At least one Stillington lass met an American soldier and left Yorkshire for a new life in the USA. Usually we think of this as happening during WW2 but in this case it was at the end of WW1. America entered the war in April 1917 with the first fighting troops arriving in Paris that Summer.
Henrietta Jane Isabell Thompson was the daughter of John and Mary Elizabeth Thompson of Ashfield House. She was an older sister of John Henry (Harry) Thompson who was killed in WW1. Known as Isabell she was born at Sutton on the Forest on 23/10/1894.
In 1918 she married Verne Bryant, a New Yorker, at Richmond. Verne was probably in training there. Many American troops were deployed with British Regiment and Richmond was the headquarters of The Yorkshire Regiment. As a result of undergoing military training with their British regiment some troops didn't see action before the end of the war.
Isabell emigrated to the USA in 1920, becoming a US citizen. She and Verne had five children, three sons and two daughters. They lived in New York where Verne was employed in the construction supply industry.
She made at least one trip back to England, in 1948.
Verne died in 1951. Isabell died in 1977 aged 83.
