Arriving at the FRC before they opened,  I was first in and began with marriages. Previous experience had taught me that within a couple of hours the marriages section would be heaving. I cannot stress enough how popular and dangerous this area can be for the weak hearted.

First on my agenda was a proper copy of Martino and Amy’s marriage as I only had the extract. I found it straightaway in the December quarter of 1891 and noted down all the reference information I required on my new form. Next I thought I would search from 1898 to 1930. I found nothing until the last quarter of 1921 which was for Amy Marelli, daughter of Martino.

The next was for William Marelli in the third quarter of 1924, the next for a Kathleen also in the third quarter but in 1925 and just when I thought it could not get any more exciting I found one for a Philomena in the first quarter of 1926. A gentleman facing me at this point looked across and raised his eyebrows as if to say, ‘Some people have all the luck.’

Marriages were becoming hectic as usual but so it seemed was everywhere else and I started to panic about getting all the births I required. So I grabbed some green forms for marriage certificates and decided to get those filled in while having a quick cigarette outside. What a pain it was filling in those forms and wasting valuable searching time! I decided there and then to take a pile of each type home with me and fill them in with all my personal details before I came back to the FRC again.In births I first had another look for the mysterious eldest daughter of Martino, but as usual it was not there. I decided instead of just looking at the birth dates that I had for Martino’s children I would do a blanket search starting from 1882, using my form to ensure I did not miss any others.

I found Martino’s second daughter called Amelia in the third quarter of 1894, William in the second quarter of 1896 – excellent! I now have his birth and marriage. Next is Amy, daughter not wife, in the first quarter of 1898; was I dreaming because I also had her marriage certificate? Then unbelievably I found Kathleen in the fourth quarter of 1899, Winifred in the first quarter of 1902, Henry in the second quarter of 1903 (was Martino virile or what?), Philomena in the second quarter of 1906 and then a Hilda Marelli in the second quarter of 1912. Hilda? I think Hilda is the sister of Bert!

I looked up from my research and saw the same gentleman from marriages facing me and smiled at him. He leaned towards me and said, ‘I’m following you in the hope that your luck will rub off on me.’My latest finds meant that I had four marriages to go with four of the children; I was ecstatic. I had already previously spent £104 on certificates and when you add on the train and taxi fare to and from the FRC (I got fed up with catching two tubes and the walk each time), it was becoming expensive, so how could I justify spending another £84.50 on certificates? Easily, I wanted them!

I went outside to fill in the rest of my forms when my mobile rang (you are not allowed to have mobiles switched on inside the FRC but I always switch it on when I pop outside). It was Brian to say we had been invited out for dinner that night so I could not be late. He also asked if I had found many certificates, ‘not the one I wanted’ I said, avoiding his question. I told him I was on my way home anyway because I was tired and could not find Ellen, the one certificate I really wanted. Brian actually sounded sorry for me and I felt guilty but also relieved that he had inadvertently stopped me researching further and spending more. Especially with the luck I was having, it could have been an extremely expensive day! This was only the beginning of my fetish with certificates.