General Chat

terry have you thought about writing to a national swiss paper, with your grans name and his first name he may still be alive,and either putting in an ad or a small story of the area and names etc, this is all i can think of to help sandra

For the past 8 years I have been trying to discover who my grandfather was. All I know is that his first name was MAXIMILLIAN and that he came from Switzerland. He was staying in Herne Bay, Kent, prior to the Second World War, possibly at a language school called Ecolé Internationale in Downs Park, Herne bay, Kent, circa 1938-39. He met my grandmother, ADA 'MAUD' ELLEN FRIEND b.Feb 1920, and struck up a relationship with her. Unfortunately, because of WWII, he had to return home to Switzerland. It was only after his return that my grandmother found out she was pregnant with my mother, MARLENE ANNE FRIEND b.Feb 1940. As far as we know, he never came back to England. I have tried as many different avenues of research as I can, starting with my mother's birth certificate but no father is named. There are no records for the school (Ecolé Internationale) as it no longer exists. I even tried the Registration of Aliens Cards but none survive in Herne Bay for the period he was here. Without a surname I am completely stuck! If he is still alive I would think he would be in his early 80s. Unfortunately I have no living relatives left that were around at this time. If I had one wish it would be to know his surname. Terry Boston-Marsh in Canterbury, Kent, England.