My aunt and uncle, Derek Trafford-Owen, have been happily married now for fifty-one years. I remember their wedding well. At the reception my older brother and I played under the tables and I remember us crawling through seas of cigarette stubs. Derek has just published a book, A Family History, which is a wonderful compilation of his memories and experiences. Of Welsh and Irish descent, Derek was brought up in Manchester and lived through the war there before being called up do his national service in Malaya. Afterwards, he qualified as a barrister, came to London and became a civil servant. He rose to become a senior law officer in the Department of the Environment, where he helped draft early environmental legislation. He finished his career with English Heritage and has since travelled widely. That is a very dry summary of the book, compiled with the help of his wife, Jo, and daughter, Katherine. In fact, it is full of the most wonderful anecdotes and observations, always recounted with his characteristic dry wit. The way in which he has set out his recollections and his research about his ancestors is also exemplary. Too late my brothers and I realised that we had few records of our parents’ early lives. We made up for it with long chats towards the end but now we have ageing photograph albums full of pictures of people they knew but we will probably never be able to identify…
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