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Pam is our awesome House Research Co-ordinator for
Ancestor Travel. Pam's primary expertise lies in researching
the history of 'lost' country houses of which Britain
has many, mostly demolished in the 20th century.
Pam was brought up in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,
a lovely fine Regency town and centre of the Cotswolds.
Pam discovered family history research as a second career
after her first career in office administration, which
prepared her for the exacting skills required for her
special skill in family history house research.
In 1996 Pam took the plunge and changed direction to
become a housekeeper at a small Manor house in Berkshire
that was being renovated, and thus her new career was
born. Pam is now a full member of the Society of Genealogists,
and a reader at the Bodlean Library in Oxford as well
as holding a readers ticket for the Record Offices scheme.
Pam is a genuine modern day sleuth, using the Internet,
libraries, record offices, and other archives for research
plus owning a large personal collection of old books
on Country Houses.
As Pam puts it: "Each house has it's own unique history
and always a good reason why it was demolished. Also
every house has at least one owner who has an interesting
story to tell, be it sad, romantic or just plain funny.
As a child my mother used to take me to visit the very
grand country houses, and so my interest began. One
day we had looked in at an antique fair and she bought
me an old book on country houses. It was raining (as
it does in Britain from time to time) and we had stopped
in an Olde Tea Shoppe for a cup of tea and a slice of
cake.
I was looking at my book and Mother (who is quite observant)
noticed that it was volume II. So, we had to try to
track down volume one, which we did, only to find that
there were also another five volumes!! However, the
books were duly bought and I would spend many hours
poring over the pictures etc until one day I wondered,
"Just what has happened to these houses"? Some were
well known to me already as I had visited them, but
what about the others? And so my long trek to find out
began. However, as most Family Historians will recognise,
it is easy to get sidetracked and this is what has happened.
Over the years I have come across many fascinating houses
with lots of interesting history and stories of the
people who lived in them. Not all houses were grand;
some of the smaller houses also have great histories
to tell. Many no longer exist in the physical sense,
but their stories live on."
Pam is married to Simon with one son, four grandchildren
and one dog, an English Cocker called Sir Harry of Harridene.
Other hobbies include rambling, classic cars, aircraft,
gardening, and collecting Shelley China and antiques.
(Nothing death defying)
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