I arrived back in London to sunshine and talk of there being only 124 days to the Olympics. Will the roads be finished? Will the flyover work? Will the road flow freely to the Stadiums. I am definitely moving away for the Summer with dreams of being on an island in quiet serenity. It was however wonderful to see the Magnolia tree in bud in my garden in Cheyne Walk,London, and to watch the lights at dusk on Albert Bridge, which has been covered with tarpaulins for several years. However this year I want to move around, go on the Trans Siberian Railway or something like that?. I have been looking at incredible footage that my friend Katy Barker took with Frederick Anderson on their trip to Russia. She is on her way to making one of my most favourite books "Princess of Siberia" soon. It is exciting to watch a film unfold as well as a passion coming true. I shall be investing in it that is for certain. It all looks tempting.
Of course this week I had plans of joining the BFI for the opening of the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and to watch Romeo and Juliet at the Opera House, but I have had jet lag and got way laid by exciting family news. I found my long lost Grandmother, one who got away. Thank goodness for a cousin ringing up and telling me so many interesting things about the Brown family; one who was a book-binder in Bath and another a photoengraver in Fleet Street. I have always been more interested in the Gilliat's but now I realise I did not need to hide away the Browns and Foremans. I can be proud. My Grandmother on the Foreman side, was called Valda Foreman her sister was called Marjorie and got married to a Sidney Abrahams. She got pregnant at thirteen with my father Anthony Cave Brown, and had three children under the age of twenty. She then left the family shortly after giving birth to her final son, and never went back. Probably she had post natal depression and was too young to care for so many but it is sad that she never knew any of us. I wonder what she looked like? I try to go through the tarot cards to see what she felt, it is weird. Knowing somebodies name and yet not knowing them at all, is sad . Valda was born in 1915 in Fulham to Violet Kent Foreman and James Edward Foreman. James won a VC in the war in about 1918 and was then killed. So there are many documents to go through, she later died in 1981, without knowing how interesting her family was. I found one terrific photograph of George Gilliat my great grandfather on his wedding day, he was Editor of the Evening Standard.
Now I have met some cousins and that is good news. You can never have too many relatives. I am completely addicted to Ancestry.com and Findmypast.com and I am up all night.
I have moved on and am now in Vienna about to sing and shout from some mountain top, Julie Andrews here I come. With the Moon in Aries this week it is a good time to plant new seeds...
Of course this week I had plans of joining the BFI for the opening of the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, and to watch Romeo and Juliet at the Opera House, but I have had jet lag and got way laid by exciting family news. I found my long lost Grandmother, one who got away. Thank goodness for a cousin ringing up and telling me so many interesting things about the Brown family; one who was a book-binder in Bath and another a photoengraver in Fleet Street. I have always been more interested in the Gilliat's but now I realise I did not need to hide away the Browns and Foremans. I can be proud. My Grandmother on the Foreman side, was called Valda Foreman her sister was called Marjorie and got married to a Sidney Abrahams. She got pregnant at thirteen with my father Anthony Cave Brown, and had three children under the age of twenty. She then left the family shortly after giving birth to her final son, and never went back. Probably she had post natal depression and was too young to care for so many but it is sad that she never knew any of us. I wonder what she looked like? I try to go through the tarot cards to see what she felt, it is weird. Knowing somebodies name and yet not knowing them at all, is sad . Valda was born in 1915 in Fulham to Violet Kent Foreman and James Edward Foreman. James won a VC in the war in about 1918 and was then killed. So there are many documents to go through, she later died in 1981, without knowing how interesting her family was. I found one terrific photograph of George Gilliat my great grandfather on his wedding day, he was Editor of the Evening Standard.
Now I have met some cousins and that is good news. You can never have too many relatives. I am completely addicted to Ancestry.com and Findmypast.com and I am up all night.
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| GEORGE GILLIAT ON HIS WEDDING DAY AND EDITOR OF THE EVENING STANDARD |
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