David Dickinson

"Aren't genetics peculiar?" mused David Dickinson as he thought back to his grandfather's life walking the streets of Manchester. A century ago Hrant Gulessarian travelled to England from Armenia to take advantage of the trading links between Manchester and the Ottoman Empire. As a teenager, before a three-year spell in prison for fraud, Dickinson traded on those same streets with no knowledge of his grandfather's previous wheeling and dealing.

  David was adopted as a baby, a private agreement between Eugene Gulessarian and her hairdresser Joyce Dickinson. After an affair with a married man, Eugene had fallen pregnant. The public image of the family was important to Hrant in 1941 and he demanded that nothing bring the family shame and so baby David was handed over to the Dickinsons. 

  David attributes his flair for finding a bargain to his grandfather and it is striking that he followed his footsteps unknowingly but so closely. He finally met his mother in his early twenties where he found out the truth about his family tree. Genetics are indeed peculiar; people I've known who seem to have a natural skill in one area have found out that that skill is one that features in their ancestors also. I wonder if Hrant had a cheeky wink and a penchant for cheesy catchphrases too.