February 4th

So today we say happy birthday to Mary Morice - this is her 180th birthday!  She is your first cousin 4X removed.  Alexander Matthew, Mary's grandfather is your 4Xgreat grandfather.  We are with the Aberdeenshire family again.

Mary was the seventh child born to John Morice and Margaret Matthew - Margaret being our blood relative.  The family were farmers in Monquhitter and lived in Greystone Croft.

Also, on this day, Clive John Lincoln was born in 1940 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne  This is someone a lot closer to us - he is my unknown first cousin and your first cousin once removed.

You remember Uncle Leslie who was killed in the war?  Clive is his son.  I always knew that Uncle Leslie had a son but didn't give it much thought until a few years ago when it clicked, that this son would be another first cousin for me.  I went looking for him - it took a while because his surname was Lincoln rather than Christie.  The finding of his birth record created quite a stir because it was declared that the parents of the baby Clive were John & Ann Christie.  This Ann Christie is who you know as Auntie Annie!  There is a correction made on the margin of the birth certificate:  correcting the name of the father to be Leslie Christie and the name of the mother to be Alice May Lincoln.  This correction was made on April 3rd 1944.

You will remember that Uncle Leslie was killed on January 29th 1944.  My feeling is that the correction was made because the child of a man killed during the war would likely be eligible for government financial support.

Clive's mother, Alice May Pegnall, was married to Edgar Lincoln.  Both were of Norfolk (a county a long way from Newcastle).  Edgar died in 1942 - after Clive was born.

I was very keen on tracking down Clive but sadly I found that I missed the boat.  He died in 2004.  I went looking for a marriage and descendants and believe I found them - but have only been in touch with a daughter-in-law who suggests that things were not very good for the Lincoln family.  Initially she seemed to be willing to speak with me but then backed away.

Rather oddly, Clive's death certificate declares he was born in Norwich in Norfolk rather than Newcastle - so who knows.

I'm sad about this story.

I've taken this opportunity to revisit Clive's life and am re-thinking whether I have the right folks as his descendents.  I have found evidence of a marriage to someone with a different surname.  I've sent away for the certificate to see if it will offer up any further clues.