A week or so ago, I was sent information about an item in an auction due to be held in Cirencester the following day. It was of a miniature believed to be of Florence Deedes, who married my great grandfather, William Saumarez Smith, in 1870. I thought I should put in a bid for it out of a sense of great grand filial duty. It turned out that the auction had already taken place, but the miniature was unsold, so I was able to acquire it surprisingly cheaply. It has now arrived, in perfect condition, still in its original case. It has scarcely been opened. There is no evidence whatsoever as to whether or not the identification is correct, but it seems an implausible identity to invent. Her father, the Rev. Lewis Deedes, had been vicar of Bramfield in Hertfordshire, which was local to Woodhall in Hertfordshire, a stronghold of the Abel Smiths, so I guess this is how they met.

I realise that these facts are of zero interest to anyone but me, but I find it intriguing the distant presence of a remote piece of family history and post it in case some of my Australian relations can tell me more about her:-