A FORMER Mayor of Wisbech has offered a �200 reward for the return of precious photograph albums that chart the history of her late father’s naval career dating back to before the Great War.

The four albums - all about 100 years old - went missing when Thelma Hewitt moved away from Wisbech.

Thelma - whose surname was Jenkins when she served as Mayor in the early 1990’s - hopes someone bought the albums from an antique shop or second hand store in the Wisbech area, and would now be prepared to part with them.

She said: “These albums are not valuable as such, but they are very precious to me. I would love to be able to pass them on to my family.”

Thelma, 87, says her late father, Bertram Chambers, served in the Royal Navy on destroyers.

He ran away to join the navy when a teenager, and went to sea after “taking the King’s shilling.”

She explained: “He bought two highly decorated albums, one in China and one in Japan, before the war,” said Thelma. “Those albums contain pictures of places in those countries, when he was there.”

The highly decorated cover of the Chinese album features a colourful dragon, and the cover of the Japanese album carries a stork; both are depicted in ivory, coral and ebony.

Also missing are two green baize covered albums, containing photos of her father’s youth and naval service.

Thelma moved to Leverington with her first husband, Stephen Jenkins, in 1984, and was widowed in 1992.

She moved to Stamford in 1993 to live with her second husband, Leslie Hewitt; and believes is was during that move that the albums went missing.

She said: “I remember them as a child, they were my father’s favourite things from his collection. I brought them to Leverington, but during my move to Stamford they just disappeared.

“I have been hunting them down, but they have just vanished off the face of the earth.

“I would love to have them back; my hair just stands on end when I think they have gone missing.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wisbech Standard by telephone on 01354 652621, or e-mail editor John Elworthy on editor@wisbech-standard.co.uk