[marquette]

Over the past couple of months, I have been cleaning up my mother's house, as she decided to move into a granny flat at my sisters.

Now, Mum knows I am interested in her family history, so I don't know if she has forgotten that she has these items but going through the old books and boxes of clutter has been a revelation.

I now have -

One Holy Bible inscribed to my maternal grandfather "for quoting the Books of the Bible" dated 15 Aug 1915 - he would have been 12.

One Holy Bible which belonged to my paternal grandmother, dated 30/9/1913, her sixteenth birthday. And her Book of Common Prayer dated for her eighteenth birthday, 30/9/1915.

A Book of Common Prayer dated "Xmas 1940" given to my father as a "Scripture Prize".

A very battered New Testament which I nearly discarded, except written inside the front cover are the names and dates of birth of my 3rd great grandparents, John and Catherine Eccles and their 4 children. As John and Catherine pre-date civil registration, finding this was extraordinary.

I also now have my maternal grandfather's World War 2 Medal and a fob watch engraved with my paternal grandfather's initials and date of his 21st birthday.

And I have not finished the "sewing room" and the other spare room ! There is also a large pile of photos to go through. A few of the photos are my Dad and his brother and parents - very rare, as Dad told us they were too poor to be able to afford to have photos taken.

Now I just have to label and organise these items so they are not lost to the family in the future.

Di