What Is Heritage Mining?

Heritage mining is the process of 'panning' through non-traditional sources of heritage for items that might have a family history connection to a living descendant who may pay for the joy of acquiring a tangible piece of their ancestry. The items that have have heritage potential are varied but include written items such as letters, postcards and other documents (indentures, leases, mortgages etc.) as well as possessions (e.g. photographs, books with signatures or name plates) and more prosaic items such as a painting by an ancestor whose artistic talent may have been unknown to their descendants.

To become a Heritage Miner you need a source of heritage items. There are many sources of suitable items, car boot sales, junk shops, antique stores and flea markets and on-line sources like eBay. Once you have some heritage items you must use your genealogical skills to search through genealogy resources, such as census returns or more modern sources like electoral rolls, for the owner of the item. You can then try to match the owner with their descendants. This is best done through the on-line repositories in which people place their family trees.