[2] Francis Brenton was born in the family home, Adair Road, West Derby.
His father Victor Brenton, was a house painter, and his mother Mary Ellen, formerly Flattery, was apparently taking care of the kids.
From March 1952 to April 1954 he served in the Australian Regular Army including overseas service in Japan and Korea.
With no sailing experience, single handed, in 1961, Francis Brenton crossed the ocean first time from Tenerife to Haiti where he was considered a spy, arrested and his boat destroyed.
Francis built a new second canoe out of plywood and the very next year he sailed from Chicago North to Lake Huron, St. Lawrence River.