A children’s book which belonged to a young Bermudian girl almost 70 years ago has been returned to one of her relatives — thanks to The Royal Gazette

Canadian Susan Smith appealed in this newspaper for anyone who knew a Frances Charlton who lived in Southampton in the late 1930s to contact her after finding a sketch by the youngster in a children’s book picked up at a second-hand sale in British Columbia.

The flyleaf of the book was inscribed: “Frances Charlton, Cedar Valley, Southampton East, Bermuda, Thursday 6 April 1939.”

The story which appeared on May 3 prompted ten emails to Ms Smith and she has now sent the book to a third cousin of Frances Charlton called Howard Darrell De Silva.

He wrote to Ms Smith to say: “I can help you out with the 1939 book from Bermuda. The book belonged to my third cousin Frances Charlton.

“Frances’s mother Myrtle was my mother’s first cousin. They immigrated to Canada in 1948, where they lived in Winnipeg for 12 years before moving to British Columbia.”

He added: “The Cedar Valley referred to was the name of the old estate where they lived. It was built in 1700s. The property is now a part of the 80 acres of the Southampton Princess Hotel. I would treasure it (the book). We lived next to Cedar Valley for 32 years.”