Long Lost Relatives in Ealing
Can you assist please?HelloWe are trying to contact an Ealing resident.I am wondering if you can assist with an unfortunate problem we have here in Australia please. If not, would you be able to direct me to an agency or organisation that might be able to assist please.It is a very sad story.In 1949, Eileen May "Minnie" Canfield married George Edward Chapman and they had 3 children...Brian, Leslie and Stephen. George abducted the 3 boys when they were all very young and took them on the run, eventually stopping in Australia around 1960.The 3 boys were told their mother had "run off' with another man and didn't want them anymore.Upon arriving in Australia all 3 boys were immediately placed in boys homes where they remained for between 6 and 9 years each. They were also fostered out to other families. Their father visited them at times and also took them home for weekends a few times a year. Then they were separated and placed in different institutions. Even their surnames were changed when they were with different families. The 1960's were tough times here for children in institution. Over the years they eventually lost contact.Brian the eldest at 13 ran away to the Melbourne docks and tried to stowaway on a merchant ship bound for England. He was caught and returned to another more severe institution. One with high walls and cells.Over the years they lost contact.Since the advent of freedom of information and the internet, it has taken me almost a decade to finally track them all down. They are my half brothers.I've since discovered that their mother passed away in 2000. She never remarried, nor did she change her married name from Chapman.We wondered if she retained the name in case her 3 boys ever returned to look for her.They have no photos of her, nor do they have any contact with anyone that even knew their mother. Which is why i am writing to you.Through genealogy and family history tracing i have managed to locate a person that i believe is their cousin. We are desperately hoping that he might have some family photos or memorabilia or anything of their mother somehow. Or that maybe he can put them in contact with other family members somehow.The cousin is;John R Boland born 1942 and married to Pearl Messenger who was born in1953. They married in 1974 and we believe they reside in the suburb of Ealing. But we are unable to locate any other information about them at all.Can you help please. If necessary i will pay or make a donation to your organisation for this assistance, if that helps at all.If you need to verify my bona fides please contact me anytime as i have many documents and other relative information if necessary.We just need a phone number so i can call them, or if that is not possible then could someone pass on the message to call me here in Australia please.My name is;Col Chapman0011 61 7 54437721 (Home)0011 61 447 777708 (Mobile)or email at sariachapman@bigpond.com
Colin Chapman ● 6091d6 Comments