Notes...

James Percy Hunter...

One might have hoped that the last letter from James contained some kind of explanation as to why he had kept his entire second family in the dark about Florence and his own real identity and some reasons for this. I suppose in many ways we have yet to discover all that went on regarding the court case against James when he was Percy and what kind of punishment was meted out to him. If there was some kind of incarceration then that and the 'desertion' of his original wife and family could be judged as reason enough to bury the past and move on. I am glad in a sense that Errol and Stella did not know or find out any of this during their lifetime - I know it was a source of worrying research for Stella when she was alive. She always said there was something in the name 'Percy' that was significant. How right she was.

Florence Mary Hunter...

The letter known to us as the Chickadee letter has a short sad sentence in the middle. Kings College refers to Kings College Hospital - about halfway between Peckham in the East and Brixton in the West. We know that Florence died on 24 Jul 1941 when Stella (b. 1 May 1921) was 19 years old and had not been in the RAF long. One might guess that Florence was ill at this point and obtaining treatment.