My family tree is complicated, fascinating, and a mystery. At least, on my father’s side. My father was Anglo-Indian and he was born in Kolkata, previously known as Calcutta. He came to the UK after Partition and he was always reluctant to talk about his past. He came to London with my grandmother who lived with us but who died when I was very young.

My sister and I have researched our family tree, using the few clues we have. My sister has been far more active in this than I have and I’m delighted that she has made the effort to put in the groundwork. We have been to the British Library and we were able to look at the detailed records held there which were very helpful. I don’t have an exact date for how far we can go back but it’s a long way!

Our surname is Portuguese in origin, not unusual for Anglo-Indians. We have also found French and Greek in our ancestry. However, we have reached a point where we need to visit India to find out more. We have never been and our father never encouraged us to go, quite the opposite in fact. I think this will be the next stage in accessing our family tree.