A new feature: a family tree – Fiona Chesterton

When I received the inheritance which kick starts my story, I was sent a copy of a family tree which had been painstakingly put together over many years by the Canadian officials who were trying to find any distant family of Jessie Heading and her son William Underwood to whom to bequeath his estate. The tree was one of the exhibits presented to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

Many of the names had been redacted, but I recognised quite a lot of them as being members, all deceased, of my late mother’s family. This helped me start my own investigation which is told in my book, Secrets Never To Be Told.

I have heard from several readers of my book that they would value seeing a copy of the family tree, as a reference. I realise that some who have not yet read the book might also find it helpful as they are reading – to work out the rather complex relations between the various Headings and McDonalds who feature in my story.

To avoid spoilers I have deliberately left out some of the names who I discover in my investigation. So when it says ‘unknown’ it doesn’t necessarily mean that the name is ‘unknown’ to me, for example, the name of Jessie’s birth father which is revealed in the book.

As there are several large families in this tree, I have also omitted some of the members who don’t feature in the book. This is for simplicity. Even with these omissions, there are twenty four names spread over five generations and two centuries here.

So here it is: the Heading/McDonald family tree.

William Heading (Male)

( B : 1813 – D : 1903 )
- Sarah White Heading (Female)
  
  D : 1885
  - Mary Ann Heading (Female)
    
    ( B : 1851 – D : 1933 )
    - Unknown
      - Jessie Ashbowl Heading Underwood (aka McDonald) (Female)
        
        ( B : 1877 – D : 1970 )
        
        Unknown
        
        William Underwood (Male)
        
        ( B : 1915 – D : 1994 )
  - Elizabeth McDonald (Female)
    
    B : 1842
    - John Moore McDonald (Male)
      
      B : 1842
      - John William McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1870 – D : 1952 )
      - Reginald McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1873 – D : 1946 )
        
        Elizabeth Biddulph (Female)
        
        ( B : 1874 – D : 1946 )
        
        Dorothy McDonald (Female)
        
        ( B : 1896 – D : 1988 )
        
        Elizabeth (Female)
        
        ( B : 1898 – D : 1996 )
        
        Hector McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1900 – D : 1962 )
        
        Edward McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1908 – D : 1979 )
        
        Reginald McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1901 – D : 1987 )
        
        Florence McDonald (Female)
        
        ( B : 1903 – D : 1987 )
        
        Lily Rackley (Female)
        
        ( B : 1904 – D : 1979 )
        
        John McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1910 – D : 1995 )
        
        Robert Kenneth McDonald (Male)
        
        ( B : 1912 – D : 2000 )
        
        Mary Biddulph (Female)
        
        ( B : 1916 – D : 2009 )
        
        Unknown
        
        Fiona Mary Chesterton (Female)
        
        B : 1952
        
        Jean Patricia Kinsey (Female)
        
        ( B : 1920 – D : 2011 )
  - Fanny Mackness (Female)
    
    ( B : 1844 – D : 1936 )
    - Unknown
      - Original Heading Mackness (Male)
        
        ( B : 1876 – D : 1956 )