007. Florence encounters a prince

"I was reading a magazine," Florence wrote in her journal, "and on coming to an article that had been sent in by a reader, my face got hot and my head seemed to tingle and vibrate and I thought I was going to faint.

"The article was headed The Unwilling Royal Groom which said, way back in 1795 George, then Prince of Wales, aged 33 years, married Caroline of Brunswick. Having a mistress, 39 years-old Mrs Fitzherbert, he went unwillingly to the altar.

"The following day, while I was shopping, I went into the newsagent's and bought a magazine that I had had no prior intention of buying. Glancing through it I came to a paragraph that sent hot flushes to my face again. This time it was Jean Plaidy: Historical Novelist, whose books were 'most carefully researched.'

"Feeling that I was being led to another clue I went to the library and borrowed several of her books. One in particular brought the same reaction. It was Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill. The story was about Prince George and Mrs Fitzherbert, which said Mrs Fitzherbert was never the mistress of the Prince; he had secretly married her.

"After the ceremony, conducted by the Rev John Burt, the Prince wrote the certificate on the 15th December 1785, where Maria Fitzherbert had married George August, Prince of Wales. It was a secret marriage, a true marriage in the eyes of God but not the State.

"Two weeks later I had been visiting one of my sisters at Brighton Beach [a suburb of Melbourne] and, on returning on the bus, I was thinking of a photo that we have, one of our ancestors, that we had been trying to identify. [See photo above.] I was concentrating on this photo of a young man, but what I saw was someone entirely different. I saw a very handsome young man, very very elegant, with soft brown hair brushed back, white cravat, check sports coat 4 different shades of brown.

"This picture was so dazzling, as though spotlights were on it, and the light seemed to come from a brooch on the lapel of his coat. Then I seemed to come out of a trance and I was surprised to find I was still on the bus.

"Later I looked at the photo of my ancestor, which was just a dull faded photo, not at all like the one I saw. Strangely enough, I knew at once that the young man in the photo was James Reid of Dundee, Scotland, father of Agnes Reid [aka Granny Fitz], our great grandmother."

What is the explanation of Florence's vision as she described it? What has the Prince of Wales to do with Florence's story? Once more the enigmatic Granny Fitz appears in the story - so who is she? Some answers, or more questions, in my next post.

006. Florence hot on the scent

"What had seemed to be a simple exercise was turning into a real puzzle," Florence lamented later in her journal about the secret family messages. "Right from the start I found myself grappling with two family trees."

Two family trees?

It was the other family tree, which was not hers, that would really send her into a tizzy.

So for ten of her later years in life, between the ages of 72 and 81, this very ordinary grandmother meticulously followed every lead, every hunch, every clue, with the determination and tenacity of a bloodhound. And the intelligence of a young university student.

Then with every visit I'd make she would drive me nuts with her latest discoveries.

Which, as we shall see, ventured beyond Florence's family tree into unexpected (and high) places.

We didn't always agree.

Sometimes when I would challenge her pet theory or her slides in logic tears would well up in her eyes and, as if suddenly we'd reversed roles and she'd become my little innocent daughter, she would tell me how hard it was to be doing this alone.

The responsibility wasn't easy, she'd declare in a little girl manner, that she wasn't an educated woman, that she was only doing her best.

At which point I'd capitulate and assure her what a fantastic job she was doing.

Which was the truth.

Then something quite unexpected happened that turned the nature of her enquiries in an entirely new direction.

005. Genuine mystery or hoax?

"Okay Mum. What are the other two secret family messages?" I asked with my curiosity peaked.

Florence reached for a book on the floor beside her chair - her filing system - and took out a scrap of paper.

"Well, the first one is: 'James Simmons, father of William Simmons, came to Australia about the time of the First Fleet.' This time there's no reference to the Royal Navy but there is 'the time of the First Fleet' again.

"Now we have two names and one of them is that of my great-grandfather, the one whose name appears on the marriage certificate I showed you, who was married to Agnes Reid - or the mysterious Granny Fitz - in Melbourne some 70 years after the First Fleet.

"But since William was married in Australia in 1856 his father, James Simmons, could hardly have come here at the time of the First Fleet."

"And the third message?" I asked impatiently.

"This one is like three brief clues which don't make any sense. It's 'James Simmons. Mary Ann. Soldier Guard.'

"Now we have a third name: Mary Ann. I have no idea who - or what - she could be.

"You see how cleverly linked they are. Yet the messages simply don't match up even though we know for certain that William Simmons did exist and he was our ancestor."

So the big question is, was Charlotte - or someone before her - making all this up just for fun? Or do we have a genuine mystery here?

004. More secret messages

"So Charlotte was wrong about one of our ancestors coming out about the time of the First Fleet," I said impatiently.

"Wait. There's more," Florence huffed back.

"When my brother sent me the photocopy of the marriage certificate from 1856 he told me in passing that my cousins, Charlotte's two sons, also had pieces of information about the family tree.

"So I phoned them. To my surprise each had been given secret messages by Charlotte. Each message was different. And both were different from mine. They didn't know I had been given a third message. I couldn't believe it.

"Three messages?" I blurted out in disbelief.

"Yes. In the past I had only asked members of my own family about secret messages, never thinking to ask Charlotte's sons. All of a sudden, 60 years later and long after Charlotte has gone, I have not one message, but three.

"And what is so incredible is that, although my cousins and I knew nothing of each others messages, and although each is different, all three have common links with each other just to show they are all related one to the other."

With this disclosure, Florence's cheeks were flushed and her eyes were watering again.

"So what were the other two messages then?"