my/our/their family
A family history project dedicated to the Willimer family in Royston and around the world, inspired by the desire to find out more about my Dad’s mysterious parentage.
The people’s whose lives and memories make up this website.
The story of the quest for my unknown Grandfather.
Images that tell the story of our family.
Some family trees.
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Why did I start this project ?
This modest catalogue of my life and my family was inspired by a feeling that the stories I had heard from my Mum and Dad should be captured somewhere, and not be lost to the dust of time. The more I thought about my Dad’s origin story, the more I realized that none of the […]
What is here ?
You can read the story of my Dad’s beginnings, and my search for his father, you can read my memories of people, places and events with meaning in my family, or you can just browse the pictures to try and know these people.
Most Recent Updates
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Part 5. To DNA or not to DNA ?
Since starting this project, I have felt rewarded to have made headway, to have unearthed some historical data that matched the sketchy details I knew about my Dad’s origins. But now my knowledge had grown, I had also increased the unknowns at the heart of this story. What role did Frederick Ihlee and his family…
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Part 4. Ernst Rudolph Karl Ihlee
The book arrived promptly. It contained many beautiful examples of Rudolph Ihlee’s work, sumptuous landscapes from his time in the Pyrénèes-Orientales. And helpfully it provided some detail about his origins, and his early days. Rudolph’s family had moved from Germany in the 1860’s. He was born in Wimbledon in January 1883, being the eighth of…
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Mum and Dad’s Wedding – 1941
12th October, 1941 – The beginning of almost 50 years of marriage. Mum and Dad were married at St John’s Parish Church in Royston. I believe this picture was taken at Grandad’s house in Stakepiece Road. Back Row: Alfred Linton King (Mum’s father), Alan Sharman (son of Dad’s Aunt Hilda), Laurence Willimer (Dad’s Uncle and…
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Part 3. Looking for Mr. Ely
My next step was to find out more about these two gentlemen. Whilst Lionel Hereford was no doubt Rose’s employer and landlord, I was struck that he shared such a bond with a man named Ihlee, which phonetically put him within the rifle sights of my quest. Rudolph Ihlee was clearly the more distinguished and…
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Nigel David Willimer
Born 13th August, 1951 Unsurprisingly, my relationship with Nigel is my closest sibling relationship. He is closest to me in age, and he had more influence on the development of my personality than I think he realises… Nigel is the only sibling of which I have ‘Orchard Way’ memories, because he is the only one…
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Part 2. The search begins…
I didn’t think Mum and Dad had had any interest in pursuing the mystery of his birth, but when Nigel sent me what documents he had gathered after Mum’s passing, I was surprised to find that, along with the original, there was a modern certified copy of Dad’s birth certificate. Having started using Ancestry.com to…
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Linda Elizabeth Willimer
Born 14th March, 1944 My sister was also a wartime baby, and like my brother Tony, I have no memories of her around the house when I was a child. The first thing I can bring to mind is a tiny flat in Mill Road, where she set up home with her husband Doug, and…
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Part 1. The family history…
I don’t know when I first heard the family folklore about Dad’s ancestry. I know I wasn’t a young child, because I remember going up to Whittlesey several times for family weddings, and meeting my Uncle Ernie and Aunt Alice. At least I thought they were my aunt and uncle. So it must have been…
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Anthony Clive Willimer
28th April 1942 – 12th July 2021 It’s not mentioned much, but the timing of the arrival of my eldest brother Tony may have been a significant part in the beginnings of our particular family unit. His war-time birth in April 1942 came just 7 months after Mum and Dad were married. You do the…
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Kathleen Betty Willimer (nee King)
7th October 1921 – 24th September 2012 My Mum was born on October 7th, 1921. Like my Dad, she was born in London – in a Salvation Army charity hospital in Clapton, East London. This was many years before the NHS was created, and access to medical services was either expensive, or through charity. The…