Mark Who?

You  remember that my cousin Lyn and I are... hot on the family history trail? Well, Lyn is, I ran out of steam several years ago.  Interested still but short on time, so Lyn is our expert.  We're both intrigued by family history, or lack of it.  The search began over 10 years ago, and to be perfectly honest, on the "Williams" side, we're not much further on than we were 10 years ago. 

Recently, after having passions reignited via "Who Do You Think You Are?" US, it got me all fired up again to grab a shovel and start digging.  Watching the stories of Tim McGraw, Rosie O'D, Rashida Jones, Edie Falco, Lionel Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow, Lyn and I got chatting last night, mainly about Mark Birch, our Great Grandfather, and as Lyn put it, if we hadn't seen his name on our Nanna's birth certificate, or visited his grave, we would seriously doubt that he ever existed.

Edie, Tim et al. all excitedly viewed records dating back to the 1700s and here we are hitting brick wall after brick wall on the hunt for our Great Grandfather.  Something is amiss, somewhere.

My Nanna's birth certificate lists Mark as a "Corn Weigher" and her marriage certificate lists Mark as a "Corn Porter".  With renewed vigour, I decided to go back to basics.  Initially I imagined "corn" anything, to be completed in the countryside, fields as far as the eye could see.  Logical yes?  Apparently not, corn weighers weighed corn to be loaded onto a ship either on the dock, or on board the actual ship.  This dock work must have lead to the entry on his death certificate, retired "steamship fireman".  One job on the docks, must have lead to another.

I'll never give up and nor will Lyn, this family conundrum is as infuriating as hell.  We'll get to the bottom of it eventually but I so wish I was famous so that "Who?" could instruct the experts on our behalf.  I am longing for the ending of that particular story.