A WEST Devon woman is searching for descendants of the Goodman family from Tavistock, after being sent a number of old photos of the family along with other photos from Australia.

Sue Swanborough was sent of a box of 200 photos from Penrith, New South Wales, after being in touch with a distant relative when researching her family tree. Among the photos were some photos of the Goodman boys, whom Sue does not think she has any family connection with, but would like to reunite them with Goodman descendants.

Sue said: ‘I started tracing my family history, in the name of Blithe, after my brother Arnold died in 1985. He had been contacted by Jennifer Gibson, who lives in Australia, and had come across photos, letters and detailed notes of letters from Devon plus other items which related back to this country. She had found them in her grandfather’s house (Eli Broad) in Penrith.’

Sue said Eli’s father Henry Broad and his wife Eliza (nee Davy) emigrated to Australia in 1883 and built a house. Henry went from Australia to Tharsis in Spain and worked as a chief carpenter at the Tharsis Sulphur and Copper Company, Heulva, Spain. Henry and family returned to England where he worked as a fancy bread and biscuit baker, family grocer and tea and flour dealer in Plymouth.

‘The photos of the Goodman boys were found amongst Eli Broad’s items with writing on the back. I have no idea of the connection with either the Broads or the Blithes or Davys so I am trying to find who these photos belong to. We also have a notebook with notes of my family in Chillaton, the Davy family in Chillaton and some of the engravings of the grave stones. I am linked into the Broad family tree through the Blithe/Davy connection.

‘The Broads were born in the Marystowe area and I know some are connected to Launceston as the postcards I have mention the Broad family on the back.

‘I have received the first box of many that Jennifer is now sorting out from her parents house and sending me what is relevant to my side of the family or photos and postcards of Devon. There are more boxes to come!’

Anyone who has a connection with the Goodman family can get in contact with Sue via email at [email protected]