Charles Ernest Perkins

This was my paternal great grandfather, an army man and probably the source of many of Hugh's 'awkward' genes and commitment to an army career. Legend has it  in our family, that his father, a humble artisan, stole the heart of the daughter of a baronet, who then ran away with him and was disowned by her family. If she had married someone more acceptable, maybe we would now be living in a big house in London with lots of money, but who knows?
There is a fairly strong chance, however, that this legend is just that, a legend and somewhat lacking in concrete evidence, as during my recent forays into family history, I haven't been able to uncover any reliable clues that this event really happened. So I ordered a copy of C.E. Perkins' birth certificate, three weeks ago from the General Register Office and sat back to wait.
On the site, it says that certificates, unless ordered more expensively for quick delivery, will take three weeks to arrive. Being of an ever-optimistic disposition, I hoped they would be having a quiet period and it would arrive early, but no. I can just imagine them sitting there at their desks, checking their watches and calendars and saying, "Two more days to go before we can send that Perkins one, Alf. Don't you go sending it early, lad. We don't want to be setting prcedents!"
So, my confirmation email informed me that the certificate would be dispatched today, which means that I will get it on Thursday at the earliest. Not exactly Amazon, is it? But I am hoping it will be worth the wait and we will find out the names of C.E. Perkins' parents. Watch this space...

6 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

If all of this research leads to a hidden family fortune, please may I have a few thousand which I will personally deliver to a charity of my choice somewhere in the Caribbean.

Jennytc said...

You'll have to stop shouting at me,then, YP. :)

Shooting Parrots said...

I know what the waiting can be like from bitter experience of the GRO. I always get them from whichever is the local Registry Office if I can -- they;re usually quicker.

Jennytc said...

I could have done that, SP but I wasn't sure which it was.

Anonymous said...

Still waiting with baited breath...
Lucy

Jennytc said...

Me too, Lucy! ;)

Plaster board and dust

So, we're still no further forward on the British Gas smart meter front and I've given up making non-existent appointments with them...