It is well-known that Liz Truss is the daughter of left-leaning parents.
Her academic father John Truss was “saddened” by her political change from student Liberal Democrat to Conservative, while her mother Priscilla accompanied her to anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1980s.
However, uncovered newspaper articles shed additional light on her family history by revealing that her great-grandfather was a ventriloquist.
Ms. Truss comes from a history of strong women, with her great-grandmother raising five children on her own and working as a postmaster following the death of her husband, according to research conducted by the ancestry website Findmypast.
George Grasby, Ms. Truss’ great-grandfather on her mother’s side, was born in Hull in 1891 and taken prisoner by the Germans during the First World War. Upon his return, he turned to ventriloquism.
A previously posted photograph by Ms. Truss depicts Grasby with his wife, Mary. His right leg was amputated during the Battle of Passchendaele.
It is well-known that Liz Truss is the daughter of left-leaning parents. Her father, scholar John Truss, was’saddened’ by her political change from student Liberal Democrat to Conservative, while her mother Priscilla (pictured) led her on anti-nuclear weapons marches in the 1980s.
Grasby was himself the son of a Yorkshire innkeeper and shepherd.
In 1919, the Hully Daily Mail claimed that he performed as a ventriloquist in the city, and over the next two years he entertained audiences throughout the region.
John Truss is a retired mathematics instructor.
The 1919 article discussed a concert conducted at the East Hull Conservative Club.
It featured a “clever ventriloquial performance by Mr. G. Gasby, a former soldier.”
According to the 1921 Census, he resided in Yorkshire with his wife and their three-year-old son, George Raymond.
Mr. Grasby was a member of a troupe of performers known as the “Cinderellas,” according to a 1925 article from the Hull Daily Mail.
Then, in 1939, the Driffield Times reported that Mr. Grasby had performed with a doll named Jack in a “very entertaining concert.”
In addition to performing as a ventriloquist, he also worked as a cobbler.
A former next-door neighbor once told the Daily Mail that the soldier’s condition was not a hindrance and that he was often seen “climbing ladders outside the building.”
Alice Driver was Ms. Truss’s great-great-grandmother on her father’s side, and she was born in 1849.
Her husband died at the young age of 33 in 1881, leaving her to raise their five children by herself.
In 1919, the Hully Daily Mail stated that Liz Truss’s great-grandfather George Grasby performed as a ventriloquist in the city. For the next two years, he entertained audiences throughout the region.
Mr. Grasby was a member of a troupe known as the ‘Cinderellas,’ according to a 1925 article from the Hull Daily Mail.
She also assumed his mailman and newsstand positions and never remarried. At the time, working women were uncommon.
Mary Jane, daughter of Alice and Ms. Truss’s great-grandmother, was also employed.
Prior to her marriage to Reverend Richard Ernest Birtwhistle, she worked as a telegraph clerk for at least ten years.
When she passed away, the Derby Telegraph stated that she was highly regarded in the community.
Jen Baldwin, a researcher at Findmypast, remarked, ‘It’s amazing to see how Liz Truss’ family shaped her into the person she is now.
The Driffield Times reported in 1939 that Mr. Grasby had played in a “very entertaining concert” with a doll named Jack.
Her great-great-grandmother and great-grandmother both worked during the late 1880s, which was quite uncommon for women at the time.
When her great-grandmother Mary Jane Driver died, the local newspaper said that she was well esteemed among the community.
She said, “It’s amazing to learn that Liz Truss’s great-grandfather was a well-known ventriloquist.
This is the first ventriloquist I’ve found in all my years of researching family history!
“Liz Truss is accustomed to speaking in front of large crowds, as did her great-grandfather, but he was there to entertain his audiences than than motivate them.
However, it is possible that his confidence on stage has been handed down to his great granddaughter.