The Family Treasure Chest is opened!!!!!

[coombs]

Well when I pass away any relatives can look at the 500 odd BMD, census, will, PR and poor law register document copies I have upstairs.

[starcat]

I have a few treasured family photos one of which is a postcard, its a picture of my grandfather & another young man
both wearing suits with buttonholes, so possibly a wedding, the card was sent to my grandmother, it has a green half penny stamp on it, its dated  the 5th Feb but the year has worn off, its hard to say how old my grandfather is, he could be as young as 15, they married in 1918.
I have another postcard I treasure that is more recent, sent to me in 1965 by my brother when he went up to London
to meet the cast of Zcars, he was their fan club secretary at the time, he also  saw the original Dr Who William Hartnell while he was there.

[jaybelnz]

I have a handwritten 1940 letter and the envelope which was sent to my grandmother from Sir Walter Nash, who was at the time, the then NZ Labour Party Minister of Finance.  It was a condolence letter on the death of her father, his friend and my great grandfather, written on an "Office of the Minister of Finance" letterhead.

Sir Walter went on to become our 27th Prime Minister in 1957, in the second NZ Labour Government. I well remember my grandmother being incredibly proud of that letter! 

Without the memories that I have about my Mum and Dad's families and all the stories I heard about them and those that had gone before them, the hard times and the good times, my family history and passion for genealogy would be meaningless.

I was fortunate enough to grow up around both my maternal and paternal families, who all lived in pretty close proximity to each other, always plenty of grandparents and cousins around the place, and lots of interactions with 3 generations of Aunts, Uncles and Cousins! 

As a teenager, I attended both sets of my grandparent's Golden Weddings. Not something  physical I can hold in my hand and look at, it's simply all more real treasure that is stored in my heart.

[..claire..]

I think memories are wonderful treasures, always a part of us and can never be taken away.

 

[pinefamily]

These are the things that we, as family historians, need to record for posterity.

[..claire..]

I agree, I almost wish in many years to come what my future generations will think of all the treasures and documents detailing their ancestors lives I have gathered.

I hope they love it as much as I've loved collecting it