I was lucky enough to meet and volunteer with Joyce Ryerson when living in the northern suburbs of Sydney. Living until the age of 95 years young, Joyce was sharp as a tack, and had a dry sense of humour. Joyce was a bit of a hoarder something her daughter Sue was frustrated about.
When Joyce started her ‘collection’ of death notices, she was not a genealogist, just an ‘old girl’ looking to help her old school update a register of former pupils. Her collection would accumulate over 14 years and was stored in her laundry.
She was a member of The Dead Persons Society. When they discovered what she had, they immediately recognised its extraordinary value. John Graham went around and found an almost complete collection of death notices from the Sydney Morning Herald for the years 1986 to 1998. Sue was thrilled as John took them all away.
That collection has since grown into a free searchable online index of more than nine million records drawn from over 470 newspapers across Australia from as early as 1803. The index continues to grow thanks to an army of volunteers.
John Graham is coming to talk to members of the GSV on Wednesday 8 April at 10.30am on zoom. Come and learn about how to get the most out of this fabulous research tool, including some of the little-known features.