Hi,
This is quite random but I wonder if anyone can help.
My grandpa, Ronald John Sarchet was born in St Peter Port.
On March 29th 1945, he married Margaret Symes (who I think was also from St Peter Port). I'm unsure why (evacuation I guess?) but they married in Coventry.
Fast forward five years and my grandpa had met my dad's mum, was living with her and had had my dad. My dad's mum is not Margaret Symes. No-one ever spoke to my dad or any of his siblings about this first wife, and they only found out about her in their 20s, following a family row. All I know is, despite having a wife & his parents there, my grandpa never returned to live in Guernsey after the war. When my grandpa died, he left an envelope saying 'do not open: to be burnt upon my death'. My dad (also now dead) burnt the envelope. He never explained why (so I don't know how tenuous this is) but he said at the time that he thought it contained information about a child from the first marriage.
Would anyone be able to find out if there's a birth certificate for a child with the parents Ronald John Sarchet (born 09/01/1919) and Margaret Sarchet, nee Symes? It would be between 1945 - 1949 I guess. I'm pretty sure it will have been registered in St Peter Port.
I also wonder if anyone can find anything else out about Margaret Symes' family. My grandpa was in the same year and at the same school as Major Jim Symes - I wonder if Margaret was his sister?
Sorry for the long rambling post & thanks very much in advance!
Lizzie
