Vicky Hartley finds precious family information, photos from an unlikely source

They were rescued from being consigned to the rubbish tip by Lithgow resident Ian Irvine, who was nursing at the home at the time.

It is believed that it was Vincent's wife Margaret who was the last owner of the suitcase and the precious contents.

Mr Irvine kept the suitcase and its documents at his home for many years, before donating them to the Lithgow and District Family History Society.

The Society decided to try locate and return the documents to Vincent's family, and after a week of research the group officially found Vincent's next of kin was none other than Lithgow woman Vicky Hartley.

Vincent Hart is Ms Hartley's great uncle on her father's side of the family.

Ms Hartley has been researching her father's side of the family for 20 years and has known Ian Irvine for nearly her entire life.

"I can't begin to tell you how I feel, this is 20 years of looking, and I can't believe the circumstances, I've known Ian nearly my entire life," she said.

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Ms Hartley said she scoured Narromine Library for any documents on the family.

"I thought I'd reached the end of my search so to get all this extra information is just incredible," she said.

"I was not expecting this much stuff."

Ms Hartley's father John Francis Leo passed away when she was two years old, and she had always wanted to know more about him and his family.

"I had this real urge to find who his family was," she said.

"I grew up with just Mum and I, and Mum did try and fill me in on my father but I didn't know him and it has always just felt like 50 per cent of me was missing.

"I share DNA with these people so I want to know who I am and where I come from."

Since Ms Hartley's grandfather died in World War I, her father didn't know much about his family.

"My father never really knew his family and he died not knowing his father," she said.

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According to Ms Hartley she had struggled to find any solid facts about the family because there were many 'lies and secrets'.

"All this information I've been given now is like a gold mine, I'm just going to pore over this," she said.

Looking at photos of Vincent, Ms Hartley said it was hard to see a resemblance because her father passed when he was so young.

"It is hard to compare because my Dad is younger in photos compared to the ones I have of Vincent, but you can see it in their posture," she said.

Finding out more information about her father's side of the family has been a long journey for Ms Hartley and she said she had a particular affinity for Vincent Hart.

"I have an affinity with Vin because his initials are VH Hart and so are mine, as Vicky Helen Hartley, so I always felt connected to him," she said.

Mr Irvine said the thing that made him take that particular suitcase home from the storage room was by lucky chance.

"There were a lot of deceased residents whose stuff never got collected, and I saw one that said Temora and I thought 'That was where I was born' so I kept the suitcase," he said.

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While this information might not give Ms Hartley all the answers she is searching for, it is more then she could have expected.

"God bless hoarders, I still can't believe the bizarre way this has all come together," she said.

Vincent Henry Hart was a legend in Narromine, raised by his grandparents Henry and Jane Hart, Vince was an employee of Narromine Council in his later life.

Travelling around the district with his horse and cart Vince fixed the local roads, or attended whatever jobs the council had allocated to this valued member of their outdoor staff.

Vince enlisted in the army during World War II serving in Four Australian Auxiliary Horse Transport Company in Dubbo and Bathurst. He was then transferred to Three Australian Pack Transport Company, he served with the AIF in Port Moresby for almost two years, attaining the rank of Corporal. Discharged in 1944, Vincent returned to his hometown of Narromine.

Vincent rode his horse everywhere. He never had a driver's licence. Vincent's wife Margaret preferred to drive the car into town to do the shopping.

Vincent's grandfather Henry Hart died in 1932 and his obituary in the Narromine News and Trangie Advocate noted that his daughter Annie was a Mrs Bussell. Vincents WWII records stated that his mother was Ann Bussell.

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Also stated in the obituary was the fact that Vincent's brother Private J Hart had died in World War I. Private John Henry Hart's 64 page service file included three letters written in 1996 by Joan Winifred Hart of 13 Rifle Parade, Lithgow, seeking a photo of Private John Henry Hart, 2^nd Battalion AIF and a copy of his death certificate.

John Thomas Hart, who enlisted in the AIF as John Henry Hart, was married to Venetta May Neill and the father of two children, Ulavine May and John Francis Leo.

Joan Winifred was the wife of John Francis Leo.

Joan's obituary from the Lithgow Mercury was the final link with Vincent's next of kin, none other than Vicky Hartley who was Joan's daughter.

Vincent Henry Hart's precious family documents have finally been returned to his next of kin.

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