Hi Jimmie,
As far as I know we have never met and indeed you may not necessarily know of my existence, but my Dad (Fred Hartgill) was your Mum's (Peggy) elder brother. Thus I'm a long lost cousin - sort of "black sheep" of the family. I cannot recall meeting your Mum, but more than likely did at a very early age. I can recall meeting your Dad (Uncle Jim) when he visited us at Sharnbrook in the early '50s.
I heard about your web site from Aunt Joan (Sharpe) when we stayed with her for a couple of days in Sept. 03. Very impressive and a lot of hard work I guess. I particularly like the farewell to Bill. Joan & Bill are the only members of the family that we have kept in touch with in the latter years. Unfortunately our visit to U.K. this year was too late to see Bill or to wish him a fond farewell.
My wife,Elsie and myself left U.K. in Jan. 1969 and set sail to New Zealand. Then in August 1970 we settled in Sydney, Australia. Where we remained until we retired 18 months ago and built our dream home in Port Macquarie (250 miles north of Sydney).
Between 1950 & 1954 I spent each summer holiday staying with Alice, Fred & Terry Redman, and Gran Pharoh (Hartgill) at 15 Fraser Road Portsmouth.
Later I took my "wife to be" to stay with them at 'The Retreat".
I have dug out some old photos from my collection which may be of interest to you (attached below).
I also have a web site - not as extensive as you own - but simply an "ego trip" for me to show off my photos (I'm a keen amateur). Just click on the link below.
Regards,
Bernie Hartgill.
