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Runes maps and family secrets!
( A personal quest to unravel a family's mystery. )
  Several years ago one of my closest and dearest friends told me an incredible story,
one that had first involved his family over 180 years earlier
.
 
The Taylor family's connection
( A story - and the start of a search that changed my view of history! )
 
The story starts during the summer of 1813 - four teenage girls, boarding at a school for young ladies in Surrey, England, were determined to satisfy their curiosity regarding certain areas of the school which had been pronounced strictly out-of-bounds. The school was a rambling old house, close to the river Thames and not many miles from the center of London, it was run by a fiercesome woman by the name of Mrs. Dubois. After a heated discussion the four girls eventually dared to explore the very old, rat infested, damp and unused cellars of the school. The story goes - that the leader of the group, Lizzie Peterson, found a sealed copper cylinder, containing a roll of papers wrapped in oilskin and hidden in a recess behind crumbling brickwork. If true, the girl's discovery was a very well kept secret during their stay at the school. We can assume the fear of severe punishment, possible accusations of theft and their almost certain expulsions, ensured the girls complete and utter silence. No known reference or rumor of that event or any similar occurrence was ever mentioned by anyone outside of the Taylor family. Nothing more is known of the incident, the mysterious parcel nor of any consequences that may have ensued.
Years later in 1820 Lizzie married John Taylor a merchant's son, they had one son and two daughters. The eldest child, William was married in 1850 he and his new bride remained living in the family home "Pacatus" with his widowed mother.
We can now move on a few years to Albert Taylor - William's favorite grandson.
Albert was born in 1876, nothing noteworthy is on record until 1903 when Albert Taylor, now aged 27 and married just a few months earlier, inherited and moved into the old family home "Pacatus". His grandfather William, had lived just long enough to see his favorite grandson happily married.
Albert and his wife had one child, Edward , he was born in 1904.

Albert on one or two occasions, had related to his son Edward how, as a child, he spent many happy hours listening to various tales his grandfather, William, had told including one about how greatgrandmama Lizzie, as a young girl at boarding school, had found strange writings and papers that had once belonged to someone important, but that it was a family matter and should never be repeated, Albert always being sworn to secrecy.

Early in the 1920's Edward had gone to Cambridge University to study classical and ancient languages. He had always shown an incredible grasp of Latin and Greek even at prep school, and had often expressed a strong interest in ancient languages. At Cambridge he met an equally enthusiastic student of ancient languages and with this interest in common the two young men developed a strong and lasting friendship. Edward often invited his friend to stay for a weekend at his parent's home "Pacatus" and over the years their friendship never wavered.

In 1932 Edward’s friend, now a junior professor of ancient languages at Cambridge, was invited by Edward to meet his new fiancée at his parent’s house. During the evening the conversation strayed to ancient languages in general and the Celtic language (or lack of it) in particular. The discovery at Skara Brae during the 1860s by William Watt was also discussed and the possibility that there may have been found examples of a written language. During the evening Edward’s father, Albert, referred to the family story of Lizzie Peterson and her discovery of the strange writing and the amazing fact that he had only recently discovered, after all this time, the same copper cylinder and its strange contents apparently hidden in his grandfather William’s old traveling trunk, in the tiny cluttered attic of "Pacatus".

Albert related the tale his grandfather, had told him - about how greatgrandmama Lizzie, as a young girl at boarding school, had found the copper cylinder with its oilskin parcel - but that it was a family matter and should never be repeated.
He had given the contents of the cylinder a cursory looking over, the writing was mainly in Latin, or so he thought. There was a chart of sorts and some hardly visible rubbings that appeared to show rows of symbols, but he had been waiting for the "two language experts" to cast their critical eye over the find and perhaps offer him some professional advice.

The relics were examined carefully by Edward and his friend. The copper cylinder was approximately 14 inches long and about 4½ inches in diameter, both men were very excited by what it contained. After some discussion Edward suggested that his friend use the University’s facilities to examine the items more thoroughly. The evening quickly became early morning with more discussions in a similar vein and references to short extracts and translations of the apparent 16th. Century handwriting in Latin. The following morning Edward’s friend made his farewells and drove straight to Cambridge some 30 miles away.

All the items were photographed at the University within a few days and arrangements were made to return them as soon as possible to Albert Taylor at his specific request. The day the items were to be returned - Edward’s friend was involved in a motor accident and was unconscious for three days, he remained in hospital for a further two weeks. Edward visited him regularly and was occasionally accompanied by his new fiancée and sometimes by his parents.

The copper cylinder and its contents and also the photographic negative plates, which Albert had agreed to purchase, were never seen again, authenticity could never be confirmed the one set of photographic prints were the only consolation. The Taylor's reluctantly accepted photographic copies of the relics as the only possible substitute for their strange family heirloom. In addition to this disastrous finale to the events, there was no apparent photographic record of the rubbings. Edward's friend had only sketchy memories of the whole series of events and was unable to remember clearly ever seeing the rubbings at the University, consequently there were only photos of the Latin text and the chart.

Edwin's friend, the professor, always blaming himself for the loss of the artifacts, became morose and experienced long periods of depression. For months after his accident he searched the area and questioned the people who had pulled him from his wrecked car. His feelings of guilt created a barrier between him and the Taylor family, this rift only increased with time. Edwin tried many times, without success, to convince his old friend that all his feelings of guilt and anxiety were unfounded and certainly not shared by anyone in the Taylor family.

 
 
§  Introduction  §  The Taylor Family's Connection  §  Geis-Runes  §
§  Dr. John Dee  §  The Mortlake Connection  §
§  Dee's influence on Drake's Voyage  §
§  The Voyage  §
§

 
  Issue-01
Not complete Not complete Mortlake - Surrey John Dee - A brief account Geis-Runes - a brief description The Taylor family's connection Home Page Sends Mail to Mark Quest