Do you remember when? Can you help the Stratford recollect project?

This picture was taken by Arnold Kilmister, and features the Stratford Scout Troop in 1963. Can you identify any individuals?

Welcome to the first article in a new series in the Stratford Press where we ask for your help in identifying people, places and events in some old photos.

First up is this picture of members of the Stratford Scout Troop, taken by Arnold Kilmister in 1963. Can you identify any individuals in the photo? If so, let the team at Stratford Library know.

Stratford District Council (SDC) holds a large collection of photos of Stratford District places, people and events, and is seeking the help of locals to correctly identify them. SDC used funding from the National Library Partnership Programme to digitise archived photos so that they can be easily accessed by family historians, researchers and anyone else interested in the history of Stratford.

Library and Visitor Information Centre staff look after the project and are looking for additional help from community members.

Bridget Roper, team leader, Visitor Information and Library Services, says: “We are looking for helpers to identify and provide metadata for the photos online. Metadata is information that provides a definition or summarises basic information about each image we have.

“The photos are stored safely but many of the details, like their age and origin, are unknown and that’s what we need help with.”

People already following Stratford Library and Visitor Information on Facebook would have noticed that digital copies of these community archives are being shared regularly to help gather this data, using the hashtag #stratfordheritagecollection

People are encouraged to comment on the posts with any information or knowledge they have on the photo shared, or they can email library@stratford.govt.nz

Bridget says they’re also interested in hearing from people who might want to help with the project on a longer-term basis. People can also contribute by scanning items related to Stratford and emailing them through, or bring the items into the library so staff can scan them for you.