Matt's Maternal Great-Grandfather, Robert James Kewish

Research

20 June 2007: while at work, I receive a call from the State Library of Victoria. I had emailed them asking about my great uncle, Noel Kewish. They could not help me, so I asked about accessing back issues of The Weekly Times, the newspaper for which Robert James Kewish wrote.

It does not, as I thought it would, require a visit to Melbourne. 'Films' of the back issues can be ordered from the SLV through the university library.

9 July 2007: I confirm with Fisher Library the name of the periodical I want back issues for. As a student, I'm able to access them through Fisher Library. Two weeks later, the reels are available at the library. I pick them up.

A cursory google search reveals that I can copy them. I send the film to a company in Bondi Junction. Cost: $150 per roll. Because I think that this is the cost for all ten reels the library sends, I think that this is significantly less than the cost were I to buy reels direct from the State Library of Victoria, who quote $50 per reel (41 reels). Imagine my surprise! I get them copied in any case (the library only sends 10 reels at a time for safety reasons).

But the real problem emerges only after I've had the reels copied because The Weekly Times has no by-lines. It is impossible to know which stories Robert Kewish wrote.