I love the experiences you have when you get involved in family research.
So, I now have Ernie's will which shows his address in London when the will was made in 1978. That alone is useful and interesting. He died four years later at a house in a tiny village called Drayton St Leonard and the house appears to no longer exist. I Googled it and used street view and all I get is a tiny barn in a country lane.
So I again Googled the name of the lane and the village and found a website for a graphic design business based in the same lane. Given that it's a tiny village and a tiny country lane, I figured I may as well email the graphic designer and ask if she knows anything about the house or even about my Father Ernest Laws himself and the lady named as his executor and sole beneficiary (I think she was a friend who cared for him in his old age). Ernie only died in 1982 so I figure it's a possibility.
Well, the graphic designer turns out to be a lady of about my age who, amazingly, lived in Sydney for many years and is very interested in helping me! We've now exchanged several friendly emails and she was able to confirm that the house no longer exists. She also sent me photos of the area and has passed my email on to the village historian who she thinks may be able to help me. It would be great if he can but I just love that someone I don't know who lives on the other side of the world is interested in my research and willing to help me. It's kind of like RootsChat.com, really.
For some reason this Catholic priest completely cut himself off from his family in Sydney and never saw them again. They did make attempts to trace him through their parish priest but to no avail. My next question is why he would do this. I'm not sure whether he may have left the priesthood at some stage and been ashamed to tell his family. More questions.
Felicity
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Topic: Father Ernest Eugene Laws (Read 1730 times)