Recently discovered (in an attic) by her great niece, Pountney's diaries run from 1863 to 1870. A mine of information and images, this edition covers two years while the family was living in Leamington Spa and Devon.

Jean Miller started painting at the age of 68. In her youth she was a professional dancer and actor, performing regularly at the Theatre Royal, Windsor, which was managed by her uncle, and also on the London stage, and on tour. She married a fellow actor, Michael Miller, and lived a life in the theatre until the birth of her children. After her husband's death, she moved to Hay on Wye, where she has built a successful career as an artist, her vibrant paintings achieving phenomenal local popularity, and being sought increasingly by visitors to the annual Hay Festival.