Midwinter-Grantham-Kench-And Me

Until last week, I didn't even know of the existence of the lady in the above photo. Her name was Amy Midwinter, and she would have been my great great grandmother through my paternal grandmother. I have never been particularly close to my father's family even though they live in close proximity to me because my parents divorced when I was 4. I haven't seen my father since I was 14 (15 years, though we talk online and on the phone occasionally), and he's basically the black sheep of his family. I knew VERY little about his mother's family. I knew she came from Coventry, England. I knew her maiden name and I knew her sister's first name (which turned out to be a nickname, even though I've met her a couple of times), and THAT WAS IT! Well, I managed to find her birth record (and her sister's) on Ancestry.ca. From there, I found her mother (Edith Maud Grantham Kench) and her mother's mother (Amy Midwinter Grantham), learned about some cousins (Hi Neil! Hi Graham!), a half-sister given up for adoption in 1929 (Doreen Kench or Doreen Standon?), and my great grandfather Albert Frederick James Kench who passed away at the age of 33 in late 1925, shortly before my grandmother, Alberta June Kench Vance was born in January 1926.

The woman in the picture above has a striking resemblance to me. It's uncanny, really. My husband made note of it right away. Amy was born in 1848 in Oxfordshire and didn't have my great grandmother Edith until she was about 48! She was married twice (Isaac Web, and then once he passed away she married my great great grandfather Edwin/Edward/Edmund Grantham) and has A LOT of children. I don't know a lot about her, except my grandmother told me last week she was a 'battle axe'.



Amy's headshot.


Me in January 2008.


Comparison.



This would be a photo I was also given recently (thank you Neil!) of my great grandparents, Albert and Edith Kench. Albert passed away in 1925 and I didn't know a thing about him until last week and the only thing I knew about Edith was that she passed away a couple of years before I was born in the farmhouse my grandparents had in Bass River, Nova Scotia. Edith died in 1978, and I was born in 1980. She came to Canada with her daughters when my grandmother June was 1921. They lived in British Columbia for some time and my paternal grandparents got married in 1949. I believe she might have married again as her name at her death was Edith Reynolds. I also have a resemblance to her, as can be seen in the photo above. My brother looks very much like her husband Albert.

I have been having dreams about these relatives. I'm a believer in reincarnation, and I also think there is a genetic link to such things. Perhaps I was one of these women in a former life? Who knows. All I know is that this fascinating and I'm enjoying every minute of it.