LETTER FROM EVE TO CANADA LIL

Transcript of letter ---- to Canada Lil ---- by Eve 1977

Dear Lil,
I have been meaning to write to you for some time now, because I think you are interested in our family history. As you know our Jean has been tracing the, "family tree," for a couple of years or more and she has turned up some very interesting points. She has also found some relatives living here in England that we did not know existed. They have now visited Jean on several occasions and they are very interesting. I met them at Jean's last year and the mother (who has since died) was a cousin of our fathers. she was marvelous and she remebered our two dads as children but then completely lost contact. The son who is a University Lecturer was also tracing the family tree and Jean was able to fill him in with our side of the family. Apparently his grand father and our grand fathers were brothers and they came to London together from Devon to seek their fortunes (I think something went wrong on our side!!)

Something that always puzzled us was that all dad's brothers and sisters down to him were called, "Knight-Stone," but my Dad, your Dad and uncle Ted were just called, "Stone." Jean has now found out that a Martha Knight married John Stone and the Knights were very influential people and from the date of the marriage we were known as Knight Stone but Jean has found out that there appeared to be some sort of quarrel with Granny Stone and the Knight part was dropped.

Jean hasn't had much luck in tracing the Stone part of the family prior to John Stone but she is still trying, but the Knight side of the family is much easier. Martha Knight was your Dad's and mine's Grand Mother, so all the things I am enclosing relate to them.

A couple of years ago we went on a Touring holiday to Devon and Jean asked us to visit St. Mary's Church in Lynton and see if we could find anything that related to either the Knights or the Stones. We visited the church and there on the wall were some memorial plaques dating way back. I asked an old lady if she could put a light on the wall because I thought that they were ancesters of our family. She became quite excited and told me they were a wonderful family and she thought they were mentioned in a book she had, she took my address and said she would write and let me know. She also said she would talk to the Vicar. I had a letter from both the lady and the Vicar. The Vicar said that he still regularly used a communion cup presented to the church by the family. The lady told me that the book was called, "The History of Lynton and Countesbury," but that the book was now out of print and unobtainable. She said there was a copy in Lynton Library. So Jean arranged through her local library to borrow the book and I have photo-copied the parts which mention the family - its a bit, "itty bitty," but it gives some idea of our history from 1600 down to John and Martha whose son Richard was our Dad's father, and your dad and Uncles and Aunts and your own family and you have your history from 1600 to the present! We have found it all very interesting and only wish Jean had started earlier when your Dad and my Dad were still with us - maybe they could remember their Grandparents and have some intersting stories to tell. (I've added all the names except your children.)

Anyway I send it to you and hope you will find it interesting - perhaps ----? will show it to Hilda, Bill and Jack and let them have a copy if they wish.

So much for history - lets get back to today. How are you all? I hope everybody is fit and that Jack is now well again. We are all hail and hearty. Graham my youngest son is marrying a Polish girl in April so on April 2nd we are off to Poland for the wedding. I am very much looking forward to the trip. She is a very sweet and lovely girl and we are happy about the marriage. I only hope we do not have trouble in getting her to England because being a Communist country there are problems. We cannot bring her back with us, she has to stay in Poland for three months while the formalities go through and at the end of that time we hope she can come to England to live. I just pray that everything goes through OK.

Well Lil I must stop now and get on with some work. (I'm at the office at the moment).

Remember us to all the family when you next see them. Will we see you in England this year?

Do write when you you have a spare moment.

Much love,

Evelyn.