SEEKING HENRY

Young Henry had red hair; he was clever and adventurous. But mystery shrouds his life and so it is a granddaughter's imagination which gives presence to Henry from his birth in 1865 in Sussex.

 

The 1890s found Henry in 'marvellous Melbourne' where notorious American balloonist Leila Adair (in fact Lillian Hawker from Mudgee) claimed they were married and that her children were Henry's, but was this true? And surely Henry wasn't also a ventriloquist!

 

To New Zealand where Henry married, his business prospered and his reputation grew. Then he met Rose Anne. In 1915 they ran away to Japan before finally settling with their children in 1920s Sydney.

 

The lives of Henry and his granddaughter touched briefly in 1944 and then Henry was gone.

 

Now it is the twenty-first century and she is the same age that Henry achieved, so is this the time for reflection? 'In search of Henry, will I also see myself?'

 

The granddaughter's tale is modern and painfully true. Of sailing across the world, as Henry did. The excitement of sixties London, work at the BBC, later to Baghdad, India, Burma and, finally, back home.

 

Three centuries are linked, describing an extraordinary world, turbulent times and how kindred are one.