In 1949, Edward’s former wife, Thelma, married Francois Salluyts. He was born in Belgium and immigrated to England during World War II. He joined a Belgium armored car unit that was located in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Edward George Oxborough

Born: 20 APR 1918 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Father: Henry C Oxborough (1887 to 1966)
Mother: Ada Anna Archer (1892 to 1978)

First Spouse: Thelma Galer (1921 to 2001)

Married: 1942 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Children: None

Second Spouse: Kathleen Elsie Foyster (1920 to 2001)

Married:  1954 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Children: None

Died: 10 OCT 1976 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England

Probate:

Timeline:

1939 Beccles, Suffolk County, England
1942 Marriage to Thelma
1954 Marriage to Kathleen
1966 Death of father, Henry
1976 Death and Burial

Occupation: printer’s warehouseman (1939), maintenance fitter (1967)

Records:

1939 England and Wales Register
England & Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005
England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941

Variations of Surname: None

First Spouse:

Thelma Galer:

Thelma was born on 4 NOV 1921 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. She died on 17 JULY 2001 in Shipmeadow, Suffolk County, England.

Thelma’s father was Robert Harry Galer. He was born on 21 SEP 1893 in Loddon, Norfolk County, England. He died on 30 DEC 1979 in Shipmeadow, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Thelma’s mother was Hilda Calver. She was born on 24 APR 1888 in Ringsfield, Suffolk County, England. She died in 1972 in Shipmeadow, Suffolk County, England.

Thelma had three brothers:

Clarence Robert Galer (1916)
Maxwell Galer (1924)
Wilfred Galer (1927)

Thelma and Edward must have divorced. In 1949, Thelma married Francois Salluyts in Shipmeadow, Suffolk County, England. Two known children were born to this marriage:

Jeanne Salluyts (1949 Hoxne)
Ann Salluyts (1961 Halesworth)

Francois Salluyts was born on 17 AUG 1922 in Gilly, Hainaut, Belgium. He died on 12 JAN 2011 in Shipmeadow, Suffolk County, England.

After Thelma died, Francois married a woman named Cynthia in 2006. I do not think they were married in England.

Francois Salluyts:

Francois Salluyts

I could find no information on Francois before he married Thelma on Ancestry.com. I knew his given name, Francois, was of French origin. The surname of Salluyts produced no results. I decided to send out inquiries to other family tree members.

In August 2017, I received an email from a woman named Cynthia Salluyts. She said that she was Francois’s second wife.

Cynthia was able to provide the following information:

Francois was born in Gilly, Hainaut, Belgium. He came to England in 1940 and fought in World War II. He was with the Belgium Armored Car Unit based in Beccles, Suffolk, England.

I then went online and typed in “Francois Salluyts, 1940”. A website called War Relics Forum appeared in the search results.

When you click on the link, you will see that Harry the Mole, aka Steven Corbett, had been asked by Cynthia to write a short piece on Francois’ life. The 3-page document was taken from one of Francois’ diaries.  Steve also included a 2004 article published in the Beccles and Bungay Journal.

In 2020, I received another surprise. I returned to WikiTree.com and found that someone added a photo to Thelma’s profile. This member also created a profile for Francois and added a similar document.

These records were immigration cards. In 1970, Francois and Thelma traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil. As you can see, Thelma’s card includes two photos. Francois’s card supplied his full birth date.

Second Spouse:

Kathleen Elsie Foyster:

Kathleen was born on 1 JAN 1920 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. She died in 2001 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk County, England.

Kathleen’s father was Alfred Ernest Foyster. He was born on 13 NOV 1882 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England. He died on 22 DEC 1966 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Kathleen’s mother was Belinda Fisk. She was born on 10 AUG 1880 in Metfield, Suffolk County, England. She died on 2 MAR 1968 in Beccles, Suffolk County, England.

Probate:

Kathleen had two known sisters:

Hilda Nellie Foyster (1908)
Gertrude Belinda Foyster (1925)

Notes:

The surname, Oxborough, originated in Norfolk County, England. It appears in church registers as early as the mid-16th Century. As the world population grew, these Oxborough ancestors moved to other counties in England. By the late 19th Century, some had immigrated to Canada and Australia.

Creating Your Family Tree:

Interested in building a great family tree? Remember these important steps:

Look in your photo albums. You may have old pictures that your parents or grandparents gave you. Or, ask them for copies of photos that they have in their possession. Many people will write names and dates on the backs of photographs. Letters, diaries, and family bibles are also excellent sources for vital records.

Talk to your older relatives to find out about your ancestry. They may relate stories about an ancestor that you can add to your family tree. Family history is usually not found in newspapers. It is more of a verbal memory passed down from generation to generation.

Find the right family tree builder that suits your needs. You can choose one that has a paid subscription like Ancestry.com. There are also free sites like FamilySearch.org.

When you start building your family tree, add documentation to your ancestor’s profile. Records should include birth, marriage, death, census, military, city, and county directory listings. Any information that you can find will help create a life story about your ancestors.

If you have a unique surname, you may find databases on the internet that are useful in your search. I use SurnameDB.com for my English surnames. There are other websites on the internet for countries like Italy and Germany.

Genealogy is the study of a person’s “line of descent.” As you create your family tree, you would start with one individual and go “back into time.” You would add their parents, grandparents, and so on. There are also family trees that go “forward into time.” Many of these family trees start with a famous person, such as a president or royalty. They would then move forward into the present time. The purpose of this type of pedigree is to establish a person’s bloodline with that famous person.

There is no limit on how big your family tree can grow. The blank canvas is there for you to use. Cherish your family history, and it will be there for generations to come!