Sunday.

Motored over to the Quy Mill Hotel this early afternoon to have lunch with Sarah, Mikey, and their family. Their third (and youngest daughter) Lucy will be eighteen this week, and we were taking her birthday presents from us to her. The main one is illustrated above. It is a lady's workbox (needlework that is) that has been in Ann's family ( and in regular use there since 1847). It is, as you can see, a rosewood box, with a good deal of mother o' pearl inlay.

Inside the lid is a flap with a note stuck inside the lid of the box :- "Mary Sophia Beales from her truly sincere and very affectionate John Peck, Jun.". They married in Cambridge in 1847.

The above photograph shows Lucy opening her present in the hotel lounge. She has a great interest in family history, and already has several oddments from different branches of her ancestry (a tea caddy, silver thimble, etc.  I have been able to write her out a full history of the work box thanks to the fact that the first recipient's father-in -law, the first John Peck, kept a diary from 1814 to 1851 (which was the year he died). In 1995 Wisbech Museum (which John Peck helped to set up, and which holds the original diary) decided to print a number of copies of the diary, and presented one of them to Ann's late mother, who was Lucy's Great Grandmother, and John Peck's great granddaughter. Before Great Gran died in 2010 (at the age of 102) she left the diary in my care, for the use of any of her family who needed to do research on the family history. As Lucy seems to be fascinated by family history, and indeed takes a great interest it it, I decided it was time that a younger member took over the care of the diary, and gave it to her as part of her 'coming of age present'.    Just after we got home she 'phoned us (in tears, the young blub-cake!) to say how much she appreciates the two presents.

Photograph of the two of us, in the Quy Mill dining room, taken by Lucy.
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Got home about half past six. Been a lovely day - but tiring.   Good night everyone.