AN 83-year-old New Zealand woman has delighted relatives in Astley by tracing them after a mammoth 17-year search.

Marion Ford's quest has finally led to her meeting relatives, Nancy May Comley, 94, and her daughter, Josephine Evans, of the Astley Estate.

For Mrs Comley it has been a wonderful chance to recall her earliest memories and for Mrs Evans it has launched a fascinating journey into the past.

Mrs Ford, from Auckland, has visited England several times in search of her roots and engaged a genealogist from near London to help in the search.

She brought with her an extraordinary letter written over 10 months to her great grandfather, John Dutton - who had emigrated to New Zealand in the late 19th century - from his sister, Annie, and her husband, Enoch Gould.

She was one of five children born to Herbert and Annie Dutton, who ran a pub in New Road, Kidderminster from the 1850s onwards.

She married Enoch, a shopkeeper from Cradley Heath.

They had seven children, including Annie Etta, Mrs Comley's mother, and the family eventually opened a large early department store in Cradley Heath High Street in 1905 called the Louvre.

Sadly, it appears Annie Gould died before the store was built but, in the letter to her brother John, in New Zealand, she and Enoch thank him for the £10 he sent as payment for the goods they had shipped out to him from their shop.

They also break the news that his mother, Annie, had died and that his father had employed a housekeeper to help run the pub.

The letter describes the erection of the Rowland Hill statue outside Kidderminster Town Hall and talks about the new buildings in Birmingham.

Mrs Evans, 60, of Glazenbridge Farm, said the letter was a fascinating family and social history. Her appetite has been whetted for more information and she is eager to hear from other Duttons and from anyone with information about the name and precise location of the New Road pub.

"It is extraordinary after all these years of searching that Marion Ford - who must be something like a fifth cousin - has discovered us and all this history," said Mrs Evans, who had no idea that one side of her family originated in Kidderminster.

She added: "It's been wonderful, absolutely fantastic, especially for my mother, who has enjoyed talking about her early life."

Mrs Comley came to Astley when she married her first fiance, Spencer Comley, following the death of her first husband, Derek Eveson, after 22 years together.

Anyone with information to help Mrs Evans trace more of her family history can contact her on 01299 871250.