Sunday, January 15, 2006

Louis Magrath King and Rinchen Lhamo



This is a picture of my birth father and his first wife. My mother was his second. This lady was Tibetan. Her name was Rinchen Lhamo, and she wrote a very good book about her experience as a Tibetan living in England prior to WWII. I think this is a wedding picture.

They had four children before she succumbed to TB. One of the children also died of the same disease. The English climate is not kind.

7 comments:

  1. Ronni,

    FanTAStic and interesting photo -- not to mention it relates a quite exotic history you have!

    As Mr. Spock would say:
    Fascinating!

    Fireberry

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  2. I've been finding the skeletons under the rock! LOL!

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  3. Margaret is your mother? Imogen your sister?

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  4. That is correct. I have three full brothers, and the two of Rinchen's that survive (as far as I know). Woefully, I have not kept in touch.

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  5. Hi Ronni,

    It seems that Louis King is a common ancestor of ours. I'm one of he and Rinchen Lhamo's great-grandchildren; a grandson of Martha.

    To my knowledge, Alec and Paul are still alive and kicking.

    I have distant memories of staying with Imogene in London when I was young (maybe aged 10 or so) - and I vaguely remember our respective families discussing family trees and such - but I've never been quite clear on who's who.

    I saw this photograph when I was a child, and I'm thrilled to find a copy here. Thanks for putting it up on your blog. Do you happen to know anything more about the photo; i.e. when and where it was taken (Dartsedo, perhaps)?

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  6. I met Martha in 1989, and one son, whose name I can't remember, but he was a lovely young man. I met Alec on that trip, also. I did not get to meet John, though I wanted to.

    I do not know anything about the photo, except that Margaret told me it was their wedding picture. I woould be thrilled with any information you have about any of the family...I met Derek, Martyn, and the other brother, as well as Imogene and Martha. I guess we are second cousins? If you click on teh email link on my profile page, you can send me a message. I am also on Facebook with my full name: Veronica Dobell Prior.

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  7. Dear Ronni,

    I'm currently writing a small piece about a number of objects that Louis Magrath King and Rinchen Lhamo donated to the British Museum, which will feature on the Museum's website. It would be really wonderful if this remarkable photo of the couple could be included in the article - might we chat further about this?

    I'm contactable at tyoung@britishmuseum.org.

    Many thanks!

    Tom

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