An old portrait from a renowned London studio has been re-united with its family roots thanks to the Buriton Heritage Bank.
The portrait shows Colonel Samuel Seward who lived and farmed at Weston, near Buriton, in the nineteenth century - one of four generations of the family who were tenants at Weston Farm.
An email to the website of the Buriton Heritage Bank before Christmas alerted the local history group to the existence of the portrait - hundreds of miles away on the Welsh borders.
Coordinators of the Heritage Bank replied to the email and it turned out to be a charity shop which was willing to sell the portrait back to the area if there were any interested relatives.
The picture had the name of Colonel Seward 'of Weston, Petersfield' on the back and the charity shop had found details about him on Buriton's websites.
Descendants of the Seward family were swiftly contacted and, after recognising the portrait immediately, have now been able to buy it and bring it back to the local area.
The picture was one of a pair with the other one depicting Colonel Seward's future wife, Mary Hobgen.
The search is now on to find the other portrait.
For many years the two pictures had hung in the home of the Seward's daughter, Mary Victoria. However, at the time of her death she was living in a local nursing home and, although visiting her regularly, the immediate family were not involved in the disposal of her effects.
No-one has any idea how it ended up on the Welsh borders - and everyone is now wondering where the picture of Mary Hobgen might be.
The portraits are believed to have been produced in Regent Street, London, and they date from the mid 1800s when Samuel and Mary were engaged to be married.
The family are delighted to have found one of the long-lost portraits and the Buriton Village Association, coordinators of the Buriton Heritage Bank, are happy to have helped - thanks to the wonders of the internet.
But everyone would now like to help find the missing portrait of Mary Hobgen so that the happy couple could be re-united once more.
If you think that you may be able to solve this mystery in any way, please contact Doug Jones on 01730 231326 or email doug.pam@btinternet.com
