A GOOD Samaritan has made it his mission to get a collection of family photos dating back more than 100 years to the descendants of those pictured.

Metal detectorist Len Rankin, 75, lives more than 230 miles away in Exeter, Devon.

He discovered three old photos from a family with the surname Scudamore from the North Fambridge area.

Dating back from the 1900s, it shows their old house and two unidentified men.

Mr Rankin became determined to find the original location of the house as well as any surviving members of the Scudamore family.

He discovered the photographs while going through the belongings of a relative. He said: “In 2014, my mother, 97, died and apart from a few scattered cousins, was the last of my senior relatives.

“When we were searching through Mum’s box of photos and other pieces of lost memories, we came across, in a box marked ‘grandparents/travels’ which included a group of photos of my grandparents and great-grandparents, which included the three in North Fambridge.

“I knew my great-grandfather had not survived long after the First World War, and my grandmother was a young girl in Australia.

“On returning to England, she had moved from the east coast to the north west, where she married again.

“My original grandfather was called Spencer, while my great-grandmother’s name was Davidson and upon remarrying she became a Rose.

“The three photos of the Scudamores we can only assume were of friends of the great-grandparents as they moved about the country before settling.”

Len started metal detecting about the time he discovered the photos.

“Whilst online relating to a separate subject, an area in Essex came up that I recognised,” he said.

“I contacted a fellow member, Geoff, who, it turned out, lived only three miles from the location in the photos.

“Thinking it may be possible to contact any surviving Scudamores, to whom the photos could be returned, Geoff made efforts to locate anyone of that name but with no luck.”

If you think you can help, call Len on 07879 895176.