RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: transparu on Tuesday 24 April 18 12:57 BST (UK)
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I raised a similar question elsewhere on RootsChat some time ago, and elsewhere, all to no avail. This is a last try.
I am doing some research for something I have been asked to write about a party of Grenfell, NSW, Australia inhabitants who in 1886 journeyed to Wyndham (WA) and then overland to Halls Creek area seeking gold. I have come against a problem using Trove, the excellent repository of so much Antipodean material. I have a problem with the image of a particular paper, the "Grenfell Record" dated 16/10/1886 (This paper is sometimes Catalogued as the Grenfell Record and Lachlan Advertiser.). Part of page 2, a letter, is missing in the Australian online source (see below). It seems that the only extant copy of this paper in Australia is the one from which the microfilm was taken! (In the image, it seems as though a piece (about 75 lines) was cut from it and about the top half of the first column is missing. It is clear from looking at the page 1 of microfilm of this edition that it was an item on page 1 that was removed prior to microfilming. See:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117578478 (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117578478)
I have contacted the National Library of Australia who record and archive such items but they have no original paper. The State Library of New South Wales does have a copy of the paper but it appears to be the one from which the microfilm was produced! – that is, the section I need is missing. It seems I have drawn a blank.
I have searched widely, looking for other papers that might have carried the letter in question, but to no avail.
Is anyone aware of possible locations of other collections of the Grenfell Record – in Australia or elsewhere? Believe me when I say I have looked. I know the Grenfell Historical Museum well, and they are unable to help. I have drawn a blank so far.
Any further suggestions/ideas would be most welcome.
Thanks in advance. :D
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http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=750071.msg5980377#msg5980377
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I think the newspaper article is a transcription of a log or diary, rather than a letter.
Are you interested in the substance of the missing section as a source of further information, or just to complete the story ie tidy up the presentation.
If this is a log or diary would it be in the local history room?
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Thanks for the responses. The original posting on RootsChat was not, in the end, fruitful despite a generous effort on the part of a member here.
Wivenhoe, I have tried the local history room, but thanks for the suggestion. I've also tried the present owner of the newspaper. I've had great cooperation from the British Library, but so far to no avail.
The missing text I want because of the information it must contain. Some of it I have obtained/reconstructed by scouring scores of other reports, letters and some genealogies I have prepared but critical information is still missing from the narrative. Of course I'd like the text for completeness as well. I have a deadline approaching for submission of a book chapter.
Yes, you are correct. This isn't a letter but a report by the (probable) leader of a party on his return to home base, Grenfell, after unsuccessfully seeking gold. It's a pity that his remaining family papers don't have any record of the journey in question.
Thanks again.
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Is there a typo in the subject heading here, or is it an error at Trove?
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/117578478 16 October 1886. :)
JM
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OOPS!
Thanks JM. You are correct. It is OCTOBER 16 1886, not November.
Don't know how I missed this. Thanks for your sharp eyes!
DY