Matters of Inheritance

I inherited a Fob Seal from my grandfather, Lincoln Todman, my cousin inherited the Fob watch. Both items were part of a set originally belonging to our great grandfather, Walter Todman. However, without the original anchoring chain, nothing tangibly keeps them together anymore.

A close up of watch & seal.

The watch and seal held by his widow were originally intended to be passed on to their eldest son, Walter Victor Todman, not the second son. The following family story explains why they didn’t. 

The eldest took his brother’s watch and sold it for monetary benefit, in response their mother gave the watch and seal to Lincoln as a replacement for the watch taken.

Walter wearing the Fob watch on his waistcoat, circa August 1926, Victoria, Australia[T150]

What happened Next

Warwick being only a child was unaware of the watches significance and took it apart to see how it worked. It was reassembled but has not worked since.

Before Judith received the Fob Seal her younger half-sister, Diana, found it in her mother’s drawer. Diana thought it was a stamp. She wanted to make an impression of the Roman Lion on the seal’s carnelian agate face and so applied ink this resulted in it getting a permanent blue tinge.

Now we the next line of descendants hold these precious family items. This story is an attempt to track their travel through time to the present day.

Where did Fob Seal come from?

No one knows anything about the history of the fob seal. It has no hallmarks or manufacture’s markings of any kind. One relative thought it was a Masonic symbol however, after much investigation this theory has been largely dispelled. 

For Further information see the following:

You can read more about the Watch & the fob here 

You can find more out about Lincoln Todman and his father Walter Todman on WikiTree

Writing Prompt for Week 24  by Amy Johnson Crow 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

#52ancestors and #wikitree