Hi Bruce

My Grandfather was called Harry Bickerstaff and he married Beatrice Waitley. They lived in Birmingham where Harry ran the family business which was a glass blowing factory. Harry and Beatrice had 7 children, Pat, Muriel, Mary, Joan, Barbara, Laddie (the first son after four girls) and John. John was my father and was an expert on wine and delicatessen both managing and owning his own shops over the years. Dad married Barbara Kings from Bromsgrove near Birmingham and they had two sons, myself (christened Jolyon) and my brother, Mark. We grew up in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Harry served in the first world war, where his life was saved by a silver cigarette case, which stopped a bullet on route to his heart. My Uncle Laddie used to have the cigarette case with the bullet dent, but it was sadly stolen several years ago in a burglary.

I live in London and work as a jazz pianist, having married Emma Charvet. We have one daughter aged five months, called Rosa Mae Bickerstaff (Rosie).

My brother, Mark, lives in Nottingham where he leads a business support team for an IT company.

I have lots of cousins some of whom I have never met as we are such a large family. Mainly they are based around the midlands, with some in Cambridgeshire and other places in the UK.

Hope this will suffice for now. I'll try and get some more info about my cousins and older relatives over to you when I get chance to consult with uncles and aunts.

Best wishes

Joe

To send email to Joe, write to joe (at) joeandemma.com