IT'S something of a long-shot but a Worcester woman is hoping Memory Lane readers may be able to help her "re-discover" a vital piece of her family history.

Janet Mamwell of Skiddaw Close, would dearly like to read a newspaper account of the courageous exploits of her late uncle, Tom Smith during the funeral procession of, she thinks, George V in 1936... though it may possibly have been that of George VI in 1952.

Tom Smith, who, like Janet, came from Hoyland, near Barnsley, was serving in the Grenadier Guards when he had the privilege of riding one of the horses pulling the carriage bearing the coffin of the monarch through the streets of London.

Janet says her late mother - Tom Smith's sister - and other members of the family often related the exploits of her uncle on that day.

"It seems the reins of one of the horses snapped, and he had to quickly jump across from his horse to grab the broken reins. He managed to hold on and prevent the horse running loose, though by the end of the procession his hands had been badly cut and bleeding."

Janet used to have an old national newspaper with a report of the incident in it but, alas, it has long since disappeared from her possessions.

She very much hopes that, just possibly, a Memory Lane reader may recall the events and perhaps have an old newspaper with a report in it, even with a photograph. If so, she would dearly love to borrow the newspaper and have it reproduced.

Anyone who can help is asked to contact me at the Evening News.

Janet says Tom Smith later went on to own a string of butcher's shops at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, and proudly displayed the Royal Coat of Arms on the front of one of them. Janet says the family believed he was able to do so for his bravery during the funeral procession though it seems more likely to me that his shop had been used by members of the Royal family and was therefore "By Appointment."

* Someone living much further away is also looking for help from Memory Lane readers.

She is June Adam of Ottawa, Canada, who has caught up on the internet with a Memory Lane article I did a year, or so ago, about Fred Tustin's Stables which were in The Butts, Worcester.

Stan Watkins of King Arthur's Close, St John's recalled happy boyhood days when he went along to the Tustin stables where his father Reuben was a shoeing smith.

June Adam has e-mailed to say she believes the late Fred Tustin's father was Soloman John Tustin, an elder brother of her grandfather, Albert George Tustin, who also worked at the stables in The Butts, before emigrating to Canada.

June has been hoping to trace the Tustin family history but so far without much luck. Unfortunately, Stan Watkins only remembers Fred Tustin and points out that he was a comparatively old man when he first knew him.

Is it possible that among Memory Lane readers there are descendants or relatives of the Tustins, who may be able to help June Adam in her family history researches?

If so, would they please contact me at the Evening News.