“Colin Buck’s Postcard Index is a 2,800 page catalogue for a collection of over 100,000 postcards sent to recipients in the British Isles from the late 1890s to the 1960s. The index is an alphabetical listing by recipient’s surname, forename or initial(s), title, address, year and reference. The Acrobat Reader search facility interestingly found the first Probert – ‘Collacott, C M, Miss, c/o Probert, Gibbon St, Plymouth Devon, 1908, C3788’ and one of four Probert recipients listed was ‘Probert, Minnie, Miss,c/o Southampton Hospital, 1908, P2614’. Searching the 1901 Census I found a Minnie Probert, pupil teacher aged 18 living at 9 Gibbon St, Plymouth, Devon daughter of William B. and Georgina M. Surely a link and a story here, so, as it is possible to purchase digital copies of the postcards at a cost of 75p per postcard, I did so. Watch this space!
Original postcards of interest may be bought for £1.50 each including UK p&p. As a charge of £2 per surname (minimum of £4) is made to search the index it is worthwhile purchasing the CD for £12. Available from Sandra Hewetson, email: s.hewetson@ntlworld.com; web www.practicalresearchindexes.co.uk. £sterling cheques only payable to “S. Hewetson” or secure credit card payment on the web site."
CD-ROMS in brief by Eric Probert, Family Tree Connect, Family Tree Magazine May 2006.
"The postcards arrived this morning and I'm really thrilled to have them. Its wonderful that 100 years later they have returned to a family member. Thank you so much for your help, I will be going through your index again now just in case I'v missed someone!"
"How many times have you thumbed through vast trays of postcards at a family history fair and idly wondered if there are cards in there which were sent to or by your ancestors? If this thought ever crossed your mind, you probably dismissed it as something which would be way beyond your time and patience to discover. How long would it take to look at the names and addresses of say 100,000 postcards “just in case”? Well, if you subscribe to Colin Buck’s Postcard Index, the answer is “not very long”.
Colin Buck has worked tirelessly over many years to collect postcards and to catalogue his holdings. Most postcard dealers classify their stock by subject but Colin was more concerned with the names of the recipients. The index is not simply a reference source. Any postcard of interest is available to purchase from Sandra Hewetson who has now taken over the index and stock on Colin’s retirement.
An extract from the index is shown below. The name and address given is that of the recipient and the date taken (where legible) from the postmark. The final number is the stock number for ordering."
MARSDEN
Miss 45 Smitter Ln Firvale Sheffield YKS 1912 M1448
Miss c/o Bell Bensham Manor Rd Thornton Heath 1903 M1591
Mrs 42 Lawson St Maryport Cumberland M612
Alice Miss Belgrave Rd Darwin LAN 1916 M3215
Alice Miss 14 Lines Ave Darwin LAN 1906 M2596
Connie Miss 103 Belgrave Rd Darwen LAN M2595
If you purchase a card, you will, of course, learn something from to place from which it was sent. Perhaps the sender was on holiday or perhaps visiting a relative. Some were posted overseas and show either that the sender could afford a foreign holiday or that the recipient had overseas connections. We tend to think of postcards today as purely holiday communications but it is clear that early in the 19th century they were an inexpensive alternative to a letter or telegram and often performed the same function as a telephone call would today (“I will be home at 4pm tomorrow”). Some simply convey Christmas or New Year greetings. The sender is often identified only by a forename and their relationship to the recipient is frequently unclear. They can, however, occasionally produce what might be very useful information. One of the cards I have purchased from the index says “Dear Emily, just a card to wish you many happy returns of the day” (addressed to Mrs Marsden, 205 Burnsall Road, Bradford, Yorks and postmarked 25 Sep. 1933 it tells us the date, if not the year of her birth).
The latest index is Volume 9 and is available on CDROM in Adobe Acrobat format from www.practicalresearchindexes.co.uk
John Marsden, The Manchester Genealogist, 2005.
It Does Work!
Other comments from successful customers:
“I was amazed to see that you had a card addressed to an old friend of mine”
Mr Martin, Solihull
“The three cards were sent to two brothers who were relatives of mine. Vic and Will Luxton, Vic was killed at Vimy Ridge, Will lived until about fifteen years ago”
Brian Luxton, Glamorgan
“The card addressed to Mrs Joan Bomford dated 1908, is my husband’s mother”
Mrs Bomford, Birkhamstead
“The Brinton card is wonderful. My husband’s grandfather was the House Master at Eton and this was to him”
Mrs Brinton, Folkestone
“You may be interested to know that the three cards that you send me are all members of my branch of Alderton family and created a lot of interest among family members”
Mrs Alderton, Romford
“Thank you for the four postcards, I am very pleased with them, any more for this family let me know”
Mr Thomas, Malmesbury
“Thank you for the wonderful service. I have spent ages looking at collections at fairs and never had any success. I never imagined you would find so many in the Venning name”
Mr Venning, Fairford
“There are several cards to relatives of mine, the Tuckey family of Chichester”
Mrs Hockaday, Ilminster
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