How much do you know about your own history? Do you know your grandparents’ names, their birthdays, their brothers and sisters – or even their parents? Have you looked through old photo’s and wondered ‘who was that person?’
My journey into family history began in the early 1990’s. With a lifelong love of history, I was excited to explore my own roots.
My mother’s maiden name was Bletcher – an uncommon name, making it a good starting point for research. While I knew my grandparents, I had little knowledge of their families – their parents, siblings and extended relatives.
My first search led me to my my maternal grandad, Harry Moores Bletcher, born in 1898 at 28 Store Street, Manchester. At the time I started my research, I was working in a building on that very same street – an unexpected connection to my past.
Even more astonishing, my grandparents had married in a church that once stood next to my workplace, though it had long since been demolished and replaced by a car park, learning this piece of my family’s history made the ordinary streets around me feel suddenly significant.
As I delved deeper, I uncovered an even more intriguing twist: discovered that both sides of my family had lived in central Manchester for generations. At one point, their paths crossed – but on opposite sides of the law….
With nine siblings in Harry’s family alone, my research was only just beginning.
Gran and Grandad Bletcher
Family 