| My trip to England in 1990 was far too brief. Back home in Toronto I continued the research into my grandfather's family by making frequent
trips to the Mormon Genealogical Library. As good as the library's facilities were it was difficult and time-consuming work and I began to toy with the idea of moving to England for a couple of years. I knew it would be a big move and would therefore require a lot of planning and a lot of money, but the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. It took almost exactly two years for me to save the money, acquire a visa, and make all of the necessary arrangements. I finally handed in my resignation at work, gave up my apartment, said goodbye to family and friends and set off for England in April 1992. After a couple of weeks in London getting my bearings and visiting friends, I made my way up to Preston and by the end of July had found a job, a nice place to live, and met the first of many long-lost cousins, Stephen Swarbrick. My research went well and I was able to find quite a bit of information on my granddad's brothers and sisters. I discovered that his older brother George Leo was married and had at least two children, Elsie and Leslie. I knew from George Leo's death notice in the Lancashire Daily Post that Leslie was married to someone called Dorothy and Elsie was married to a man called Jack but didn't know what her married name was. Since she would be difficult to locate, I concentrated my efforts on finding Leslie and his wife Dorothy. The last address I had for Leslie was on Walton Avenue, Penwortham, near Preston, in 1957 but didn't think there was much chance of them still living in the same house 36 years later. I wrote to every L. Swarbrick in the Preston telephone book but the only reply was from someone unrelated to my family who contacted me on behalf of his grandmother - the L. Swarbrick I had written to. His name, by coincidence, was Glenn Swarbrick. |