Skeletons in the Closet - Gravolin & Rolfe

Before my father passed he shared some information about his father and mother's father.

My father was born to an unwed mother and the name of his father was never a secret to us, although we wonder how much her father's family knew. 

Her mother (my Great-Grandmother) also had her as a child out of wedlock. Until his death I had never heard him admit he knew who his Grandfather was.

I recently had my DNA done and it was interesting to find that dad's information matched the results. I had always thought I would keep these things a secret, but I can see that those families are close cousins so they must be able to see the same thing. So "secrets" out if they are really wanting to discover it.

For the privacy of the family who may not want the world to know this secret I won't record the first names, the rest of the information is taken from dad's death bed. I'm very happy though to clarify it for them if they like.

TRANSCRIPT:

ML: In our case, we don't know much about L Rolfe but that's findable if anyone wants to look down that track because we at least know the name and the location...One thing I didn't know...the connection between him to ....

DL: B Clark?

ML: Yeah.

DL: Oh, I've been told that and I forget now.

ML: I dunno if it was B Clark's sister married him, or something like that.

DL: Yeah, I think so.

ML: So that one's sort of know but the other one as you were saying with your mum's father was De Gravolin did you say? What were the two names?

DL: There was V & L Gravolin. I'm only guessing but not sure...one was a tailor and mum's father was a tailor. Whether the other bloke was his brother, the blacksmith, I dunno. Whether he was a cousin or just had a business in Harden called De Gravolin. The name Gravolin comes up there somewhere.

ML: He would have had to be around town, because your mum's mother would have been around town.

DL: Yeah I think I heard somewhere along the line that perhaps his old blacksmith's shop...would have only been a shanty, the bullocks used to go through it in those days...was where Nick Nadycz's house is. 

ML: Ah,..up in Harden?

DL: No...

ML: Oh, the old one down in Murrumburrah?

DL: Yeah, there or the opposite corner...there was a blacksmith's shop. This was going way back...Time rolls by so fast, but then again if you're in another situation it drags so slow...

What the transcript doesn't show is the sentiment behind the words. Dad seemed to know that L Gravolin was his grandfather, his uncertainty was that V Gravolin was a blacksmith or a sibling.

Coincidently I bumped into Nick Nadycz yesterday. I asked him about a blacksmith shop and he confirmed one had been opposite his place when he was a kid, just a hut between two substantial buildings. 

From all of this I have the following questions:
1. Was V Gravolin related to L Gravolin?
2. Can I confirm that L Gravolin was a tailor?
3. Who was the blacksmith and what can I find out about the business?
4. Was B Clark's sister married to L Rolfe?
5. What stopped these men marrying their pregnant lovers?

TBC...🕙

1. Was V Gravolin related to L Gravolin?

Searching Trove I can find an obituary for J Gravolin (1938) who had four sons and four daughters. V & L were mentioned amongst the sons, so we can establish that V & L Gravolin were brothers.

2. Can I confirm that L Gravolin was a tailor?

In 1913 close to when May Lang was born, L Gravolin was listed in the NSW Electoral Roll as being a tailor living in Cootamundra. 

3. Who was the blacksmith and what can I find out about the business?

J Gravolin (father) is mentioned in several articles found in Trove as being a blacksmith. W Gravolin (V & L's brother) is found to be a blacksmith in Harden (interestingly in 1903 he was taken to court for child maintenance). W J Gravolin of Jindalee is probably their uncle (Trove). Another article suggests the Gravolin family came to the Cootamundra district with the coming of the railway, and all the sons were blacksmiths.

4. Was B Clark's sister married to L Rolfe?

L Rolfe's sister G Rolfe married F Clark. R B Clark was one of their sons (thus Dad's cousin). 

5. What stopped these men marrying their pregnant lovers?

It's hard to surmise what the reasons for this would be, but we can find some facts. L Gravolin married his wife 2 years after Agnes was born. Whether he had any contact with her we will never know. L Gravolin had a son and a year later Agnes had died. Sadly his son, his only child, also died after having served in WWII. 

L Rolfe was married when Darcy Lang was born. It would seem his wife was about 5 months pregnant at the time. Recent facts have come to light that Darcy wasn't his only illigetimate child (the other being a girl), but that story is mine to keep.