Photo courtesy of Urshula Stynder, Cape Town, South Africa
‘
Our Fine Romance’ is the true story of two young people growing up during the London Blitz of 1940, and their subsequent evacuation into the English countryside. Following their unusual meeting, courtship and marriage, they emigrated to South Africa, which was under ‘Apartheid’ at that time. Three years and two children later, for financial reasons, they made the risky decision to move to Northern Rhodesia, close to the war ravaged Republic of Congo. During their life there in the 1960’s, the “Wind of Change” was sweeping through the Colonial African States. Many British territories became independent during this time and, after another child and ten years in Africa, they decided to start a new life on the West Coast of Canada. With the addition of a fourth child and successful careers in their adopted country, Maureen and Michael are both now retired and living in Vancouver, British Columbia, but a recent turn of events has led to their biggest challenge yet!
‘Our Fine Romance’ was first published in 2014, with a revised edition in 2020. The soft cover book has over 400 pages, maps and many photographs. The book cover was designed by Iryna Spica, Victoria, B.C., Canada, and with editing/formatting help from Geoff and Nora Eldred of Vancouver.
Many have said this could become the next 'Notebook' story and movie!
‘Our Fine Romance’ is now available as a paperback or e-book on Amazon (books) worldwide!
Click on the button below to look inside the book, or to order!
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About Us
Maureen and I are both now in our 80’s and have lived in Tsawwassen, near Vancouver, British Columbia for over fifty years. Three of our children live close by and the eldest daughter lives in Miami, Florida. We have ten grandchildren! After retiring from the airline industry in 1996, we continued with our love of travel to visit family in the UK and USA, also friends in South Africa, New Zealand and elsewhere. All this came to an abrupt end in 2006 when Maureen started to show signs of dementia and was subsequently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. This has been a terrible blow to the family and has robbed us of a beautiful, loving wife, mother and grandmother. As Maureen now has no memory of her past life or who we are anymore, I am extremely proud that we have been able to capture the story of her remarkable life in this book!
Currently, I am working on a new book to be entitled “Lost Memories”
Look Inside
Some images from 'Our Fine Romance'
To view, click on image and scroll through!
Reminiscence
The Hiscock Family (Newfoundland)
My maternal grandmother Elizabeth Arliss (Hiscock) was born in this fishing village Winterton (formally Scilly Cove), Newfoundland in 1874. She moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, married Frederick Arliss from the British navy in 1903 and left for Portsmouth, England, where my mother was born. Later they moved to the London area, and this is where my life began. Through recent family DNA testing we have found numerous relatives on this Island. Although I have never visited, it is interesting that the village store in Winterton still has the Hiscock name! I need to go there soon!
The Potter Family (Shropshire, England)
During the Blitz of London in 1940, my mother, brother Denis and I were evacuated to a farm, near Minsterley in the English County of Shropshire. Here we lived with the family of Dick and Emma Potter, for almost two years at Capsall Farm, which was on high ground, very isolated, with no electricity or running water. I attended school in the Hope Valley and have only happy memories of living there. Following the war my mother continued her friendship with the Potter family and visited them often, always staying with son George and his wife Gwen! After an absence of maybe 70 years, I returned to the farm with my eldest daughter Nicola and through the new owners we were able to track down the whereabouts of the grandchildren of Dick and Emma. The reception they gave us was overwhelming and we met their children and grandchildren. I have since returned with another daughter Melanie, and intend to take my son when the opportunity arises, as over the years we have developed an everlasting friendship with them! Recently on the occasion of grandson Gordon Potter’s 60th birthday, his wife Fran produced a family history book (above) and we were honoured to be included in this.
Following the launch of the first edition of our book in 2014, the English newspaper Shropshire Star, published an article about my time spent with the Potter family.
Alan and Joan Penfold (Cape Town, South Africa)
Alan Penfold and I first met at work in Cape Town, South Africa in 1958 and he and I together with our wives, became good friends. Shortly after, they left for a new life in Northern Rhodesia; we stayed and had two children. But three years later, after a visit from Alan and Joan we made the difficult decision to also emigrate to Northern Rhodesia, as we were unable to save any money in Cape Town. This was a risky move as the war in the Katanga Province of the Republic of Congo had escalated dramatically. The Penfolds only stayed a few years before returning to Cape Town, but we stayed for another seven, before emigrating again, this time to Canada. I always felt that Alan’s friendship had a great influence on my family’s life and I am eternally grateful. Last year (2019), after a 60 year absence, I was able to return to Cape Town with my three eldest children and reunite with Joan, Alan and their family. It was indeed a truly remarkable experience!
The New Zealand Harbott Clan
Lawrence Harbott, from the North Island of New Zealand, arrived at Vancouver Airport in 2005, trying to establish whether he had any relatives in Canada. After he called me at work we arranged to pick him up and bring him back to our house for dinner. As we met for the first time we both knew that there had to be a close family relationship. My wife Maureen said that we shared not only looks but other similar characteristics. He showed us photos of his four sons and many grandchildren and there were certainly shared likenesses. Maureen and I visited New Zealand several times and were greeted by the families’ warm hospitality. I always intended trying to trace our family connection, and this year my son and I planned on following up on this in New Zealand. Stephen has already obtained his DNA history and I intend on doing the same; but the Covid-19 virus has put a lengthy delay on our plans! Just recently Maria, a granddaughter of Lawrence has made contact with me and we are amazed at the amount of early Harbott family history she has collected and shared with us.
Sadly, Lawrence Harbott passed away peacefully in April 2020, at the age of 90 years! We intend to continue with his dream of exploring our family history!
Preserving Family History
