My Granddad

My maternal granddad would have been 104 years old today. He died about 8 or 9 years ago. I loved him dearly and to me he was a kind and lovely man.

His parents came over to London in the late 1800's from the Ukraine and he was born in London. He ran away to sea at the age of 14 or 15 and worked as a merchant seaman until he retired.

He met my grandmother on one of his ships. She was Czech and on the way to South America to marry another man......and my granddad wooed her and stole her away!

Their marriage didn't last long and they divorced while my Mum was very young. My grandmother married another Czech man and moved to Canada. So my Mum was made a ward of court and spent her childhood in boarding schools and stayed with her aunt & uncle during the holidays.

My granddad never remarried. He lived in London (Kingsbury to be precise) and I have hugely fond memories of staying with him as a child. I do miss him.....