Alice

At nineteen, I went to a seance at Uncle Jacob's house where I was told by a world famous clairvoyant that I would meet a man much older than myself, be married within months and travel to an ancient land. 'Poppycock', I thought until the idea began to appeal to me.

In 1851, I worked at my father's photography studio in Regent's Park. My parents had introduced me to suitable young men for marriage. I refused each one. I wanted to be a singer at Covent Garden and make my mark in the world. I loved my parents and my eight siblings but I was nothing like them.

The day I bumped into Augustus Le Plongeon, I knew immediately it was him, the one I was to wed. My mother said I was excitable but I wasn't. I have always known things beyond explanation.

New York was exciting compared to London but nothing prepared me for the extreme conditions of life in the Yucatan with rebels, murder and ravages of disease which became my daily ritual. I almost died on more than one occasion. Augustus had a theory of the origins of man and the ancient land of Atlantis. Our work was ground breaking as we decoded the messages and ancient images on the stone inside the 'House of Mysterious Writings' in Chichen Itza.

Years of hard work would eventually see me known throughout the archaeological world alongside my husband. Augustus was an antiquarian and I was his assistant but I developed beyond his expectation to be respected as his equal.

In Victorian times, this was quite a feat and I am proud to be Alice Dixon Le Plongeon.