When did she meet William Francis Kite, my grandfather? Her father was a French polisher, and with William’s father (Frank) being a Japanner, I would presume that they would be chasing each other around while their fathers worked, perhaps sometimes together. The government produced an Educational Act in 1902. The Balfour Act. It provided funds for denominational schools and reduced the divide between Catholic and Protestant, voluntary and schools run by school boards. I doubt Emma benefited despite being young enough (10 years). Perhaps some of her children would. Dad was in Shouldham by 1920, and while he was belittled at one stage for being dumb, he changed that 180 degrees so that he would be picked to go to Australia. It didn’t stop him from lying, a trait he never lost

By 1908, Emma must have felt far older than 26 years. There was a space between the last girl and Dad’s birth. Even with the death of Anthony and Dad not yet born, she was dealing with six children under the age of six. I had three under 4 ½ years, and when the neighbours’ children came over, I felt the world on my shoulders. She, Emma, must have had the internal fortitude of an ancient warrior. Dad used to say I was a descendant of Boadicea, the Iceni queen

I was so honoured for that to be the case, but it was yet another of Dad’s myths. She came from Norfolk, and that was where Dad was fostered. He lived at Shouldham, and I believe his foster father to be a gardener at Sandringham Palace. I grew up believing it was my birth grandfather. I certainly fell off my pride perch, the other myth being the granddaughter of Rudyard Kipling. Sadly, only a cousin. However, the strength of character has to bubble up from somewhere – osmosis, but probably genetics.