In Argentina, James Herbert married Mary Anne Farley, from an Irish family, They had nine children: Leopold, James, Herbert, Oscar, Ernest, Alfred, Lila, Amanda and Agnes. Of all these children, only Lila and Agnes had descendants.

James came to this country to work in the railroads, that were built and managed by the British for 100 years. After he got married, he left this job and became a farmer. He was the owner of two large properties in the province of San Luis (west of Buenos Aires, in the Andean region). The names of the properties were "Las Violetas" (Violets) and "Tres arboles" (Three trees), where he died in 1903.

Agnes married a Spanish trader, Enrique Varela, and they had three children: Alfred, Enrique and Doris Varela-Wonnacott. Doris was born in 1920. She married Juan Plou and had two chidren, Monica and Juan.

Doris is now 80 years old. Below there are three photographs of her, with her children, a grandson and her great grand-daughter.

We think it´s great to be in touch with our family overseas. As you can see, the Wonnacott family is very small here, so it´s nice to see that we have so many relatives elsewhere.

Doris and her family are Protestants, a minority in a mostly Catholic country. Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians make a good mix in our family. Juan, Doris´ son, is the president of the local Methodist Church in Temperley. We all live in the south of the Great Buenos Aires, a region where many Scottish and English inmigrants settled by the mid-1800. They built their own churches, schools, clubs and cemeteries. Although there´s no one now bearing the Wonnacott surname, we keep some of the traditions Agnes brought from her home.

1. Doris and her children: Juan and Monica Plou

2. Doris and her grandson, Blas Cavallero

3. Doris and her great grand daughter, April Verdicchio

Photos and article provided by Juan Plou and Daphne Sabanes