Dear Rowan Tree,
Thank you so much for your reply.
Yes – I’ve bought Alice’s birth certificate, and have ordered the three wills (two from Benjamin Illingworth – one to his son, the other to his daughter). Yes, Alice left a will, which surprised me. The only thing I don't yet have is the newspaper article of her funeral (Nantwich Chronicle, 13 January, 1966).
As I probably mentioned in the other posts, she was my grandmother’s older sister. I remember visiting her with my mother, and hers was the first funeral I ever went to. (I was looked after on the day by two of her friends, Elsie and Daisy Chesters, who lived next door to us.)
I have two paintings, possibly by Frank Holl – ‘Hush’ and ‘Hushed’. They were apparently given to Alice when she left ‘service’. (She was with the Illingworth family for almost 30 years, so I’m assuming that they were a gift from them.) If they are mentioned in one of the wills, that may go some way to indicating their provenance.
But a different issue: I’ve mentioned Elsie and Daisy Chesters - two sisters. They were very much my childminders, and through them I learn to knit, crochet, embroider, etc. They were like my ‘real’ grandparents, but because they weren’t family, I’ve never looked into their background. However, they were very dear to me.
I think I’d like to find out more.
The only thing I know is that there was a Whitchurch connection, and that a boy called Christopher – same age as me - also used to stay with them occasionally.
This forum seems extremely helpful, so I think I’ll make that a second line of research.
Thank you again,
Neil
