| Admin_History | Fr Francis 'Frank' Preston was born on 17 April 1903. The family moved from the parish of St Mary and Michael, Commercial Road to Stamford Hill, where Fr Francis attended St Ignatius' College up to the age of 17. He was in the choir at St Ignatius' before going to Manresa in 1920 for his Noviceship. He then attended Heythrop as a third-year philosopher, before moving to Stonyhurst for six years, where he taught Figures. In 1933 he returned to Heythrop for Theology. He was ordained in 1936, and then followed his older brother Herbert 'Bert' Preston to Africa in 1938. He was assigned to St George's, Salisbury, where he taught for 21 years. In 1948 and 1960 he underwent surgery for gastro-intestinal ulcers, and by 1979 he had developed an untreatable tumour that was treated by radiotherapy until June of that year, when he requested to return to the House of Adoration. He did not return to England, but was visited by two of his sisters. He died on 2 September 1979 following a two-day coma. |