Her husband Phill wanted his family line documented, and from that Dale produced her first book - Three English Roses.
That time also stirred a new passion in Dale, and the genealogy research continued from there.
Next came a request from her mother-in-law - Lilian Rose - to trace her branch of the family tree.
The result was the compilation of the book The Journey of Asa Fortunatur Pearse 1813-1891, which has been released this month.
“This family history research was all new to me, but I have absolutely loved it,” Dale said.
“I’ve visited websites all over the world, and people have even asked me to help research their families - in between working on my own.
“The hardest part of this book was researching Mary Pearse, who was Asa’s mum.
“It was the 1800s, and she had two kids out of marriage.
“She worked at Fortunatur House and while there was always speculation of who may have fathered her children, we were never really able to find any proof of who Asa’s father was.”
Born in Devon, England, Asa immigrated to Australia in 1852, first settling in Portland, Victoria.
Tragedy struck the family when both his seventh child and his wife died, so to secure a future for his family Asa moved to Geelong where he married his second wife.
The family had several moves before settling in Conargo in 1873, when Asa established the property ‘Ibelong’. He remained there until his death in 1891.
Having fathered 13 children, the branches of Asa’s family tree spread far.
Deniliquin and district families descending from Asa, in addition to the Pearse families, are Neander, Corr, Robinson, Milne, Coutts, Jacobs, Bull, Liddle, Lang, McNickle, Rose, Black and Kook.
Dale said she had assistance from Pearse family members in researching the book, including Faye Pearse and Joyce Pearse and relative and professional genealogist Bruce Garner.
“Bruce published a book called My Name is Pearse, and has kindly given me a copy and a magnitude of information and photos.
“It was with Bruce’s encouragement and help I decided to write this book.
“I would like to thank my husband, Phill, for his help travelling to many parts of Australia and many hours spent in cemeteries.
“I also would like to acknowledge the many other people, too numerous to mention, who have helped along the way both personally and through Ancestry.com.”
Copies of The Journey of Asa Fortunatur Pearse 1813-1891 are $60, and can be purchased directly through Dale by phoning 0428 846 626 or email drpc2@bigpond.com.
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