Regular readers will know that I am distinctly devoid of family members, apart from my five descendants and two in-law descendants. No siblings, no first cousins and only six second cousins, all on the same side of the family. So, a third cousin (with whom I share great great grandparents) counts as practically my closest relative. Since I was a child, thanks to my great aunt and the family photo album, I was aware of my great grandmother Clara’s four sisters and brother. I was also aware of the children of those siblings, my grandmother and great aunt’s cousins. I had photographs of most of them too. This generation was born between 1878 and 1895.

About five years ago, I decided to trace these cousins of my grandmother further forward to the present day. Imagine my surprise and excitement, when I discovered, in my own generation, a third cousin who had been in my class at primary school. (I should point out this was not in some small ancestral village. We were living in a highly populated area, each having a potential of about twenty schools that we could have gone to). My mother was certainly not aware that my classmate was the granddaughter of the first world war soldier whose image looked out of the pages of our photo album.

Although I did not keep in contact with any of my primary school peers into adulthood, about ten years ago a few of us did get together via Friends Reunited. We formed a Facebook Group and some of us met in person from time to time. I attempted to make contact with my newly discovered third cousin but wasn’t able to do so.

Then, this weekend, one of our Facebook Group organised a Zoom gathering. By the process of osmosis, the word spread and there before me was my third cousin! Fortunately, she was as excited as I was.

There are some interesting events coming up. On 9^th February I am taking part in the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies Diamond Event. I shall be giving suggestions for those who are wanting to write their own memories and sharing reminiscences of the period 1946-1969. There may still be spaces if you want to book. Then, in March, I shall be joining my down-under friends for the virtual Family History Down Under Conference, giving two presentations. In between I am criss-crossing the country with talks to local societies as well as running my own. Of course there are also the excitements of RootsTechConnect to enjoy this month.

I am still on a book selling mission. I had to repurpose two book boxes in order to send birthday presents to my descendants. This means I now have a pile of loose books looking untidy. So, if you were thinking of buying a copy of any of my books from me, now might be a good time. Just in time for Valentine’s presents! On the topic of selling, Martha is also selling some of her beautiful craft items (if privacy settings prevent that link from working, take a look at the post I shared on my Facebook page). I think Edward may be going to benefit from the proceeds.

I regularly receive catalogues from a seller of old documents and paper ephemera. This week, one of the items on offer was a Devon based, late nineteenth century chemist’s notebook, giving recipes for various medicines and ‘cures’. It was not what you might call cheap. Using the fact that I have been giving wall-to-wall Zoom talks over the past couple of weeks, including a voice damaging seven in five days, as justification, I parted with my hard-earned cash. I am now eagerly awaiting the postman. Said postman is officially a star. Today he successfully delivered a missive addressed to ‘Mistress Agnes, c/o Dr J Few, Buckland Brewer, N. Devon’. Given that about 1200 people live in Buckland Brewer, I thought that that was pretty impressive.

In other news, I have just been asked to share the story of my Thockrington One-Place Study to a Northumbrian Group. I am looking forward to this challenge.

Last but definitely not least, thank you to everyone who sponsored Martha and I for our Move for Mind challenge we hit our modest exercise and fund raising targets.