Born in Northern Ireland, Ms Gleadhill is a travel writer with a thirst for knowledge.

In particular, she is researching Irish-born novelist Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw, who was born in 1870 and died in Bathurst in 1953 after living in the city for many years.

It all started just a couple of years ago when Ms Gleadhill was giving a talk that ended up changing her life’s direction and would eventually send her across the other side of the world.

“This man came up out of the audience and asked ‘have you ever heard of a woman called Beatrice Grimshaw who was born in 1870 and lived for 27 years in Papua New Guinea?’,” she said.

“I went home and Googled her and that was the start; she’s taken over my life.”

Ms Grimshaw was born just eight miles down the road from Ms Gleadhill – and the similarities do not end there.

“Our families are both in the linen business,” she said.

“She had a pony, I had a pony.

“Both of our families went through family money. They [the Grimshaws] were definitely a very wealthy family.”

Since then, Ms Gleadhill has also found out that Ms Grimshaw was an author, travel writer, journalist, South Seas traveller and cyclist.

That was enough to set her on a path across the other side of the world to find out more so she could write a book about Ms Grimshaw’s life.

Ms Gleadhill said this was the first time that she had delved into anyone’s family history and admitted it had been a challenge.

“I’m much more of a travel writer, writing about what’s around me – sights, smells, things I see,” she said.

Ms Grimshaw was very adventurous for the time in which she lived. While her parents wanted her to be a lecturer in a women’s college, she decided she wanted to be a journalist and travel.

“She was very determined, very able, strong physically. She’s described as being full of beans and she described herself as having a strong muscle system,” Ms Gleadhill said.

During her research, Ms Gleadhill has visited Ms Grimshaw’s previous home in Dublin and has also retraced some of her steps through the Pacific, including in Fiji, Vanuatu and New Zealand.

“The travel has been interesting and people in Vanuatu and Fiji were incredibly fascinated by Beatrice Grimshaw being there 100 years ago,” she said.

On Wednesday, Ms Gleadhill was in Bathurst to see the unveiling of a headstone and plaque on Ms Grimshaw’s formerly unmarked grave at Bathurst Cemetery.

The headstone and plaque were funded by Bathurst Family History Group and Bathurst Regional Council.

In order to complete her research and write her book, Ms Gleadhill is still looking for information from when Ms Grimshaw was in Papua New Guinea, as well as general photographs and letters.