There was a lot of excitement amongst the family the day that men in grey suits visited my grandmother and asked that family members show up for a meeting at The Royal Hotel because the American side of the family, The Creightons, wanted to fill in the missing blanks in the Welsh branches of The Family Tree. Immediately, the legend of "The Creightons' Millions" was born, and various members of the family in intoxicated states of anticipation planned what they would do with their newfound wealth. Poor Uncle Charlie, who had had an aversion to the notion of "work" since his entrepreneurial attempts to lug coal down from "The Valleys" by horse and cart had failed miserably. Not through bancrupcy or anything like that. After several stops, not to water the horse but to "water" Uncle Charlie, the horse keeled over and died from dehydration, Uncle Charlie not being fully aware that the horse needed sustanance too , if not alcoholic sustanance. Poor Uncle Charlie planned lavish generosity at the local pub where he had been wont to borrow funds from time to time to fund a flow of libations. The meeting was attended by all. The men in grey suits made notes on a blackboard. There were no laptops with Excel in those days. Then they thanked everyone, and left. In time, the curmudgeon-like murmurs grew that "Aunty Glad' and Uncle 'En " had been seen walking through Llandaff Fields, Aunty Glad tightly clutching a sizeable tin box with a brass lock. Aunty Glad, my mother's great aunt, was straight out of a Henry James novel, her attire belonging to The Age of Elegance, darkly dramatic "period costume" which was in fact her everyday attire. Complete with an imposing,veiled, blue-black hat with artificial flowers more becoming a funeral parlour than a person's head. Uncle 'En was small beside her domineering frame, and generally nodded acquiesence, or mumbled pleasantries.
So, The Creighton Millions stayed where they were, in The New World. Unless, of course, the suspicions were correct, that they were locked inside Aunty Glad's locked tin box !