Treasure Uncovered

Yesterday, whilst moving the old wardrobe which was originally in teen 2's room I dislodged an old bag.  when the family members had cleared the house and settled their deceased mother's estate they must have missed it. Teen 2 hadn't seen it in the back of the robe and she had been using it for 12 months. I think it must have worked its way loose when we took the robe out and carried it downstairs.

Being the curious soul that I am, I took the bag back upstairs to see what was in it.

To my surprise and delight it was full of old photos, cards and letters from WW2 written by Reg Turnbull to his girlfriend, then Fiancee, then wife May Turnbull. They were the people who had built and owned the house that we now call home.

The teens and I spent a delighted couple of hours reading the letters and stories that Reg wrote home to May. They are historical first-person documents and therefore priceless! Most of the photos don't have names on the back but some do.
There are family photos taken outside the house and it is fascinating to see how the house and yard changed and developed over the years.
It seems that Reg and May had four children. We knew about their third child and only daughter, Wendy who was an Australian tennis champion.

I spent some time online trying to track down the Turnbull descendants so we could make contact and give them these items. There is much online about Wendy and her tennis achievements but nothing to give us any clue about making direct contact with her (she now lives in America). The brothers all had common names and there are many, many Turnbulls named George, Harold and John.  I haven't given up but it is quite a task.

I will get in touch with the local Historical Society and see if I can get some clues from them. I may be way off, but I am imagining that the family will be well known in the area and it is likely that someone will know something to help in my connecting. I will have to wait though until it isn't a long weekend full of public holidays.