IN 1910, a 23-year-old woman from Accrington set out for Canada, to begin a new life with her widowed mother, her sister, and her two-year-old daughter.

She was Florance Shorrock (ne Harwood) and was fleeing an unhappy marriage, taking with her, not only her small daughter Dorothy May, but her unborn child as well - certainly an uncommon adventure for the time.

The husband she had left behind was James Shorrock, 23, a medical dispenser and a native of Blackburn.

After her arrival in Toronto, Canada, Florance gave birth to a son, Reginald James, and some time later her mother, Mary Jane, and her sister, May, set off for Redondo Beach, California.

Florance stayed in Toronto and married a dentist, Perry Grist, and her children's names were changed to Grist. In May 1917, she received news that James Shorrock had been killed in World War One.

Reginald James grew up, married and had four sons -none of whom knew who their real father was until most were well into adulthood. Florance calmly announced one Sunday that none of them was Grist's at all, but actually Shorrock's.

Since the 1950s, the sons have wondered about their 'real' family, and have recently begun the search to find their Shorrock roots.

I am James' grandson, Robert, and will be visiting England this summer, and aside from viewing the graves and homes of his ancestors, would very much like to meet some living, breathing descendants.

James, born in 1886, is known to have had four older sisters: Clara, Elizabeth, Eleanor and Ada - and perhaps a brother, Thomas Robert. If anyone has knowledge of either the Shorrock or Harwood families I have described and can help to locate relatives, please write.

ROBERT GRIST, 1655 Springwell Avenue, Mississauga, ON, Canada L5J3J1. E-mail:

robgrist@home.com

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.