As a result of Harry's advice Margaret and I spent a weekend in Derbyshire to try and find the mill in question. We drove around Matlock and looked at the mills to south of the town. The first of these was the Cromford mill built by Richard Arkwright in 1771. (An account of Arkwright's life is attached as Appendix 1) It was the first successful factory in the world and represents the transition from cottage industry to factory production. When we saw it, it was a sorry sight and much in need of restoration. (Since then a lot of restoration work has been carried out, and it is open to the public). The nearby Masson Mill, another of Arkwright's mills, which was then owned by the English Sewing Machine Company was, on the other hand, an impressive sight set on the banks of the River Derwent.

Driving eastwards from Matlock we quickly discovered Tansley Wood Mill. This was in good condition and, according to a local paper which we had bought was planned to be converted to an industrial heritage centre. At first we thought that this was the Hackett mill, however, after further thought, we realised that the name was slightly different. What we were looking for was Tansley Mill, so we continued to drive around the narrow lanes between Matlock and Tansley. The landscape is very hilly and wooded and there were a number of red herrings before we came upon a very interesting group of stone-built mill buildings that were semi-derelict and were being used as a storage depot by the Derbyshire Dales County Council.

The mills were in the valley bottom and further up stream there was an artificial pond with an overgrown sluice gate. A 14 inch iron water pipe could be traced leading from the pond to one of the mill buildings. A new steel and asbestos storage building was being erected near the largest of the mills and this was clearly going to change the character of the area. While Margaret sat in the car I climbed through a gap in the hedge with my camera and investigated the site around the Mill. I could not get into the building and when I eventually got back there was an angry looking security man waiting by the gap in the hedge.

"What the hell do you think you are dong?" was his enquiry. "The alarms are going and the police are on the way, I want your name and address". I gave him my name and explained that I thought that the mill may have once owned by my family. He looked at me strangely and told me to wait there while he went into the mill to tell the police not to come.

When he got back he told me to follow his car if we wanted to find information on the Hackett family. We then drove along twisting lanes up the hill to the village of Tansley. Opposite the church where I had seen the parish records there was a small Methodist Chapel and we walked through the gate into a graveyard surrounded by a low stone wall. It was mostly taken up by a monument and tomb with memorial stones. This was the Hackett family grave! We were completely stunned by this development. The inscriptions showed that 8 members of the family had been buried there.

In the middle of the graveyard and largely dominating it was a marble monument surmounted by a stone urn. On each of the four sides was a marble plaque commemorating the four most senior members of the Hackett Family at Tansley. Surrounding the monument was an iron railing and nearby was a tomb with further commemorative plaques and a vault beneath it.

It is very unusual for a Methodist Chapel to have a burial ground attached to it with such an elaborate tomb and it was instantly clear from its size and from the fact that members of the family were buried there for a period of over 60 years that the Hacketts were considered to be very important locally. By coincidence the security man who had caught me was the voluntary caretaker of the Chapel. He explained that the group who ran the chapel had been making enquiries as whether any of the Hacketts have survived as they wanted to obtain permission to move the graves in order to create a children's play ground.

Many hours have been spent in research. Initially with the help of Margaret and then, after her death in 1991, I carried on by myself I feel that there is a very interesting story to be told and there is still a great deal of work still to do. Unfortunately the Hackett do not seem to have made any effort to record their activities and the evidence is obscure and scattered.