It was 14th December 1962 when Johnny Edgecombe pulled up in a mini cab to 17 Wimpole Mews. He was desperate to speak to Christine. She had recently broken-up with him and he was jealous and angry. He brought with him a gun. Christine had bought it to protect her from Lucky Gordon and she had left it with Johnny. Johnny said years later that he carried the gun because he was afraid of Gordon - Johnny had slashed Gordon’s face a few weeks before and Johnny felt he needed some protection. Johnny rang the doorbell and Christine and Mandy refused to let him in. Angry, jealous and frustrated, Johnny fired shots at the door. He then jumped back in to the taxi and they drove off, but not very far because, according to trial notes, Johnny got out of the taxi and hid the gun in the next street. The police were called, and press interest was stirred. By the end of the year it became inevitable that a scandal would break. This is the beginning of the 60th anniversary of the scandal, and I hope that 2023 is the year that my mother’s conviction for perjury is overturned. In a recent blog I talked a little about family heritage and the story my grandfather, Colin Keeler, told my mother about where he came from. He said that he was adopted, had found his mother and she had told him that his father was a “Sioux Indian” she had met on a reservation in Canada. I wondered if it was true, so I have done a DNA test to see what my blood had to say. It wasn’t just what her father had told her that made me believe we had Native American blood in our veins. When we were in America, my mother was promoting the film Scandal and we were contacted through the movies PR team by a family who claimed to be related. They lived on a reservation and were indigenous Americans. My mother wasn’t at all interested in meeting them. I would often challenge her about our Native American ancestry and she would say, “It’s not true, you couldn’t believe a word he said… I think we have German heritage, that’s what I heard” Anyone who knows me well will know how proud I am of my Native American heritage, so the results were a little surprising. Irish, Scotish or Welsh 63% English 20% Scandinavian 16%!
I have to completely reevaluate where I thought I was from! She was right about not being American Indian. More recently there is another story that we come from the Kellehers, from Leitrim in Ireland, and that Kelleher became Keeler. The DNA test shows this is much more likely. Still I am a little sad that I don’t seem to have any Native American in my blood.
2 Comments
Christopher Dawson
28/12/2022 05:42:40 pm
Your test results appear to have put that theory to an end, Seymour. Sounds like you’re a little disappointed.
Reply
Seymour
28/12/2022 06:05:07 pm
Thank you so much and may you have a great new year as well.
Reply
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AuthorSeymour Platt - Son of Christine Keeler Archives
November 2023
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