Talk:Edith Urch

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beginning[edit]

Comparing the beginning of the article with her father’s, Reginald Urch, book: We Generally Shoot Englishmen, An English Schoolmaster's five years of mild adventure in Moscow, 1915–20, one may notice several inconsistencies. He wrote that “the family, a husband, a wife, a son born in 1911, and a daughter born in 1914, fled Latvia before the arrival of the advancing German troops and eventually made it to Moscow.” It means the Edith Urch was born in 1914, in the text it is written "c.1915," and probably in Riga. It is also written that “her father, Reginald Urch, was Professor of English at the University of Moscow.” In Moscaw the man and his wife were scratching living by teaching English in different institutes; he wrote nothing about being a Professor at the University of Moscow. In the present text we read that “shortly after the Russian Revolution in 1917, her father was arrested and incarcerated in the Lubyanka Prison … Eventually, in 1920, her father was released.” In fact, he was arrested for two months in 1918. We read also that “she and her mother hid in a tiny peasant cottage just outside the city.” That sounds very unlikely, as the whole family was on a list of people who wanted to leave Russia as soon as possible. In addition, there was also a son.

My guess is that someone will have to look for additional information in various archives before a definite correction can be made. DavLan762 (talk) 14:59, 19 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Note that all this information (except her date of birth, which may well have been 1914) was taken from her obituary in The Times. -- Necrothesp (talk) 12:47, 22 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

In the obituary, composed by Mr Bernard Cartwright and published by the The Times on January 27, 1978, the only reference to her early chilhood is this sentence: "She was deeply marked by her experience of early communist Russia and its subsquent purges." I wonder where the other information had come from. DavLan762 (talk) 10:26, 23 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

My mistake. In that case, I must have got it from the Ladyeholme publications referenced in the article. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:12, 23 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

It has crossed my mind that Edith Urch had a brother, born in 1911, and possibly he had children. If this was the case, maybe they or their descendants can be located and may shed more reliable data concerning the early history of the family. DavLan762 (talk) 04:43, 24 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]