Hi, just a quick update...
I've given my aunt a copy of the photograph and yes it's definitely her mother. She was absolutely thrilled!
I now have the marriage certificate from 1942, which reads:
Marriage solemnized at the Register Office Henley, Oxfordshire 25th. April, 1942.
William Slovinsky 22 years. Private H16907 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (Bus Driver).
Joan Ayton 16 years.
Both are resident at 16 Hawthorn Road, Caversham.
Fathers: John Slovinsky, Bus Driver and William Ayton, General Labourer.
Maureen, may I ask if this is the same person you mentioned, and if so can I ask if you have a connection with him?
After talking to my aunt it seems there is another twist to the story:
When Joan went over to Canada to meet William he never turned up and as far as we know, she never saw him again. Whether he was discharged from the army or just disappeared I don't know. I'm not even sure if he ever returned to Canada.
Joan was befriended by someone called Gilbert who found her a job as a cook at a logging camp, and she stayed there for several years. She did eventually meet her second husband and they lived together for quite a long time before they married, perhaps 20 years or more. My aunt thinks her step-brother would know the exact date as he gave his mother away at the wedding.
I've been looking at Canadian and US bmd and census records for William but nothing seems to match. I think I might have to post a question on the Canada board but if anyone has any hints or advice about what to do next I'd be really grateful!
I suppose it's possible he might have used different names at different times. I did find a newspaper record from April 1944 in the Lancashire Evening Post for a Peter Slovinsky who had been arrested for petty theft in Preston, and was a deserter from the Canadian army.
There is also a marriage record for a Dominic Slovinsky for December 1945 at Birkenhead, but I have no idea if either of these people are connected to William.
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Barbara.
