Hi Martin and Sue

I'm also finding this thread fascinating.

Looking at this, from your message....

"Regarding the written information, this is a forty year old letter written to me at a time when I was too young to take much notice. The author of this, a Miss G Austin, was at the time a lodger with my mother’s adoptive Mother, Mrs Purse.

The then elderly Miss Austin said that in an unguarded moment, Mrs Purse told her that “Joan, [my Mother] was the illegitimate daughter of an Isle of Man Colonel, sent to England out of the way”."

....and trying to imagine what was actually said by Mrs Purse, I'd have thought that this was more likely: "Joan was the illegitimate daughter of a colonel and an Isle of Man girl, who was sent to England out of the way" (so that nobody would be aware of her pregnancy, and she could return to the IOM when she was back to her normal shape.)

I've found a very interesting Darwell family and 5 of their sons served in WW1; at least 2 of them were high ranking officers, decorated and mentioned in dispatches. One was killed in action in 1915. Don't know about the other two. It's possible that one of them had a middle name of Stanley which wasn't recorded at birth, or that one of them used the name Stanley as a "familiar" name, if that's the right expression.

From the 1891 and 1901 censuses, the family was living in Northumberland when the sons were young, and subsequently moved to Westmoreland (address in the records of medals of 2 of the sons)

In the 1901 census the father gives his own christian name, but every other member of the household (wife, children and servants) are only given initials. I may be being judgemental here, but to me that gives the impression of the sort of person who might threaten to disinherit his son if he insists on marrying some girl who happens to be carrying his child.

Anyway, here are some links and snippets----I've removed the ht-tp parts.

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British Army WW1 Medal Rolls

www.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=1262

Just put in Darwell and nothing else. There are only about 16 people. Claude Randall, George and Thomas Herbert are 3 of the 5 brothers.

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osclub.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&Itemid=41

This is the first paragraph of a long article about Old Sedberghians in WW1.

Of the five Darwell brothers who went to Sedbergh all of whom fought in the war, two – George and Claude – got to Gallipoli. In 1915 George, the oldest of the five was 31 years old and had married the previous year. He would survive the war. Claude, ten years George's junior, had only left Sedbergh in 1913 and it was said that his death on 10th August affected the school more than that of almost any other Sedberghian. He was 21 years of age.

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www.victorianturkishbath.org/2HISTORY/AtoZHist/Monument/pix/Mesopotamia_w.htm

"In hot water", or "A Turkish bath"

Nothing much is known about this delightful hand-drawn and painted postcard, sent within an envelope, by Thomas H Darwell to his friend, a Mr Bevins, towards the end of World War I.

Headed with an embossed address (SeaHolme, Grange-over-Sands) and dated 3/4/17, it reads:

'My dear Bevins,
'This chap is in Mesopotamia it appears. Anyhow he certainly seems in some kind of a mess. Our affectionate regards to you.'

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Jean C