LeGrand conspiracy

[Harry Poland]

Time for a little bit more clutching at straws. I'm all out of solid ideas.

YO11 as an amendment in green on the deportation order of 1917: Considering that the handwriting is terrible, could this be IOM signifying internment on the Isle of Man (Knockaloe??) When I get time, i.e. never, I'll look into it

I'm really enjoying researching this man of several aliases, unknown birth, unknown parentage and unknown death. I keep finding out lots about him - like who he wasn't, where he wasn't and what he didn't do :-)

[Harry Poland]

OK. IOM internment looks like a dead end.

I've now had a chance to speak to somebody who currently advocates for people threatened with deportation, she is also something of an expert on the legal and cultural history of immigration. Following a lengthy discussion during which several glasses of wine were consumed we've got a new working theory on Legrand's deportation:

Apparently the colour of the ink has some significance: Black=original document, red= 1st amendment, green=2nd and purple would be used if a 3rd was necessary. From this and the lack of red ink we can deduce that Legrand's file was amended at least twice, the lack of red ink suggesting that there is or at least was more information than the current record holds.

The only reason that a DO would be revoked would be on appeal, by the deported person.

The date of 20/06/41 is very unlikely to be the date of appeal and revoke, Legrand would be around dead years old at this date. Of 27/10/15 would make little sense as well (you can't appeal against a DO that has not yet been granted). I'll need to find time to go and see the original but the date is more likely to be 27/10/18 would make much more sense.

Most of the other green DO revoked notes on the page carry a date significantly after the DO was made followed by what is almost certainly a reference number to another file. Again there is a lack of red ink here.

So the theory runs:

1 - Legrand deported to Copenhagen 07/06/17
2 - Legrand appeals and DO is overturned 27/10/18, the records of this being amended to another file, presumably in red (please notice that the first amendments in red on the page from the deportation file have plausible dates (1915, 1919, 1918, 1919)
3 - As a result of a housekeeping, or probate excercise the green amendment was made to the record on 20/06/1941 - Green ink being used either because this book is supposed to be read in conjunction with another document amended in red or because the amendment was not contemporaranious with the revoking of the order)
4- This leads to the inevitable conclusion that YO11 probably refers to another document with further contemporary details.

We are not certain of the above being correct, and due to the constraints of time I my research is limited to the internet armchair variety rather than the proper good fun stuff in the archives, but if we're going to look for Legrand post 1917 I'd say that on balance of probabilities the place to look would be England not Denmark. (There is a George Jackson who appears in the London tax records at about the right time, could this be our man??)

I won't really be able to follow any of this up for a month or so, so if anybody wants to run with it they are most welcome to, but please share what you find)

Moving off at a tangent, I don't think that Christian Nelson is Legrand, not only is the date of birth well off but he is listed as a Danish born British subject on the census.

Legrand remains a fascinating puzzle

[Debra A]

Thanks for the thoughts, Harry. I'm not sure that many other posters will even know what records are being discussed here as the documents Rob Clack found referring to deportation of Le Grand as George Jackson in 1917 were posted and discussed on JTR forums and not here on casebook.

[Harry Poland]

Hi Debra.

Sorry to post all this stuff here referring to info elsewhere. I'd love to post in the correct place but I think it's locked to new members :-(

Having said that, reading the names of the posters elsewhere there's a lot of familiar names so hopefully someone might know what the heck I'm talking about.