Charles Francis Roope was born on 24 December 1883 into a Roman Catholic family. After the birth of four older sisters, my grandmother Evelyn amongst them, he was no doubt more than welcome! He was followed a year later, by the arrival of a further sister, before the family was complete. His father Charles Henry Roope was a merchant banker in the [Click to continue…]

Eleanor Davies, Royal Red Cross and Bar My great aunt Eleanor Davies was born 24 Dec 1875 in Glasgow (the daughter of Warren Davies and Eleanor (formerly Sewell).  Warren Davies, an iron puddler from Newport, Monmouthshire, and Eleanor Sewell, from Newcastle upon Tyne, were married by Primitive Methodist Minister John Davison on 14 Jun 1872 at [Click to continue…]

Like so many others of the time, Archibald Margrett, also known as “Jimmy”, gave himself without restraint to the conflict in France during the First World War and, as a consequence, carried the scars for the rest of his life. But despite needing six years to recover after the war from physical and emotional injuries, he went on to hold down a [Click to continue…]