40 yrs ago.mp3
About Us
Anthony Winstanley, son of Alfred and Violet, visited Vancouver B.C. Canada in 1947 while in the Merchant Marine. He then proposed that his young family - wife Cecilia (b 1924 d 2007) with daughter Veronica Margaret (b 1946) and son Andrew John (b 1947) go to live in a country that offered more opportunties at the time. According to my dad, my grandparents Martin and Lilian were not at all pleased with the idea. We came to Canada in 1948 by ship to New York and then train across Canada. I was 2 and Andrew was 1. We arrived in Vancouver in the winter and went to live in a tiny seaside town set in the forest an hour outside Vancouver. I remember these times with great nostalgia despite huge financial difficulties, the arrival of 5 more children and the absence of our dad for long periods. I loved the fact that we got letters from him from all corners of the world. Our life was hard but free and exciting.
Mum's father Martin died in Devon only a year after we arrived in Canada. After Mark was born in 1956, Mum became ill and very homesick for England. Somehow they managed to borrow money from the parish and off we kids went with her to finally meet all the relatives and the homeland we had heard so much about. We spent 1 year at Dartbridge living first with Granny in the Barn and then later with Aunty Gertrude and Uncle John in the big house. We are double cousins with Lucy, Lizanne, David, Frances and Claire Henle as our dad is Gertrude's brother and mum is John's sister. The connection between Winstanleys and Henles began with Alfred who I believe studied farming with the Beard family. See him in the early photos.
