Hi, Papers Past Team,
Although we often pass on our thanks and appreciation for all the work you do arranging the digitisation of newspapers, I would like to note three recent discoveries made on Papers Past which have advanced the knowledge of my family.
Idly scrolling though the site recently I stumbled across isolated references to two individuals I had been searching for for some time; the first was the death by drowning of a young man in Queensland. I had thought he had died in infancy, but this reference led me to the discovery that he had married in Queensland only three weeks prior to his death and that his wife was pregnant with his daughter.
The second was an inquest for a widowed g-g-g-uncle who emigrated to Otago after his sister and her family. I had never considered the possibility that he would have emigrated, and the report led me to find the later lives and death of his three daughters, all of whom he left behind in Scotland as young unmarried women.
The third and very recent discovery is a passing reference in the Grey River Argus of 1896 to a very elusive g-g-uncle living in Western Australia. He left his wife and family in Westland. I am hopeful that this might lead to a record of his death.
So thanks very much for all your time, effort and dedication, Papers Past Team. You're making a huge contribution to family history.
Regards,
Spades