| At the Mormon Genealogical Library in Toronto I was able to find the index reference for the marriage of George to Ellen. They were married
in the last quarter of 1878 in, of all places, Preston, Lancashire, England. I thought to myself, "Here we go again!" In April 1990 I made a second trip to London and headed straight to St. Catherine's House where I obtained a copy of my great-grandparent's marriage certificate. I then decided to search the birth indexes and list every Richard Swarbrick. Granddad claimed to have been born in 1888 but I decided to check a ten year period - five years either side of 1888. There were several Richard Swarbricks, including the Richard James that I already knew to be the wrong one, but no Richard Joseph Swarbrick. When I asked at the Enquiries Desk they said that they would check each reference - for a fee - until they found the one that matched the information I had. I wasn't going home empty handed again so I filled in the application forms. When I returned a few days later they had my grandfather's birth certificate. No wonder I couldn't find any record of his birth in Glasgow in 1888. He was born in Ramsbottom, Lancashire in 1884. |
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| I took the train to Preston and started checking records for the Roman Catholic Churches in the area. In less than a week, I found the baptism
records for two older brothers and Maude, the sister he once mentioned in passing. I then found the marriage certificate for his grandparents, and the baptism records for three of their other children. The census records filled in some other names and information, and gave clues that would lead to more members of the family. The 1990 trip was only a two-week vacation and I had to leave many a stone unturned, but I went home to Toronto knowing that I had finally found my grandfather and his family. I also knew that I would be returning to England to pick up where I left off. |