A lockdown project which morphed into a full-blown history publication will come to fruition this evening when copies of a Victorian diary go on sale at Lexden Church Hall at 8pm tonight.

The Life and Times of a Victorian Lady in Colchester was the lockdown project of Liz White, an avid historian, after the original diary was found by Alexandra Scott – a Colchester resident who had just moved into what was formerly known as Lexden Manor.

After Mrs Scott passed the diary onto Sonia Lewis – the former mayor of Colchester – Mrs Lewis in turn gave it to Liz White who, unsurprisingly, was the perfect person to discover who wrote the diary.

After a solid month of transcribing seemingly indecipherable handwriting – and countless more hours’ worth of typing, researching, and revising – Mrs White’s final copy of The Life and Times of a Victorian Lady in Colchester will go on sale for £7.50 per copy.

The diary contained daily entries by an upper-class Victorian lady called Clarice Ord, who penned her daily activities and engagements throughout 1885.

After being presented with the diary, Mrs White had to ascertain who had actually written it – for Clarice Ord had not written her own name in the pages.

But Mrs White will reveal all this evening at Lexden Church Hall when she gives a talk to Lexden History Group, and any other members of the public who wish to attend, about just how she managed to track down this elusive Victorian lady.