FYI: Nicholls Family Found!

If any of you have read my column in Gilbert magazine, you may recall my search for the Nicholls family, who were called "The Last Family" in the Maisie Ward biography Return to Chesterton.

After tracing clues for years, I had another clue recently that led me directly to the family. Someone in England (Denis Conlon) is interviewing Joan Nicholls, who is still alive and very alert at age 96. She is one of the girls "adopted" by Gilbert and Frances when they moved to Top Meadow.

I am, at this moment, corresponding with the daughter of Barbara Nicholls, who has graciously agreed to be interviewed for Gilbert magazine. She was born after Gilbert and Frances died, but remembers stories her mother and aunts told, and they have some memorabilia handed down in the family.

I think it is amazing to think that someone who actually talked, walked and had fun with Gilbert is still alive. I think this is a rare find, and I look forward to Denis's interview.