Anne Clark Pearson was born and raised in Bromley, Kent and until recently was living by the sea in Littlehampton, West Sussex. Her mother and her mother’s two younger sisters were born in Youghal, Co. Cork, Ireland. Their father (Anne's grandfather) John O'Brien was in the merchant navy in the Great War and lost his life at sea in 1917. His ship, HMS Laurentic was carrying gold bullion for the war effort, and hit a mine off the coast of Northern Ireland. Soon after, Anne's grandmother died of a broken heart, and the girls then aged four, two and nine months, were brought up by her great-grandmother, Kate O'Donoghue. Anne's family line in Ireland goes back to at least the year 1845.
Elizabeth Murphy
The Irish Potato Famine of the mid-19th century brought devastation to thousands of families. John and Kathleen Murphy fled to England – to tragedy, their lives cut short by an outbreak of flu. Their 6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, falls ill herself and is cared for by a family friend. Unaware tha...
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