The In-Depth Genealogist a digital community for all genealogists

  If somebody had told me five years ago that ebay can help with your family history I would have laughed. If a genealogist had told me that ebay can help I would have laughed and then snuck off quietly to have a look. But, neither happened to me. I found it out by accident, in a moment of sheer boredom.   I was searching for items relating to my favourite UK music group, and Australia really had very little so I widened my search area by looking up the UK and the USA ebay sites. Now I was getting somewhere, and over the months that followed I won some great items. One afternoon I found myself searching for scrapbook items (another fantastic reason to give ebay a try, by the way!) and after an hour or more my brain was starting to fry. For the heck of it, I put the name of my childhood hometown into the search area and hit the return button. What came up next, both surprised and dazzled me completely.   I found postcards, carte de visites, books, maps and trinket items, all relating to my hometown. It was like being let loose in a candy store! From there I tried searching for other towns and villages I knew my ancestors were from. Before I knew it, I was bidding on items from counties all over the UK and all relating to my family history. I have won a few less than desirable items over the years; local history books smelling of mildew or cigarette smoke, dog-eared pages, broken spines, rusty staples and yellowing paper. But the good far outweighs these expected misdemeanors because I have found many more true gems. My bookshelf is fit to bursting with booklets, publications, and history guide books filled with ... Read More »