Hi
I've had three real big saddnesses in my research.
The first was after my mother's parents died in the 1920s and her eldest brother destroyed virtually all of the papers and photos. We did get the Family Bible though, which I know have.
The second was after my father's parent's died in 1949. The daughters-in-law cleared out the house and most of the papers and photos were again thrown out. (My sister told me this, as I was too young to know - she saved a diary of my Nain's from the dustbin).
Finally, and maybe the worst: my Dad had kept page a day diaries for about 25 years before he died. These were not the 'what I did' sort, but his memories of his life, local history, his family, etc. I used to skim through them when we went to visit. After they died, my sister and I both looked for the diaries. For months, I thought she had them and she though I had them. When we eventually talked about it, we realised that they had just disappeared except for about 2. Then she remembered that Mum's home help had told her a few years before that she'd thrown out a pile of old calendars. OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH
Has anyone else lost such treasures in like ways?
Gadget
