Who was Mum's Dad?

Whilst at boarding school in the mid 1960's I discovered a family mystery which has taken me over 40 years to finally solve.

We had to write letters home every week and once a month had to write to another family member. I chose my grandmother. The letter was written and I addressed the envelope: Miss Madge May Shepherd, The Mill House, Upwell. My house mistress seized the letter and proceeded to tell me how stupid I was as my grandmother could not be a Miss, she had to be a Mrs  or I wouldn't be here and she wouldn't be my grandmother. I readdressed the envelope and the letter was sent. But I knew she was a Miss.

My mother refused to give me answers and it was forgotten.

Fast forward to 1996 - my grandmother Madge died and 3 months later so did my mother. My sister and I inherited a property along with my mum's sister Janet and we found we have a Great Aunt Edna as a tenant. We had never heard of her so decided to pay her a visit. Edna turned out to be Madge's cousin and they had been the best of friends. Suddenly the question I had wanted answers to all those years ago sprang to mind. Edna seemed surprised when I asked her if she knew who mum's dad was. "Why everyone knows who that was, it was Eric Large, the baker at Three Holes!" Edna proceeded to tell us that Madge and Eric wanted to get married but her father James would not give his consent - Eric wasn't good enough. So Madge got pregnant thinking that her father would then say yes. But when James confronted Eric and said you need to marry my daughter, Eric refused saying he hadn't been good enough before so he wouldn't.

Madge May Shepherd circa 1928

I can't image what it would have been like for Madge and her daughter Jean to be living at The Mill house in Upwell and Eric coming by regularly to pick up flour for his bakery in the near by village.

So I had my answer but was it true? I couldn't get anyone else to confirm the story and there was no documentation which proved that Eric was indeed my grandfather. I researched the Large family and put onto a private tree but didn't share with anyone in the family.

Recently I decided to have my DNA tested using ancestry and sent my sample off in the post. 8-weeks later my result was in. And yes Edna had been right, I had matches with 3rd and 4th cousins through the Large family.

The book "Three Holes, Portrait of a Fen Village, by Anne Jackson, Audrey Carnson & Rita Cuss contains brief information about the Large family and includes a photo of my great grandfather Phillip Large and his wife Mahalia Large.
I am know trying to find out more about my new family and time to start breaking down some more mysteries.