The hyperlinks of life.

In 1918 ‘Uncle Harry’ had been fighting for four years on the 18th of July he was killed during an attack on Bligny Ridge we think around 0430 in almost certainly by machine gun fire. He was laid to rest in Chambrecy Cemetry with 400 of his comrades. 

The regimental records document to a good degree the events of the day. But Uncle Harry was subject to family folklore that although he died a bachelor, he was a father who was not allowed to marry the mother. There were no records that myself or my mother could find to establish the facts.

A lot of my work was done in lead up to the 28th of July 2018 when we visited his grave a long with former members of the Leeds Rifles regiment, including my father. My mother kept up her various posts on facebook and local community groups but I moved on. 

I found out recently that my mother had got a ‘hit’ last year when she was contact by a lady who could see some of our digital footprints. They connected and it turns out Harry was indeed a father to a daughter but as is the way with the religion, his girl friend was from a Catholic family and he was Protestant, marriage was out of the question. His daughter was brought up by her grandmother. 

So the digital footprints were a great example of hyperlinks, in the dictionary definition at play, but I could not help thinking the hyperlinks of the life - and how they follow various crossing paths. In this case a series hyperlinks was waiting to be rediscovered by Harry Speight’s great grand daughter. 

Hyperlinks are more than clicks on the internet they are the threads made as we weave as through life - the paths and connections we make and follow.

Let’s create and follow them with intention.