Distant relative of Miss Ida Traill made a visit to the historic Miss Traill's House and Gardens

But, on Thursday March 2, that's exactly what happened.

Helen Lloyd, the great-great-great granddaughter of William Lee - a prominent figure in Bathurst's history - travelled from London to take a tour of Miss Traill's House and Gardens.

Ms Lloyd's grandmother, who grew up in Australia, was a cousin of Miss Traill, making the house on Russell Street an important site in her family history.

Her recent trip to Miss Traill's was her fourth time visiting the archival property.

During one of her previous visits, Ms Lloyd discovered that her connection to Miss Traill extended even further than she had originally thought.

"I'm sort of doubly connected to here, which I find fascinating," she said.

This connection is through that of another prominent Bathurst family: The Kites.

William Lee had 11 children, and the eldest, William Harold Lee (Ms Lloyd's great-great grandfather), and the third-eldest, George Lee (Miss Traill's grandfather), both married Kite women.

William Harold married Ann Kite and together they had 13 children. The last, Madeline Lucy Lee, would later become Ms Lloyd's great-grandmother.

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"It's a small world," Ms Lloyd said.

To make the world even smaller, the volunteer who first took Ms Lloyd around Miss Traill's House in 2000, provided her with the knowledge that she had some distant relatives "just up the road" at Larras Lee in the Cabonne Shire.

"So I then met them ... so every time I come to Australia ... I come here and revisit the story of my grandmothers cousin, and then go and stay with my other, very distant cousins," she said.

Ms Lloyd first discovered the property through her own research, as she was employed by the National Trust in London for over 40 years.

This piqued her interest in National Trust homes all over the world, and on her first visit in 2000 to Bathurst's National Trust home; Miss Traill's House, she discovered her connection to the property.

"It's like suddenly finding you have an ancestral home," she said.

"It's just really nice to come and find a piece of my own family history is still here, and that it's significant in the story of Australia."

Ms Lloyd was guided on a tour of the home by volunteer Lyn Haley.

Discovering a piece of her family history is something that filled Ms Lloyd with immense passion and pride.

This passion was something that lead her to pursue more knowledge of her Australian family history, and next week Ms Lloyd will be off to Norfolk Island to discover more about her family tree.

Particularly that of two convicts who first came to Australia in 1791 - the parents of William Lee.

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