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?"