Fire destroyed residential units and several businesses when it ripped through an Otho Street complex in Inverell, New South Wales, Australia during the early hours of Sunday morning. Among the devastated residents and businesses is the Inverell District Family History Group.
NOTE: This is NOT the Inverell Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc., a different society with a somewhat similar name.
Volunteers have worked tirelessly over the years to piece together records and photos of Inverell’s history. The group apparently never created digital copies of the holdings. The Inverell District Family History Group has lost all their archives, books, family histories as well as various other records on paper and film as well as their CD collection, which are almost all irreplaceable.
Family History Group Secretary Muriel Resta said the group were devastated but had decided to start again. “We lost all of our records,” Mrs Resta said. “Insurance can replace things like the photocopier and computer but some records can never be replaced.”
The Family History group’s main focus now is to find a new place to start over again.
You can read more in the Inverell Times at http://www.inverelltimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/fire-destroys-historic-building/1734091.aspx.
My thanks to John Graham and Cedric Wyndham for telling me about this tragedy.
