A treasure trove of old postcards which literally fell from the ceiling into the hands of a Godalming woman as she renovated her house has been returned to the grandson of the man who wrote them at the turn of the last century.

Kylie Adams was undertaking extensive renovations at her home in Charterhouse Road when the package of cards fell out of a ceiling.

She told Godalming Nub News: "We moved into the house in 2002, and we had it completely renovated – all the walls and ceilings came down. As we were taking one of the ceilings down this big pile of postcards fell out of it.

"They were cards from a soldier called Bert, to his mother, and some of his siblings, sent while he was posted abroad in India, in around 1904. There are later ones from Bert and his wife when they emigrated to San Francisco in 1919. There are also cards sent to Bert, so his mother had obviously kept those too. Some had writing on the back, some didn't."

Now, nearly 20 years after finding them, and with the help of two internet sleuths, Kylie has sent the cards on their way to the grandson of the man who wrote many of them.

The cards were written at the turn of the last century, and were sent between Albert Whicher and his mother Caroline while he was serving with the Royal Horse Artillery in India.

After finding the cards Kylie took them to Godalming Museum, where staff said they were interesting but not sufficiently well preserved to be put on display. Many of the cards had started to disintegrate, and the handwriting had faded, making them difficult to read.

Messages.

Kylie told Godalming Nub News she had spent much time deciphering the messages on the back of the cards in a bid to track down their rightful owner. "They had messages on the back like 'Your brother took the pony and trap into town today', and 'Your sister has got chicken pox'," Kylie said. "It's a lovely picture of everyday life. They were signed 'Your ever loving mum'. It's really sweet." She believes the cards ended up in the ceiling after being put in a cupboard and then dropping into the floor as the base of the cupboard deteriorated over time. Tearing out the floorboards revealed their presence. After she posted pictures of the cards on the Godalming Town Past and Present Facebook group, two other members offered to investigate. One sleuth discovered that Albert had born in Egham and moved into house with his parents, Alfred and Caroline, some time between 1891 and 1901. Bert was one of six children born to the Whichers. After his adventures in the Royal Horse Artillery Bert returned to Surrey, where he married Ruby Pavey on 11th October 1914 at Holy Trinity Church, Guildford. The couple emigrated to America in 1919, where they made their home in San Francisco, bringing up two children. The son of their daughter Betty – Charles – now lives in New York, and the cards are on their way to him. Charles was tracked down by a second member of the board, who passed on his email address so Kylie could get in contact. Charles told her that his grandfather and grandmother had been on their way to Australia after their marriage, but had stopped off in San Francisco "and never went further". Kylie added: "He said that Bert had known Jack Phillips - they were born in the same year, and of course Godalming was much smaller then, so it's not surprising they would have known each other. "He also said that Bert had served in India with the Royal Horse Artillery, and had trained King George's horse, and was also Queen Mary's driver in India. "He is very pleased to be getting the cards. In this time of such doom and gloom it's a nice story." Like what we do? Please Like our Facebook page!