Had a wonderful weekend. 11 of us, all related and some of us having never met previously took over a side room at the Cow & Calf up on Ilkley Moor on Saturday and it was a very special thing. We greeted each other like we were old friends and were soon chatting away, before we knew it several hours had passed and while we all learned a lot, we feel we have much still to discover as we continue to map our family tree.

The journey started when Mum received a letter from Miriam (my 4th cousin) inviting us to get in contact as they were holidaying in the UK from Utah. I sent a reply and we exchanged a few phone calls, texts and emails culminating in us all meeting for dinner laden down with as much paperwork and as many old photos as we could find. My mum and my sister had spent time last week mapping out the family tree as far as we could with the info and photos we have. We pinned this up in the corner and, once food was done, spread our everything else we had across the table. 

We had old letters, greetings cards, family trees drawn on the back of envelopes and scraps of paper, and for me the most interesting thing was a copy of an undertakers receipt for a funeral held in 1923 for the princely sum of £13. Such a wonderful piece of social history.

To discover 2 more cousins living in Leeds and Ilkley was fabulous and we plan another meeting this week before we head to France and Blake, Miriam and Rae head back across the pond. 

PS. The Pumpkin ate so much pudding she had to take her belt off and lie down. That’s my girl.