Hello Susan; gosh, you have done well and with such enthusiasm! I don't think that there is an awful lot more I can do to help as you seem to be following all the leads. My gt grandfather, Walter Amos Michael - son of Jacob Michael and Rosetta 'Rose' Hart was married three times, having been widowed on the first two occasions. His third wife was Louisa Harriet Seppings whose gt gt uncle was Sir Robert Seppings, who from humble beginnings became Surveyor of the Royal Navy in 1832. His only son, Edward, along with his wife and young sons was murdered during the siege at Cawnpore, India. The wives and children still alive were thrown down a well. What a dreadful way to die..... This is all documented. Walter Amos was a good amateur painter and travelled a good deal, retiring to Ajaccaio, Corsica with his wife Louisa, where he died. For no given reason, he seems to have been awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Saints Maurice et Lazare. Louisa returned to England. Walter's son by his second marriage, was my gt uncle, Walter Henry M, otherwise known as uncle Harry. A very sweet man. He married his cousin, Letty Maud Batchelor, whose mother's maiden name was Mary Michael. They had no children, and after he was widowed, he invited my father's spinster sister, Phyllis to be his housekeeper. I found her rather terrifying as she did not suffer fools gladly, and I always dreaded the invitation to have lunch with them at the end of every holiday. He was very deaf and could never hear what I said, so Phyllis had to shout a version that wasn't always factual. My mother at that stage was a widow - pretty and blond - and Phyllis, who was neither, feared that Uncle Harry, who liked blonds, would supplant her with my mother! My father's brothers were both academics, and one of them, Maurice, spoke at least 5 languages and had his own literary agency. The youngest brother, Ian, was out in Malawi and was Vice-Chancellor of the university and friend to Dr. Banda. My father was not an academic. He wanted to read medicine, but with two younger brothers to educate, he went out to learn how to plant tea in Ceylon at the age of 19 instead. It was in Ceylon that he met and married my mother, whose father was also a tea planter. So there is a bit of my family histoire. I shall leave you be, but if you come up with anything new I would love you to share it. What fun we are having. With very best wishes, Stephanie
