Postcards sent to Percy Marrison by his French girlfriend.
The Evening News's sister paper, the EDP, published the pictures earlier this month, which were discovered when collector Alan Brooks bought a second-hand camera on Fakenham market and developed the half-used 35mm film.
They showed the grave of Norwich-born Percy Marrison, a 24-year-old bombardier with the Royal Field Artillery, who died on April 19, 1917, and was buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in northern France.
The story was spotted by Marlene Jervis, whose camera had taken the pictures when her husband, Bungay town councillor Jim Jervis, visited the grave of his great uncle two years ago.
After Mrs Jervis answered the appeal, two other members of her family tree, Debra Coe and Charles Dennis, also came forward and were eager to tell more stories about Percy Marrison's siblings.
They included the heartbreaking tale that his brother Herbert died in battle on the same day - hundreds of miles away in Palestine on one of the worst days of bloodshed suffered by the Norfolk regiment during the First World War.
Mrs Jervis organised the reunion at the White Horse pub in Trowse, near Norwich, on Thursday where about a dozen members of her extended family sifted through old photos and documents.
“It is great,” she said. “Without these people contacting the paper this would never have happened and I would never have met Charles, or his sister, or Debbie. It has become a family get-together and there are lots of things people have brought that we have not seen before.”
Percy and Herbert's family included other well-known Norfolk characters. Their brother, William Marrison, reportedly rescued 100 people during “The Great Flood” of 1912, while their sister Victoria, known as Mottie, ran the Ferry Boat pub on Norwich's King Street for 30 years after the death of her husband, Arthur Warminger.
One of Mottie's great granddaughters, 50-year-old Debra Coe from Norwich, said: “It is very pleasing to find out where you came from.”
Charles Dennis, 79, brought a collection of family memorabilia which included a set of postcards sent to Percy by a pair of French sisters, which were sent back from the front after his death.
The beautifully-written script suggests he had agreed to marry one of them, Germaine Hocquette, whose responses to him were signed: “Softest kisses from the one who loves you.”
Mr Dennis's sister Lilian Riches, from Norwich, said she was thrilled to meet new members of her family, even at the age of 81. “I think it is lovely,” she said. “There are people here who have been in my mind for years but, having lost touch you wonder what has happened to them all. It is lovely now to actually meet them.” [rc]
Copyright © 2009 Archant Regional
September 1, 2009
UK: Family joy thanks to lost photos
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NORWICH, Norfolk / Norwich Evening News / September 1, 2009
By Chris Hill
August 31, 2009
It began with a poignant collection of photos from a Norwich-born soldier's foreign grave, found by chance in an old camera.
But an appeal to reunite the prints with their owner has succeeded in much more than simply finding the mystery photographer.
The story has brought a whole family together, with some long-lost relatives meeting for the very first time at a reunion where they shared tales of the astonishing tragedies and heroism of their ancestors.
Postcards sent to Percy Marrison by his French girlfriend.
The Evening News's sister paper, the EDP, published the pictures earlier this month, which were discovered when collector Alan Brooks bought a second-hand camera on Fakenham market and developed the half-used 35mm film.
They showed the grave of Norwich-born Percy Marrison, a 24-year-old bombardier with the Royal Field Artillery, who died on April 19, 1917, and was buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in northern France.
The story was spotted by Marlene Jervis, whose camera had taken the pictures when her husband, Bungay town councillor Jim Jervis, visited the grave of his great uncle two years ago.
After Mrs Jervis answered the appeal, two other members of her family tree, Debra Coe and Charles Dennis, also came forward and were eager to tell more stories about Percy Marrison's siblings.
They included the heartbreaking tale that his brother Herbert died in battle on the same day - hundreds of miles away in Palestine on one of the worst days of bloodshed suffered by the Norfolk regiment during the First World War.
Mrs Jervis organised the reunion at the White Horse pub in Trowse, near Norwich, on Thursday where about a dozen members of her extended family sifted through old photos and documents.
“It is great,” she said. “Without these people contacting the paper this would never have happened and I would never have met Charles, or his sister, or Debbie. It has become a family get-together and there are lots of things people have brought that we have not seen before.”
Percy and Herbert's family included other well-known Norfolk characters. Their brother, William Marrison, reportedly rescued 100 people during “The Great Flood” of 1912, while their sister Victoria, known as Mottie, ran the Ferry Boat pub on Norwich's King Street for 30 years after the death of her husband, Arthur Warminger.
One of Mottie's great granddaughters, 50-year-old Debra Coe from Norwich, said: “It is very pleasing to find out where you came from.”
Charles Dennis, 79, brought a collection of family memorabilia which included a set of postcards sent to Percy by a pair of French sisters, which were sent back from the front after his death.
The beautifully-written script suggests he had agreed to marry one of them, Germaine Hocquette, whose responses to him were signed: “Softest kisses from the one who loves you.”
Mr Dennis's sister Lilian Riches, from Norwich, said she was thrilled to meet new members of her family, even at the age of 81. “I think it is lovely,” she said. “There are people here who have been in my mind for years but, having lost touch you wonder what has happened to them all. It is lovely now to actually meet them.” [rc]
Copyright © 2009 Archant Regional
Postcards sent to Percy Marrison by his French girlfriend.
The Evening News's sister paper, the EDP, published the pictures earlier this month, which were discovered when collector Alan Brooks bought a second-hand camera on Fakenham market and developed the half-used 35mm film.
They showed the grave of Norwich-born Percy Marrison, a 24-year-old bombardier with the Royal Field Artillery, who died on April 19, 1917, and was buried in the Maroc British Cemetery in northern France.
The story was spotted by Marlene Jervis, whose camera had taken the pictures when her husband, Bungay town councillor Jim Jervis, visited the grave of his great uncle two years ago.
After Mrs Jervis answered the appeal, two other members of her family tree, Debra Coe and Charles Dennis, also came forward and were eager to tell more stories about Percy Marrison's siblings.
They included the heartbreaking tale that his brother Herbert died in battle on the same day - hundreds of miles away in Palestine on one of the worst days of bloodshed suffered by the Norfolk regiment during the First World War.
Mrs Jervis organised the reunion at the White Horse pub in Trowse, near Norwich, on Thursday where about a dozen members of her extended family sifted through old photos and documents.
“It is great,” she said. “Without these people contacting the paper this would never have happened and I would never have met Charles, or his sister, or Debbie. It has become a family get-together and there are lots of things people have brought that we have not seen before.”
Percy and Herbert's family included other well-known Norfolk characters. Their brother, William Marrison, reportedly rescued 100 people during “The Great Flood” of 1912, while their sister Victoria, known as Mottie, ran the Ferry Boat pub on Norwich's King Street for 30 years after the death of her husband, Arthur Warminger.
One of Mottie's great granddaughters, 50-year-old Debra Coe from Norwich, said: “It is very pleasing to find out where you came from.”
Charles Dennis, 79, brought a collection of family memorabilia which included a set of postcards sent to Percy by a pair of French sisters, which were sent back from the front after his death.
The beautifully-written script suggests he had agreed to marry one of them, Germaine Hocquette, whose responses to him were signed: “Softest kisses from the one who loves you.”
Mr Dennis's sister Lilian Riches, from Norwich, said she was thrilled to meet new members of her family, even at the age of 81. “I think it is lovely,” she said. “There are people here who have been in my mind for years but, having lost touch you wonder what has happened to them all. It is lovely now to actually meet them.” [rc]
Copyright © 2009 Archant Regional
