Postcards - Lancaster Co, England 1901-1911



Post-tower-BriggsPost-tower-Briggs-aIn the central western portion of England is the county of Lancaster. Many families over the decades lived in Lancaster in cities like Manchester but eventually immigrated to America especially in the early years of the 20th century.

Lancaster University has made available online for Free a large collection of about 1,000 postcards either of places in Lancaster, sent by people living in Lancaster of other locations or sent to people living in Lancaster. Another 2,000 postcards will be added in the future.

post-williamson-1903post-williamson-1903-aThey have scanned these images including what was written in the message portion of the postcard. They are dated and quite fascinating some of the information relayed on the postcards.

There is an easy method to search any of your family surnames who might have lived in Lancaster or in neighboring counties also. When filling out the search box just place surnames. If there are various spelling for certain names, do try those spellings also.

If one is of interest you can enlarge the image and there is also a transcribed version of what was handwritten in the message section. Imagine if you did locate a postcard either sent or received by an ancestor. It would be like stepping back in time to their era. These postcards cover 1901 to 1911. You can enlarge the photo portion and the written section.

post-Jones-kittenpost-Jones,K--1904-aDuring those years using postcards was an opportunity for the exchange of everyday messages with pictures at very low cost. Back in 1910 to 1911, up to six deliveries a day were being made in major cities and 6 billion cards were sent in the period. This opportunity was not to be available again until the contemporary digital revolution – Facebook and text messages.

The Lancaster University will also add additional postcards sent to them and beyond the years of 1911 to 1914. Scan any in TIFF at high resolution and email to them.

Photos: Postcard to Miss M. Briggs in Ulverstone in 1904; Williamson postcard in 1903 and Jones postcard in 1904.

Related FamilyTree.com genealogy blogs:

United Kingdom Postcards

Postcards – Seeing the Past

Before Social Media–Postcards

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