Family research eases self-isolation

Lorin Cox knew her grandfather loved pigeons and racing them. He had some smart birds, and took the hobby seriously, but didn’t tell her that. Ms Cox, the co-ordinator of heritage services at Geraldton Regional Library found out much about her Harvey-based granddad and his flock through online digitised newspapers. “When I found out the information, it was a good trigger point for conversation between us,” Ms Cox said. She urges people do the same to find out about their families. “If people are home and not working, this will give them something really enjoyable to do,” she said. “Once you start researching, it’s pretty hard to stop.” Though the Geraldton library is closed because of COVID-19 restrictions, you can still research. “I recommend people start with Trove, which is online digitised newspapers,” Ms Cox said. “When I put my granddad’s name and the area he lived, all these articles came up. People can find out all about their ancestors and ancestry. “There is so much information online and you can access it for free from home. “All you need to do is put in a few keywords. It’s really a great resource and you can get onto the State Library website and look at old articles, maps and plans from the State records office. “There’s records from the world wars and much else. “Once you start, you will find it’s like a rabbit warren.” Visit National Library of Australia at https://www.trove.nla.gov.au