Hi mom,
This is a quick check in. I am in Essex researching. We are not going to the Channel Islands. Trying to figure it out when we do not have internet has been an interesting experience. I just got a chance to look today, however, and it would take two research days to do the trip. The archive is not open on Friday which means we would be leaving tomorrow and getting home on Thursday, I just can’t deal with planning at the moment. It is alright, though. I already knew the chances of us going were very slim.
The wheel on my suitcase is going to break. I am not sure how much it has left in it, but I am hoping it will last till I get on the plane. I will need to buy another bag to check, so I don’t go over the 50lb. weight limit. Oh well, I guess I will have to go shopping when we go back to London.
The Essex Record Office is great. It is the most high tech county record office we have encountered. Another reason I am a little relieved I don’t have to plan a trip to the Channel Islands is because it will allow me time to research the Gunn family. I really feel like I need to look into them while I am here. The family that we are staying with actually lived right next to the villages the Gunn family came from. They say it is beautiful countryside over there. I might try to go over and see it.
Oh! On another fun note, I was reading through this little history of the church in Essex on Sunday (Gloria and Peter got me a copy when I mentioned I wanted to write my religion paper on the early church in East Anglia). Anyway, the book mentioned the ship of Mormon emigrants Charles Dickens visited and wrote about (we had heard of this account from Peter when we were on our church history tour). The ship he visited was the Amazon: the ship the Castleton family, as well as MaLese’s ancestors, emigrated on. So, Charles Dickens called our ancestors “the pick and flower of England…” Now I can say that Jane Austin walked where my ancestors walked (I got to walk there, too) and Charles Dickens toured my ancestors’ emigration ship, and paid them a compliment. I really think I am going to have fun writing my family history report at the end of this trip.
I need to go, but I love you lots. I am so excited to see you again. We will have to both come to England, so I can take you to some of these places. You can be my travel buddy to the Channel Islands.
Love,
Heather
