While I cannot answer your questions Stuart, I have a vacation story from 1867. My 4th great uncle John Howard (b. 1 July 1838 in Wilmington, Kent, Eng. d. 15 Apr. 1914 Wallaceburg, Kent, Ontario) son of Joseph Marcellus Howard (b. Nov. 1808 Westerham, Kent, England d. 1868 Essex, England) and Jane Steer (abt 26 Jul. 1804 Crowhurst, Surrey, Eng. d. 12 Sep. 1843 Herne Bay, Kent, England) had left England for Canada in 1854 (with his brother William - they stayed with Steer relatives (uncle Edward Steer) upon arriving in Kent, Ontario). In the 1860s John convinced his siblings to join him in Canada - my own ancestor Anne Elizabeth Howard (b. 1 Nov. 1842 in Herne Bay, Kent, Eng. d. 8 Oct. 1929 Wallaceburg, Kent, Ontario) m. 3 Apr. 1866 in Kent, Ontario to Charles H. Yates (s/o David Yates b. England and Maria Elliot b. London England). In Apr of 1867 John Howard (and William his brother) returned to Kent, England to visit family and friends. This vacation is recorded in his day books (which I was fortunate enough to copy - they had been found in a dump in cottage country Ontario and donated to the Wallaceburg museum). He travelled from London to Westerham, and vicinity spending a month in the area. Near the end of his vacation he visited his father. As these are day books little is given regarding the emotion of the encounter. His return to Canada came on July 1, 1867 the declaration of Canada as a country. One year later, his father Joseph Marcellus Howard (s/o Marcellus Howard - who passed his life as a miller in Westerham and Sarah Coomber) passed away. If John had delayed his trip, he would not have seen his father one last time. Brian Anderson -----Original Message----- From: Stuart Hammond Sent: Friday, August 9, 2013 4:36 AM To: kent-eng-l@rootsweb.com Subject: [KENT-ENG] Kent List - Life changing Visits,Holidays or excursions our ancestors took Hi All, I note that it has been strangely quiet on the Kent List, so to promote a few postings, I am going to suggest that you might post about a visit, holiday or excursion which an ancestor made, which in some way changed the course of the family history. To start this off : My grandmother, Elizabeth HODGES (born 9th March 1894 Sellindge, Hythe, Kent), went into domestic service in Surrey in 1911 and at sometime around 1918/19 met a young soldier Edward James PUNCHARD (born about 1889 from Norfolk), who at that time was a Corporal in the Machine Gun Corps based at Shorncliffe. They married on 13th January 1920 at Elham Registry Office and when he was posted to India, Elizabeth went with him, along with their son James born on 17th November 1920. Initially things went well and Edward was promoted to become a Farrier Sergeant stationed in Meerut, India but unfortunately whilst there, the relationship between Elizabeth and Edward broke down, perhaps through his drinking, and she left him. Shortly afterwards in 1922, he died possibly at his own hand. Elizabeth stayed on in India for a short time, returning to England, where she met and married at the Wesleyan Methodist Church on 5th April 1926, my granddad, Henry Sisley BIRCH (born 29th April 1897) who at that time lived at Gibbons Brook, Sellindge. Many years later my grandmother wrote a moving account of her time in India, though never discussed the death of her first husband. Had she not gone to India, I would never have been born, since my mother Kathleen Ruth BIRCH was born from the second marriage on 12th January 1927 at Grange Cottage, Sellindge, Kent. So my questions that arise out of this are : Can anyone tell me anything about Shorncliffe Camp? What was it like to be in India in the 1920s? In the 1911 census my grandmother was working as a general servant in a girls school Drumgowan, Alexandra School, Surrey. This seems quite a distance from the family who were based in 2 Oak Cottage, Sellindge, Kent. Can anyone suggest why? All the best D. Stuart Hammond Kent List Administrator ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to KENT-ENG-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message