Overview

""He probably had another family in the United States that we didn't know about"" went the story author Ron Williams was told when he would ask about his deceased paternal grandfather. As a child, the explanation satisfied, but then it didn't. The Lost Fifty-Seven: A Genealogical Journey of Discovery, Deception, Secrets and Scandal is a genealogical memoir sharing the author's prolonged efforts to uncover the truth about his grandfather's secretive early life. Alfred Victor Williams arrived on the streets of Vancouver in June 1947. Within months he was a homeowner with a new bride and a child on the way. He was fifty-seven years old at the time. He lived another twenty years, but when he died, he took with him all details of his first fifty-seven years. Early research efforts allot few clues, until hints of deception and scandal slowly surface. Along the way, an estranged family is reunited after decades apart. Finally, with the help of few surviving documents and photographs, as well as genealogical websites and tools, the full story begins to unravel, exposing a lost inheritance, a kidnapping, and a secret identity. Join Ron Williams in his genealogical efforts to uncover the lost fifty-seven years of his grandfather's life.

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9781069103703

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Reviews

""A thoroughly absorbing book that holds your attention from the opening pages about his father's first trip back to the family home in Vancouver to the final discoveries of his grandfather's missing years. Wonderfully put together and superbly written...I can highly recommend."" Paul Chiddicks

Author Information

Genealogical memoirs and ancestral mysteries, my passion is discovering the stories in our people and our places.By no means a professional genealogist or expert in DNA, I am curious about family history. While it's my own family history that I most often battle, I do tend to lean-in when friend or acquaintance offers tales of their own family lore and I am sincerely interested in hearing your unique story, as untidy and jumbled as it may be!In addition to genealogy and the written word, my passions include cooking for friends and family; enjoying fine ales; exploring late nights, early mornings, and unknown neighborhoods.I'm a beginning writer, modestly published and credited in editing. My degree is English Literature from Simon Fraser University and I proudly teach high school composition in my hometown of Port Coquitlam, BC.Member of the Maple Ridge Family History Group and the British Columbia Genealogical Society.Proud husband to Lana, father to Jack, Ben, Tom, and Scott, servant to Daisy and Chester. I'm a product of the '70s & '80s who always has time to talk music.

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