Hello everyone, I am a granddaughter of Sarah Ida Harry, nee Bleathman, estranged wife of the Rev. Samuel Harry. I am searching for all possible information about her, and about the childhood and youth of her son Gilbert.
All I know so far is that she and Samuel split up and that she subsequently had four further (illegitimate) children, by a man called Dalby whom she did not marry. The youngest, Joan, born in 1904, was my mother. By that time they were living in Littlehampton, Sussex. In 1914, possibly on the death of Dalby, she put all four in an orphanage, where they grew up. She emigrated to Australia sometime after the First World War.
When Samuel and Ida split up Gilbert remained with his father but Ida took the older brother Percy (who might in fact not have been Samuel's son) with her. He went to Westminster choir school, served in a searchlight unit during the Great War, became an electrical engineer and travelled widely. His daughter, Anne Delisle (Delanne) has contributed to this forum. Anne and I exchanged information and photos but alas she is now no longer with us.
There seems to have been much resentment among Ida's children at the way she had behaved. My mother was extremely bitter at being abandoned to an orphanage and I believe had little or no contact with her afterwards. Similarly Gilbert. However one of Ida's sisters, whose name I cannot remember, seems to have acted as his housekeeper on his farm in Australia. I am sorry this is a bit weak on detail, I will not have access to my notes until I return home in April. If anyone can throw more light on Ida's life I would be most grateful.
