Most families have stories from the past handed down from the oldest to the youngest, recalling the history of the family through major and minor events – sometimes tragic, sometimes funny.  Most families also have memorabilia of some sort, often connected directly to those stories. This physical material helps keep these stories alive and relevant, making them more meaningful and giving a ‘voice’ to the past generations.  

If a family wants to maintain its history, and keep those stories alive, it is important to preserve that material as best we can. As conservators working at Preservation Australia, we work with families in conserving their objects and advising them on how best to store and preserve their family history material.

A family of four siblings approached Preservation Australia to help them preserve their family history collection of 100 WWI postcards. These postcards were from their grandfather who had served at various posts overseas during the war.  His stories were inscribed on the back of the postcards, and unusually, many stories continued over several postcards. These four siblings all loved the postcards and the stories they told. The siblings are now dispersed around Australia and all wanted access to the postcards and to share the stories with the next generation. They were also concerned about how best to preserve and conserve this important family collection.