Eureka Moment
It’s 1900, and a boy believes he is going on holiday. The truth is quite different, as Jane Bennet-Earle discovered. Interview by Gail Dixon
Although Jane Bennet-Earle’s grandfather was given away, she’s managed to trace his birth family
Poverty, or the threat of it, frequently forced our ancestors to make heartbreaking decisions. If a family fell on hard times it was not unusual for children to be given away and brought up by their relatives, even though it’s almost impossible to contemplate such a thing in modern times.
Tracing family in such circumstances can be challenging, as researcher Jane Bennet-Earle has discovered. However, she has broken through her brick wall and found fascinating links to politicians, landed gentry and even Walt Disney.
My Brick Wall
My paternal grandfather Eric Mortimer Bennet was born in London in 1895. The Bennets were from wealthy stock, and owned a large estate in Suffolk called Rougham Hall.
At the age of five, Eric was placed in the guard’s van of a train in London with a luggage label tied around his wrist. It said “Ingatestone, Essex”. He was told that he was going on holiday, but he was actually starting a new life with his older cousin Ethel Disney and her husband Rev Charles Earle. Eric never saw his parents again.
Eric was happy with his ‘new’ family, but he never understood the reason why he was given away. His discontent with the Bennets grew, and in 1921 he changed his name by deed poll to Eric Mortimer Earle.
My grandfather had an adventurous spirit and became a lieutenant in the Merchant Navy, travelling extensively between
Britain, Asia and Australia. He met my grandmother Eva on board a ship, and they married in 1927. My father James Earle was born two years later.
Eventually, Eric and Eva emigrated to Sydney, Australia, where they loved the heat. However, my parents James and Wendy weren’t keen on Australia so we moved to Bath in North Somerset when I was a teenager.
Eric died in 1985, and among his papers we found an intriguing reference to an older brother called Tyrell and an unnamed sister. As I got older, my fascination with Eric’s family grew. Why was he given away, and what had happened to his parents and siblings?
I began researching our family history in 2001, after moving back to Australia. Many records