the bullet to the skull did not penetrate the brain ". I still have the letter from the War Pensions dept. The Navy caught up with him after the war and dismissed him for being no further use to them . I still have that letter.........Strangely the use of the name Lake was used in both letters ..Ponder, Ponder... To end, in 1940 the old reprobate joined the merchant service at the age of 50 and was eventually bombed on a ship going through the dover straits which at that time was dubbed 'E-boat alley '. he came through that missing a front tooth....but that is another story.. Shows you Al. you cannot keep a good Lake er er Hall down or whatever.. Hope this proves some interest....though for the life of me I can't think why ..............G'Dad x
