Broad Street Wrington ARCHIVE
Personal Quest - Martin Merz

e-mail dated 10 Nov 2000 from Martin Merz, Hong Kong

"I am a descendant of John Edward Chidzey, son of Mary Chidzey, later Mary Cole. John left Wrington in 1912 and settled in Melbourne Australia where he remained until his death in 1956.

I shall be visiting Wrington on the weekend of November 18. I would like to make contact with relatives -- Chidzeys or Coles -- and people knowledgable about village history.

I only discovered this excellent website last night. Please pass this query with my email address.to interested parties. Thanking you in advance, I look forward to visiting."



e-mail dated 24th November
:

" First of all thank you and your fellow villagers very much for all your help in making our short visit an enjoyable success. It was a memorable way to introduce my wife Jane to England.

Finding a living relative was a huge surprise. Glad Brough's uncle was my grandfather. Although they never met, she knew of him as a member of the family who sent food packages during the war. She also let me copy some of his letters dating from 1928 up to 1945, which I was able to present to my mother on her 80th birthday.

The identity of John's father remains a mystery. His cousin Frank (son of Jane Chidzey and the mystery man) lived at Redhill and owned property in Wrington. He was known as doc Chidzey and died in the mid-1930s. This may be a more fruitful avenue to pursue. I will try to get more information from my aunts when I visit Australia in January.

In the meantime we give you this picture of us in a festive mood on the Yarra Yarra River in Melbourne and wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. We shall return.
Martin & Jane Merz"