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Laurence has always felt a close connection to the sea and wanted to discover how far back his seafaring roots went. He also wanted to find out if there was any truth behind a family legend that they were descended from wealthy squires whose lands were nefariously stolen.

He first looked into the life of his grandfather, a merchant sea captain, and was surprised to discover that during the First World War his ship was sunk by a German U-boat. A personal account in a war diary revealed that the naval ship protecting his grandfather was believed to be captained by a drunk. To discover if the sinking could have been avoided, Laurence travelled to Germany to examine the U-boat's records.

Laurence learnt that his great-great-grandfather, Roger Twist, was also a sea captain who travelled the world at the peak of the Golden Age of Sail. Laurence was shocked to discover that Roger falsified his naval records to cover up a desertion. It appeared that Roger gave way to temptation when he landed in Melbourne at the height of the Great Australian Gold Rush.

Laurence then turned his attention to the family myth of a lost fortune. His investigation confirmed that his ancestors were indeed wealthy squires. Intrigued, he researched further to establish whether the family estate was really stolen from them by a mysterious 'Mr Tricky', as his great-great-aunt had always maintained.

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