In the early 1970s, I was in a secondhand bookshop in Sutton, England when I found (deep at the bottom of a cardboard box freshly arrived from a house clearance) a handwritten Five Year Diary for the period 1912 to 1916.

I was intrigued to find out more about the family to whom it belonged. Particularly since events in the diary took place in America, England and Scotland.

However, in those days before computers it was not possible to find out anything about the family since there were no surnames mentioned.

In the intervening years, I have become more and more absorbed in solving the mystery about the family and the young women who wrote most of the entries. Eventually, after many readings, I concluded that the diary belonged to Sadie - the second eldest daughter. That is until I visited America, in 2009, and pieced together the final bits of the jigsaw...

My intention has always been to find out about this extremely interesting family who lived through some fascinating times and eventually give the diary to a descendant of Sadie or one of the others.

This site is dedicated to finding out who Sadie was and about the life she and her family led.