Henry Mariott RICHARDSON's 'The Rock of Justice'

Isn't it amazing what you can still find on ebay!

A copy of Henry Marriott Richardson's 'The Rock of Justice' arrives through the post - HMR was 2-great grandfather to Georgia and Nancy. There is no publication date but a publisher's announcement on the back refers to new books for spring, 1928.

The book is a typical detective/mystery novel of the period, well written in the style of the time - not surprisingly as HMR was a journalist by profession and he later went on to become a founder member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) before being elected the Union's first paid General Secretary in 1918. Interestingly, one of the characters is named Mona, which was also the name of his then 17-year-old daughter.

Another nice family memento...

Another piece of the RICHARDSON jigsaw fits in place

Ancestry had an open day for Canadian records on Canada Day, July 1st, this year. Bless 'em. Lots of interesting stuff, including the Form 30A Declaration of Passenger to Canada for Harold Guy RICHARDSON (1873 - 1945). It gave the usual details of his home address in Ottawa, name of the ship - S S Melita -  in which he was travelling, and date of sailing - 16 October 1924. There are some period photographs of the interior of the Melita on E J Palmer's web site.

As well as these details there were two bits of information which were really fascinating - his reason for the voyage and his last address in England.

Michael, a descendant of his, had been told by his mother of Harold's connection with the League of Nations but since Michael started research his family history he had found no evidence at all to support this. In 2010 Michael had written to the United Nations archives in Geneva but they had found no trace of any connection with Harold. In fact, the League of Nations connection seemed unlikely, since Harold appeared to have worked in newspapers in Canada ever since he emigrated to Canada from England early in the twentieth century. 

However, here we have the connection. His occupation is recorded as "General Secretary to the League of Nations Society in Canada" and his reason for leaving Canada is given as "To attend the League of Nations in Geneva". Documented confirmation of oral tradition - it's interesting how there is almost always a solid basis of truth behind family stories.

We have not yet found any record of his voyage out to Geneva, but he gives his nearest relative in the country from which he came as "H M Richardson" of the "National Union of Journalists, Fleet Street, London" - "H M Richardson" was his brother Henry Marriott (1876 - 1936), who himself had been a journalist and founder member of the NUJ before being elected the Union's first paid General Secretary in 1918. He still held this position in 1924, so it looks as though Harold was visiting family on his way back to Canada - as well as Henry Marriott, Harold had another brother, Charles, who was also a journalist.

So, in Michael's words, "Another nagging question answered!"