Finding photos of relatives is something I really enjoy about researching my family history. Being able to see what a person looked like adds to their story, and it’s fascinating to look for family resemblances. Choosing a favourite photo is impossible though.

Some of my favourite family photos are relatively recent ones, often taken by me, or photos inherited from grandparents. Some photos have been shared by other researchers, and provide a window into the lives of relatives I’ve never met, including the 2x great-grandparents whose names I never knew until six years ago.

Another favourite photo is one I actively sought. It’s of my grandmother and the band she sang with on the radio. Thanks to a local history society, someone who remembered her, and a good dash of serendipity, a copy of the photo was tracked down.

One of my most unexpected photo discoveries though, was found in a newspaper. Two slightly grainy, black-and-white images accompanying a report about the fiftieth wedding anniversary of my 3x great-grandparents, William and Mary Ritchie.

This was the first time I’d seen a photo of William and Mary. Some time later, through a second cousin connection, I was excited to receive what turned out to be a digitised copy of the photo of William and Mary used by the newspaper. It’s clearly a studio portrait, most likely taken specially to recognise the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary. William and Mary celebrated the milestone in February 1929, and Mary died in June the same year, so the photo was probably one of the last ones taken of her. This photo is now a valuable part of my family history archive.