John and Val first met whilst researching their nineteenth century ancestors, farmers from a pretty Wiltshire village in the south of England. They were intrigued to find their family mentioned in the diaries of Charlotte Grove, a local landowner’s daughter who later married the village rector, Richard Downes. Only a small part of Charlotte’s diaries had previously been published and so there remained a wealth of information about other local families to be unearthed. John and Val set about producing a full and accurate transcription of the work and on completion these fascinating journals will be offered in four individual volumes by Claret Jug Publications.