We have actually begun packing. The crystal glasses and some of the nice crockery have been boxed and taken up to Scotland, these are things we can manage without (so why are we keeping them?). It must have been different when my great-grandmother set off for India. She travelled (by boat) to meet her fiance who was not allowed to marry until he had passed his local language exams. They married in India and lived there until she and 2 children came back to the UK just before the outbreak of World War I. I wonder how much luggage she took? and her journey would have taken a lot longer. It makes our 3 flights look paltry!
In fact I have plenty of ancestors who worked abroad, from missionaries to scientists and clergy. Jim Field pictured above left worked for the meteorological office in India; Thomas Pearne (above right) was a well known Methodist preacher in the USA. Communication for them would have been slower, no text or e-mail. News would have been old by the time it reached the family back in the UK. I wonder if the sort of news coming back will be different.
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