Genealogy Jewellery

When I packed up my mother's belongings after her death two weeks ago, I didn't have time to sort or scrutinize items before packing them. Everything had to go quickly into boxes, to be sorted at my leisure when I returned home.

Because mother wasn't a very organized person, her belongings were jumbled together and that is how they were packed - as we found them. So I am finding the most intriguing items mixed in with very ordinary papers and ephemera.

One of the items I found as I unpacked was an old tarnished silver charm bracelet. It was very black with age but I could see that there were 8 small hearts and 3 tiny heads (2 girls, 1 boy). It looked vaguely familiar but it wasn't until we cleaned a few of the hearts that I realized the significance and remembered when mother wore it!

It was a charm bracelet with a heart or head for each of her grandchildren! On each charm was engraved the grandchild's name and date of birth. The first charm was for her first grandchild born in 1958. The last charm on the bracelet represented my son born in 1973. Two grandchldren are missing, both were born after 1973.

I am going to find out if I can have 2 more charms made up for the last two grandchildren who are missing from the bracelet. If it is kept with a note to indicate its significance and the owner, it will be an amazing genealogy treasure trove for future generations.