Book Description

In 1889, during the Great Depression of British Agriculture, the Harnett farm in Kent, England, was suffering financially. With Britain’s refusal to tax grain imports their farm could no longer support a family of eleven children. Ernest and Julia Harnett had a hard decision to make — either leave their beloved England or give up six of their youngest children. It was something they would not do. A letter from a friend who had moved to Southern California wrote of an alcohol free, religious community, with good farm land. They made up their minds. They would move to the American Colony — created a few years earlier by a fellow Englishman, William Willmore. There they would create a new life on the Pacific Squab and Poultry Farm. Follow their journey across the Atlantic and explore their new home — an area called Burnett, close to Signal Hill, which would eventually become part of Long Beach, California. Get to know each of the members of the Harnett family through the eyes of Ivy Harnett, the first of three children to be born in America. There is Jane (Bessie), a teacher, who left an indelible mark on California history; Norah and Josie who found love and marriage in faraway Alaska; Anne, the artist; Kathleen, the top student graduate at UC Berkley; Ethel; Helen; Jack, the engineer; Tom and his milling company; Edward and Frank, Long Beach civil servants who contributed much to the growth of the city. Learn of the tragic deaths of Geoffrey, Caroline, and the patriarch of the family, Ernest Harnett, struck by a hit and run driver a few weeks after his daughter Jane’s death. This true story, is sure to entertain, taking readers to a past that once was, and a family who refused to leave any child behind.