Amongst our visitors making full use of the half term break from school this week was 9 years old Lydia Pickett and her family all the way from Cumbria.
Lydia, the proud owner of a Blue Peter badge, was on a special mission -to find the figure of her great, great, great, great grandmother on the huge model of the battle of Waterloo. The task may have been quite daunting for a 9 year old as there are over 30,000 figures on the model. However, with the help of her brother Andrew, and the lucky positioning of her ancestor Elizabeth near the edge of the display, the mission was accomplished.
Lydia was presented with a Blue Peter badge after writing to the programme about her ancestor Elizabeth who was present at the battle of Waterloo in 1815. Elizabeth was only 5 years old at the time of the battle and helped her mother tend to wounded soldiers while her father, Daniel Gale, fought with the 3rd Battalion 95th Rifles.
(Left and top right) Lydia and Andrew visited the Museum with their mother and grandfather representing three generations descended from Daniel Gale and his daughter Elizabeth. ( Bottom right) detail from the model showing Lydia’s great, great, great, great grandmother helping her mother tend the wounded.
