Julia was forced to give up another – secret – daughter for adoption, following her affair with a Welsh soldier. Victoria Elizabeth was born in 1945, two years before Julia, and renamed Ingrid by her adoptive parents ... Julia only learned about her existence, during an interview with a Daily Post and ECHO journalist, when she was 38.
She says: “I decided to write the book because I was sick of hearing my mother being blamed for things and being called irresponsible and flippant.”
The journey of amazing discovery regarding Aunt Mimi began in 1997, when Julia visted her Aunt Anne, one of her mother’s five sisters, whom she and John called Nanny. Anne, then 84 and nearing the end of her life, suggested that “Something was going on” and Mimi had been planning to move to New Zealand.
Mimi’s husband, George, died in 1955 and, during her research, Julia found herself sharing a coffee in an Albert Dock cafe with the man who lodged at Mendips between 1951 and 1960 – the man who became Mimi’s lover in 1956. And yes, there had been talk about them moving to New Zealand.
Bio-cohemistry student Michael Fishwick, now in his 70s, was 24 when the affair began – Mimi was 50 (although she told Michael she was 46). Added to this, Mimi, for some reason, apparently remained a virgin throughout her married life – a situation which changed in her 50s.
“I was asking him about ordinary, everyday life at Mendips – I didn’t suspect for a single second,” says Julia.
But had Nanny been onto something – and would Michael know? She took a chance and asked him: “Who was Mimi’s boyfriend?” Though she stresses: “If he had said ‘Don’t be silly’ I would have simply thought Nanny had got it wrong. I don’t know why he told me, but I’m glad he did. It unravelled so much.
“I think he realised my distress about my mother. I think he did it for me. He’s a very honourable man.”
