Author Archives: bbeesley

DNA is still a mystery to me but I recently tried the new “Compare” feature on Ancestry and noticed an odd discrepancy between my own and my grandson’s ethnicity breakdowns when compared to other family testers. My main Asian factor … Continue reading →

Recently, some new information has come to light about our “Uncle James” Hunter. The clipping below is from a religious oriented publication know as “The Continent” There are several listings as shown between the years 1922 and 1926. As James’ … Continue reading →

Another mystery that keeps cropping up, is the relationships of the fours children of William Leyland Hunter and Anna Hunter ( alias Kot Choy ) The connection between my grandfather Tobias Hunter and his sister May, just two years his … Continue reading →

Near the start of this blog, on April 24th, 2021, I posted a photo of a painting which had hung on our living room wall from the late 1960s. It was believed to be my great grandfather William Leyland Hunter. … Continue reading →

Again, thanks to Andy, who discovered this video on-line. I’ve done a little creative editing of the video to insert an original black and white photo from my family album. It’s added just near the end of the film. I’m … Continue reading →

Last fall I was doing some research into the Columbia Circle housing development in Shanghai where my grandfather and family lived from about 1930 until 1945. I discovered that the family of the sci-fi author J G Ballard also lived … Continue reading →

Christian Science in Shanghai On Sunday, November 4, 1934, the First Church of Christ Scientist, Shanghai held services in this new church building, located at the corner of Avenue and Kiaochow roads. This is the first Christian Science church to … Continue reading →

The Gomersall connection continued…. I decided to look a little further and I found a “William Charles Gomersall” who had just started China Engineers Ltd in Shanghai. He became a leading industrialist and was instrumental in the local cotton and … Continue reading →

A question of faith….the Gomersall connection From 1924 until 1928, my mother and her sister were sent to boarding school in Bournemouth, England. They made the passage to England by ship, accompanied by their parents. After settling in and doing … Continue reading →

A question of faith….continued Since my previous post on the subject, I’ve done more research and by chance received some information from some fellow Facebook Group members. One of my original questions involved how and when my family became involved … Continue reading →