Was there anything unusual about your birth?

Can't say that there was, at least I don't remember being told about anything. What I do know is that my mother was overjoyed at my birth as she had miscarried a number of times over the years and she was starting to feel that she would never have a baby. My arrival into the world also meant a lot to her as her father had died unexpectedly a few months before and she was very upset by his death. My mum was an only child and my grandfather was quite a young man at the time - he was only 59.

My other grandfather had also died two years earlier. He too was quite young, only 66 years old, so I am sure that my birth made both grandmothers happy as well as my parents. It also goes to explain my parents' choice of my second name, Frederick. It was in remembrance of both my grandfathers, Frederick Duck and Fred Burslem.