Ian’s Blog 16th July 2026

Last week Stephanie Medwell travelled down to Torquay so that we could investigate some of the addresses where her Grandmother used to live in South Devon. Stephanie was staying with a relative in Livermead and I drove over to meet her and her second cousin Fiona. The three of us have a connection to Christopher Marks Churchward which I find quite amazing. I think I had forgotten that Fiona’s Grandmother was the sister of Stephanie’s Grandmother Olive Reynolds and by a strange coincidence I used to work with Fiona in Barclays Bank and we used to car share together when we worked at the office in Exeter. It feels a bit strange to think that if Christopher Marks Churchward hadn’t died at the battle of Jutland then he would have married Stephanie’s Grandmother and Stephanie would never have been born. I guess I would then have been related to Fiona. Olive kept the postcards that Chris sent to her. I think the earliest one was dated 1907 which was sent to where she was living in Newton Abbot. This was the first property that we tried to find. The road name on the postcard was Keyberry Road and the property is still called The Anchorage but it is now 22 Keyberry Park. While we were in Newton Abbot we also went to Union Street where Christopher’s father had a cheese and basket shop. Later this business was taken on by Christopher’s brother George when their father set up another business in Exeter.