When I first came to China I knew my father's family had lived in Shanghai and that there was a house still there called the Moller Villa. More than that I didnt know. I knew the dates, roughly: 1840s - 1940s.

This website came about a few years later in 2004. Moller family from all over the world, as curious as I have been, have made contact, to my real delight, to share with me who they are and what they know and where they figure in the puzzle. One such story, concerning Francis Steele Moller, arrived in my email this morning, January 12, via David Moller, first cousin to my dad, Roy. Francis Steele Moller is the brother of Herbert Moller, my grandpa.

The story was prompted by some rare trivia turning up in an auction house recently:

Awarded by Britain, Russia and Roumania to Francis Steele Moller during The Great War

"A rare and impressive Great War pilot’s Western Front M.C., North Russia D.F.C. group of seven awarded to Major F. S. Moller, Royal Air Force, late Royal Flying Corps, an American who was twice wounded in combats over France."

Francis Steele Moller, who was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in November 1891, was commissioned in the Royal Fusiliers in September 1915, but transferred to the Royal Flying Corps, and qualified as a pilot in January 1916, aged 25. Local London newspapers caught up on the story, first in 1916 for his Military Cross then in 1919 for his Distinguished Flying Cross:

Herbert Moller behind Colonel Arthur Moller, M.C., D.S.O., 1917

London Gazette 14 November 1916: ‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. During a raid he dived to 1500 feet and dropped his bombs on an ammunition train. He then chased three other trains and attacked them with great courage and skill.’

London Gazette 5 April 1919: ‘A Wing Commander of outstanding merit who, by his fine leadership, personal disregard of danger, and splendid example has, since he took over command of his Wing (composed of one British and two Russian Squadrons) worked marvels in raising its morale and efficiency.

His personal influence was very marked on a recent occasion when, owing to heavy casualties, the morale of the pilots had suffered; he took charge, and by his example and leadership restored confidence, and successfully reduced the enemy’s artillery fire.’

Avenue de Roi Albert in Shanghai's central district plays a role in the the folklore of foreign inhabitants in China.

The Moller House, that is known, depending on who you talk to, as, "Ma Le Bie Shu", "Moller Villa", or, within the family, "Fairyland 2", is also part of Moller family folklore, capturing in an extraordinary architectural monument, a moment in the lives of the descendents of Captain Nils. The house has acted as a focus for my research on my father's family for many years. These photographs from the 1920s of the house near completion, then finished, were kindly forwarded to me from Diana Webb via David Moller. Diana Webb is the daughter of Dido Moller, one of the daughters of whom the house was said to be originally dreamt up by in one of the fantastic Chinese whispers about the Mollers.

"Fairyland 2 – Finished(late 1920s)! 40 Rooms, 10 bathrooms." Diana visited it in 1948/1949

The Shanghai Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage have now classified the house as a National Cultural Relic Protection Unit and layout the history of the building of the house as well as a history of the moller Family in Shanghai in “The Moller family and the whole story of the construction process of Moller Villa”, a report now published in Chinese on the web. I am attempting to translate it to hand it on to members of the family. The story of the house - and the family - is full of myth and I fear this may also be the case. But the heritage department have asked me to review some material they cant identify so I am hoping to talk further with them and hand on the material to Diana or other members of the Moller Family who lived in Fairyland 2.

Captain Nils Moller and Family

SOLD EAST

This photograph was sent to me over Christmas, of Captian Nils and his family, my great grandfather C.H.C. Moller far right. The old man's face is full of pathos, a life lived at sea and in China marked in his sad eyes and resplendent moustache. I dont know the dates of the photograph or where it was taken or what the occassion is but they arent smiling, that much is obvious.

from H.W. DICK & S.A. KENTWELL, SOLD EAST: Traders, tramps and tugs of Chinese Waters, Melbourne, Nautical Association of Australia, 1991. Courtesy of Eve Kilman: “My father, Alec Atkinson, was Eric Moller's contemporary and worked for him and his father in Shanghai, Blyth and Hong Kong from 1934 to 1959.”

The legacy of Captain Nils Moller: Nils Moller & Sons, Shanghai (1894-03) Moller Brothers, Shanghai (1903-10) Moller & Co. (M&Co.), Shanghai (1910) Chun Young Zan. Shanghai (1921-35) Moller & Co. (Shanghai) Ltd (c. 1919-23) Moller Line Ltd (MLL), Shanghai (1935) *Mollers' Towages Ltd (MIL) (1935) Mollers' Ltd, Shanghai (1936) (rereg. 1947) Moller Line (UK) Ltd, London (1943) Moller Line (South Africa) Pty Ltd, Durban (1946) Mollers' (Hongkong) Ltd (1946).

Winter 2010 Beijing Temple Fair

Biography Illustrated

Buddhists believe that we are many different people in one lifetime. Looking back at your self and trying to equate who you are to who you once were certainly makes it feel so.

A small rogue’s gallery of my years on the planet, including that hot-itchy-wig-cork- mustache pic taken when I was five plus narcissistic pictures from my youth crica 1980s -1990s...

Alas, another age .

Ruth-Ellen Childers Paris 1948

A Letter Home

From Paris July 1951, Roy wrote to Ruth:

""I’m off to Italy tonight – I can’t stand Paris anymore – it’s too full of you; yet we didn’t stay here very long, did we.

I went to Amexco. this morning hoping for a letter or a wire and now its 4pm and I’m sitting in a café putting off the moment when I go across and have a last look before going off to get my train – the longer I wait the more chance there is. I hope you can read the writing, I am doing it on my knee."

January 2012 - Ruth is still very sick in Ireland. MY recent meeting with her on Christmas Eve was poignant and very moving ...

Glendaough House, a period photo

Downstairs Upstairs ... (and Outside)

Catching Christmas episodes of Downton Abbey during a recent visit to see Ruth, I wondered about the authenticity of the relationship between the upstairs and the downstairs. At Glan, Uncle Bob's incredible and beautifully detailed recounting of his life among the staff of the estate and his neighbours in Annamoe seems to prove it so. He writes: "The periphery includes Glan and some of its employees and neighbours who have made a very marked impression on my mind and affections. I cannot go very far afield or it would take me a lifetime to enumerate all the noteworthy persons in the district and the stories about them than render them noteworthy."

Magnificent People...Never Forget

A Harbin Story - The Freezing North. Baby Steps in China (2002).

Back in 2002, I lived in Northern China, in a place called Harbin City, an industrialized capital of Heilongjiang.

"The food is much to admire in Harbin. The coughing more an art and definitely the making of an anecdote – perhaps accompanied by a demonstration in public. But the pollution – that I could see on the way to work covering car windscreens in thick films of dust and that turns the remains of the snow a filthy sombre grey – is to be dealt with. I am going to buy a face mask – that many Chinese use – and deal with washing the grime from my hands, face and clothes. Everything white that I have is gradually turning off-white. In time it will change colour all together. But this is China. The Chinese live in it and must hate it as much as I imagine I will after living in it for a year or more. For the present, it is another thing to become accustomed to.

But back to the nervousness. It gradually unravelled through the day and I feel more able for China, both physically and emotionally. Because your public self is highly visible here – owing to your skin colour – it feels doubly difficult if you fail to navigate – with some grace at least – the basic grammar of being western in China. You cannot pretend to be Chinese and it doesn’t occur to you to try. It isn’t that kind of experience. It seems to me that I am conscious of my very privileged position in being able to be here in the first place. The westerner is not known as ‘The White Devil’ for nothing in China. Therefore it is not the Chinese who should be made to explain why they feel the way they do."