Facebook to Friends

My best friend in England is Helen. Five months ago, we didn’t know each at all. Enter Facebook Groups.

After purchasing my airline tickets and while I was planning my route around England, another blogger suggested tapping into a few Facebook Groups – those that were specific to the areas I would be visiting. There, I would possibly find more information and help with the research I want to do while in the country.

So, I joined a few extremely specific groups that were created for different villages in Norfolk and around the Norwich area. On each, I posted a general query phishing for any leads on how I could access Shelton Hall and St. Mary Church in Shelton, both built by my direct ancestors. Surprisingly, there were several folks who replied to my posts pointing me to certain government offices, parish councils, etc.

And then…I got a message from Helen. She actually grew up in the village of Shelton and now lived in Norwich. Even more, she works for the Norwich City Council and has access to city documents. We began messaging back and forth for a while and her willingness to help a stranger was literally making my 9-year-old dreams come true.

As for me getting to actually visit my ancestral home? Well, it gets better.

Helen tells me her dad bales hay for the lady who currently owns Shelton Hall. She knew the lady and said she was sure it wouldn’t be problem for me to visit. WHAT?! Better yet, Helen spent one of her days off going to the church adjacent to the property to get some more information for me (because she was pretty sure there were some old records hidden inside the church – under a pew or something). She found them and, wow.

I’ll be spending at least 5 days in the Norwich area with the purpose of researching and visiting family history! My guide – Helen, my best friend in England.