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Christmas Greetings from the Canadian Branch of the Maishment Family

Perhaps a bit of history is in order. The family moved from London, England to Calgary, Alberta in 1958 - Denise and Michael and the three boys. Michael was a schoolteacher for the rest of his career and unfortunately died far too soon in 1994. Denise is now 84 and still living in the family home in Calgary, doing everything except mowing the lawn and shovelling the snow off the sidewalk. My older brother, Douglas, is now a retired schoolteacher. He had two children, Ian and Sara, and also has two grandchildren. My younger brother Clive is the director of a regional library system in the Edmonton area. He has two children, Paul and David. I am the director of technical services for a soymilk company in the Vancouver, BC area. I have two children also, Lisa and Colin. They are currently going to college and both doing well. We are all firmly settled in Western Canada and though our roots lie in England, I don't think any of us would ever go back to live. The meritocracy of North America can be somewhat crass but through education and hard work anybody can be a success. There is also Auntie Beryl still living in London and she must be about 82. Until recently, I didn't know of any Maishments other than our direct family but there are a few in the Bristol area. Feel free to drop me a line if you would like to know more. Best wishes for 2007, Craig Maishment.

News from Noel in Perth
We have been all about from here. We did New Zealand last Mar/Apl and are thinking seriously of going again in a year or two, then we did Darwin (where we lived to 1962) in July after an absence of 43 years. From memory we did Tasmania in '05. We're contemplating doing Canada/Alaska in '07 but no firm plans are made yet, which means we could finish up in Tokyo or Cape Town.

Broke bread with Liz Morrison in NZ at her beautiful location near Wellington. Lovely lady, lovely place, lovely tucker. The NZ adventure was sparked by Fiona's ex in-laws wanting to see Fiona's three girls and house-swap ours for theirs in Bingley, UK. It was felt though that the British countryside had seen enough of us so we steered east and south to the land of the long white cloud. They had our house for the duration of our NZ sojourn.

I received the following Email from Jonathan Hannaford last month:
While “Googling” my Surname, one (rather boring) lunchtime at work, I was absolutely amazed to discover a reference to John Richard Alfred Hannaford in your Family Tree.
To cut a long story short I think this might be my Great Grandfather!
My Dad was born in 1929, in Limehouse, East London and was Christened John Richard Alfred Hannaford.
His Father (also called John Richard Alfred Hannaford), was also born in Limehouse (we think about 1888), and he ran the Family Undertaking business until his death in the 1960’s.
If you have the time, I would be very grateful to know any more information. For example, where do our trees intersect? and how did you manage to trace the Hannaford’s back so far in History?!
Extract from my reply:
Congratulations on finding yourself a new lot of cousins! The attached will show you how many. Thanks very much for contacting me - we are 3rd cousins, having the same Great Great Grandparents, William Henry Hannaford and Sarah Ann Sennett.
Extract from his further Email:
Howdy Cousin!!
Thank you so much for the info, I phoned my Dad and he is over the Moon! It would be great to meet up with you after Christmas; I am a complete novice when it comes to Genealogy, so I hope I can be of some help to you considering you have saved me 40 years of research!
Dad grew up during WW2 in Limehouse and went through the Blitz (many nights were spent in the Crypt of St Anne's Church sheltering from the bombs).
He is one of five kids and they are all still alive. My Dad decided not to take over the family Undertaking Business when his Dad died (thanks to you, I now realize the historical significance of this!!). Their old shop in Commercial Road is a Chinese Takeaway now! Dad went in to Electrical Engineering and became self employed in 1970, successfully running a couple of firms until his retirement in 1994.
My wife and I are moving to New York early next year for 3 years. So we had better meet earlier rather than later in the New Year. I think our move is ironic given that the Family doesn't seem to have moved too far away from East London for the last 250 years or so!
During the summer I traveled down to Topsham, Devon, entirely because of
your hard work on the Family tree, I am sure you have been there yourself.
I visited the Church where Henry Hannaford married Mary Bowden, the front of the Church still stands but the rest is a more modern rebuild.
Hannaford is a common name in Devon and there is even a place called Hannaford Quay in Topsham. Someone in the local museum told me that there was a lot of trade between Topsham and the docks in East London during the 18th and 19th centuries, so maybe this is how Henry and Mary ended up in Bermondsey? What a shock it must have been for poor Mary to end up in Bermondsey, Topsham is so quiet and pretty. I do have a photo of my Grandmother, Grandfather, and my Great Grandmother (Grandmother’s mother); I will try to scan it for you and send it over. Best Regards Jon.