In my previous two posts, I had discussed having ownership
of my great uncle’s gramophone Uncle Fred and the Gramophone, and how more than 70 years after his untimely
death, I had made contact with his direct descendants for the first time. A letter to the Editor
My Aunt Margaret called me out of the blue one day to tell
me she had received a phone from her first cousin, Anthony Chinery. This is the first time they had ever
communicated. He told her he had been in
the US, and was on his way back home to the UK.
He mentioned that he happened to have been in Vail, Colorado. Vail is only an hour and a half west of where
I live. And I had just been there a
couple of days previous. Just
missed him!
She did have his phone number and passed it on to me. “Tony”
and I chatted a short time later, and I caught him just as he was leaving the
east coast back to the UK. He informed me
he had a place in Vail, and returns a couple of times a year. We agreed to make contact again when he
returned.
In the meantime I researched more of what had happened to
his father, Frederick Chinery, when he was presumed drown in the Java Sea on 13
February 1942.
 |
| Frederick George Chinery c1935 |
Frederick was working for the Malayan Broadcasting Company,
and he and a few of his co-workers were among those of about 300 who made
passage on the small cargo ship HMS Giang Bee. His wife and 2 children had departed earlier on a different ship. A survivor of the sinking gave a first hand account stating he had been with Frederick clinging to a
raft for 24 hours after the sinking.[1] There is an account online of the
circumstances surrounding the sinking of the HMS Giang Bee, which was one of many ships
sunk in the evacuation of Singapore. To
do the account justice, I suggest a quick read here-Sinking of Giang Bee
Tony and I missed finding an opportunity on his first return visit
towards the end of 2014, but we finally found a day that worked for both of our
schedules in March of 2015.
I was a little nervous as I prepared for my trip up into the
mountains that day. I had always hoped
to return this possession to its rightful family. I had wrapped the gramophone in brown paper and twine, so it wasn’t evident immediately what I had; I wasn’t sure that he knew what I possessed.
Upon arriving in Vail, we quickly found his condo and went up
to meet my cousin for the first time. We met his lovely partner who helped make us
feel very welcome. I laid the package in
the hall as I entered and we all introduced ourselves.
Barbara, his partner, could barely contain herself and
immediately went to the hall to retrieve the package. Together, we all gathered around the kitchen island,
as it was unwrapped. I know there were tears in my eyes. He was only a couple of years old when he
lost his dad. My father too, never knew
his own dad. I think I was imagining how
my father would feel if he could connect with something of his dad’s in some way. I could tell he was moved as he looked over
the gramophone and some of the other items I brought with me; one of which was his niece Lori’s initial letter to my grandfather 30 years ago.
Once we got that out of the way, we stood around chatting
and getting to know each other. He told
me I was the first relative he had ever met, outside he and his brother’s family. I brought a family photo
from 1965. It was the last time my
mother and her family were all photographed together.
With that photo, I introduced him to his Uncle, (my grandfather), and his three
first cousins. (My mom and her siblings) There were also other pictures of his dad's brothers and sisters I had met.
He recounted to us the story of his family as refugees in
South Africa during WWII. His mother knew no one. They arrived with nothing. His story is personal, and I did not ask him
permission to share it here. But it is
amazing, and I am impressed by the incredible success he has made of
himself. In addition to success in business, he has climbed great peaks in
the Alps, and has sailed across the Atlantic several times.
We
had the most enjoyable evening and then joined some visiting friends of theirs
from the UK for dinner. The friends were
amazed by the dumb luck story of how, after all these years, we were
able to connect while living worlds apart.
I see the term over and over again in this hobby of
mine….”Serendipity in Genealogy.”
[1] http://www.roll-of-honour.org.uk/evacuation_ships/html/hms_giang_bee_passenger_list.htm citing Chinnery,-Frederick. Also citing Medcalfe-Moore for additional
details regarding Frederick.
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