It started in 1982 when I received a letter from the President of the Sumner Road Running club.   They had been trying to locate descendants of my Grandfather, the late James Merritt of Sumner.   They were organising a race over the Port Hills from Sumner to Lyttelton as a reinactment of a  race won by my grandfather in 1908. They had read about it on a chance visit to the Sumner Museum  and wondered if I could throw any more light on it.  I had to say that I had no knowledge of the  event and couldn't really help but did know that my grandfather professed to be a bit of a runner  in his youth.

The seed was sown and a few years later I visited the Sumner Museum to read for myself about the  prodigious event of my ancestor many years before. I was amazed to find that he not only won the  race but he had time to have a bath & a change of clothes before the second runner came in. He put  his fitness down to a twice weekly run over the same course to visit his sweetheart, Mary O'Neill  who lived in Lyttelton and who was to become my Grandmother.

I didn't just find what I was looking for in the Museum, I found so much more.  Photographs,  medals, trophies, newspaper clippings, and in pride of place a large picture of my father Bill  Merritt at about 17 yrs of age surrounded by trophies of his sporting achievements.  It was a  veritable treasure trove of Merritt & O'Neill memorabilia and a good place to start the hunt for  my families who came to New Zealand in the 19th century.

Sadly the Sumner Museum is no longer there as it was a victim of the tragic earthquake but happily  all the exhibits were saved to live on.