Raking up
the Past
My feature this month is an extract from my
great-grandfather’s diary from December 1901.
Harry went to work abroad that year…. And worked
there for several years, travelling back and forth every 18months or so to
visit the family he left behind in England.
The competition this month is not to guess the
truth… but instead to see what exciting stories you can come up with where you
think he worked and what he did (and maybe who he left behind in England).
So this is taken from the very beginning of the diary. Clearly he is on his way to Liverpool to get a ship.... but where in the world is he going? That is up to you to decide! I have deliberately cut out his destination.
So this is taken from the very beginning of the diary. Clearly he is on his way to Liverpool to get a ship.... but where in the world is he going? That is up to you to decide! I have deliberately cut out his destination.
You have until Sunday evening 19 July to leave a
few comments with your ideas. I will pick the most inventive. (We had some
great suggestions last month). I will write up a post next week telling you what he actually did.
Good luck.
I think he worked for the Dunlop Rubber Foundation and travelled to South Asia to manage a rubber plantation.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Wikipedia, "Du Cros purchased the Manor Mills and the Rubber Tyre Manufacturing Company in 1900 and 1901 respectively, and the two companies were amalgamated to form the Dunlop Rubber Company Limited." The time line fits. He must have been going somewhere rugged to leave his wife and son behind, so that fits too.
Perhaps he took a ship to Iceland to start his fledgling career as an ice carver. When he got there, to his dismay, he realized that the island was a hotbed of volcanic activity so there wasn't much ice at all. Instead he revamped his plans and opened a day spa at the world famous Reykjavik hot springs and made a mint!
ReplyDeleteHaha! I LOVE both of them. Check back on Weds for what he really did.
ReplyDelete