Can you imagine being glad that you did not get to Australia for a long-planned vacation?    That is what happened to me after  almost a week of trying with two friends, Betty and Ella, to travel on a discounted stand-by ticket from London to Sydney in October  2013.   The flights were full and, after the fifth attempt, it was time to think of another destination.   So I decided to visit Chatsworth  in Derbyshire while my two friends went to Canada.   My father’s mother, who died a year after I was born, told the family that she  had worked at Chatsworth as a maid and, being a Downton Abbey fan, I was eager to see what this similar stately home was like.    Betty’s sister, Kay Harris, lives in London and she helped me on my journey by informing me that Chatsworth was in Bakewell near  Derby.   Kay is an expert ancestry researcher and offered to look into my family’s history.   In over four months of work, Kay  uncovered many facts about my ancestors I did not know.   I ordered birth, marriage and death certificates, and she entered all this  information into Tribal Pages.   I am so thrilled to have this record to share with my family and friends.  Now you know why I am glad  the Australian trip was a non-event.

THANK YOU, Kay.........Ann