Burning Ambition Publications

Burning Ambition Publications was established by London Financial Group Limited in 2008 to publish social and family histories. Our initial title From Almondsbury to Aylmer: The Pearce Letters was written by David J. Porter and was launched in the United Kingdom and Canada that year.

Our next title, Leaving Lincolnshire – In Chains by the same author was released in Canada in October, 2010 and in the United Kingdom in November 2010.

Leaving Lincolnshire – In Chains

In 1836 a Lincolnshire farm labourer was accused of killing a sheep belonging to the local curate. Despite farcical evidence, he was promptly convicted and transported to Australia for the rest of his life. He was the family breadwinner and his exile left a wife and four young sons to survive without him.

This book contains the records of his trial, imprisonment in Lincoln Castle, incarceration on the hulks moored in the Thames and the long, dangerous voyage to New South Wales. The forced migration of this one man triggered a chain of migrations. The convict's siblings all migrated immediately to Bourne, the nearest market town, then one by one his sons migrated to Canada. The book relates the experiences of family members and the factors that necessitated each of their separate migrations both within England and ultimately to Canada.

The author, David J. Porter was born in London, Ontario, in 1945. His education includes degrees in Economics and Commerce from Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Leaving Lincolnshire - In Chains contains over 80 maps, sketches and photographs. It was illustrated by freelance artist, Jennifer Evans. She was born in London, England, in 1974 and earned her qualifications at the Chelsea College of Art, London, and the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. This book is fully indexed.

Price UK £12.50, Canada $25.00 plus P & P and is available from:

Burning Ambition Publications
19 Hillcroft Crescent, London W5 2SG England

ISBN 978-0-9559644-1-1

From Almondsbury to Aylmer: The Pearce Letters

In 1852 a newly married couple emigrated from Gloucestershire to Aylmer in Upper Canada (now Ontario). Over the rest of the century, their relatives in England wrote to the emigrants. The two dozen surviving letters give an insight into the reasons people emigrated, supported by information on prices of basic commodities and wages. The letters touch on political events and social changes in Britain, and articulate the Christian faith of their writers.

The book describes the six-week voyage to New York in a former slave ship, the 600-mile trek to their destination, and what they found there. The letters also contain significant information on members of the Pearce family remaining in Gloucestershire and their neighbours. The emigrants' descendants are widely dispersed across Canada and the United States. Family trees cover both these and their relatives in Britain. From Almondsbury to Aylmer is fully indexed and contains 80 photographs, sketches and maps. 208 pages.

The author, David J. Porter, was born in London, Ontario, Canada in 1945. He has lived in London, England, since 1971 and is Chief Executive of a financial services company. He has written for various financial publications in the past, but this was his first non-business publication.

Price UK £12.50, Canada $25.00 plus P & P and is available from:

Burning Ambition Publications
19 Hillcroft Crescent, London W5 2SG England

ISBN 978-0-9559644-0-4