Family Reunited with Historic Photographs Following Online Outreach

A woman from Dundee expressed surprise after her family’s photographs gained significant traction on social media, subsequent to a photo album being discovered near Glasgow Airport. William Courtney, a welder, noticed an item in the middle of the road earlier this week while performing repairs on an airport entrance. “You can imagine how busy the airport is, it was just car after car driving over the top of this thing,” he told BBC Scotland. “I saw a break in the traffic and I picked this up and it was just full of old photos of weddings, holidays and loads of baby photos.” The album was completely soaked through, prompting him to take it home and separate the images in an effort to save them. “I got them cleaned the best I could and salvaged pretty much of all them,” he said. “The album itself was destroyed but I think I saved about a hundred photos. “They were all those smaller kind of photos that you got in the olden days, and they had a couple of dates on them, like 1950 and 1952.” William then posted the photographs on social media, where they were shared hundreds of times across local Facebook groups in an attempt to locate their owners. “If my mum had lost something like that, she would be distraught,” he added. “So I had that in my head.” Individuals highlighted details they recognized, such as a familiar-looking backcourt or red sandstone that might be found in Arbroath. “I thought it was terrific how many folk got involved,” he said. “So many folk must’ve really cared and wanted to see the outcome of the story.” Catrina Gourlay, aged 54 and residing in Dundee, saw the post in her local Facebook group and was astonished to identify her sister-in-law’s parents in one of the pictures. “Gail has been my sister-in-law since I was five so I’ve known her family almost my whole life,” she said. “When I saw her mum and dad’s wedding photo from 1958 in there, I had no doubt.”The photos are in Dundee where we’re all from and we don’t have a connection to Glasgow, so I’m not sure how the album ended up there.” Gail Gourlay, 66, stated she was shocked when Catrina presented her with the pictures, which had been shared over 1,200 times. “I was amazed to see that some kind man had found the pictures and even took them home and salvaged them,” she said. “That’s even more amazing than the album being found, the somebody had the big heart to do that.” The pictures predominantly feature her gran and grandad, as well as her aunties, her uncle, and her father. She mentioned that the photos depicted younger versions of family members who have since passed away, including her father, Walter Allardyce. “I showed my mum the picture of her and my dad on their wedding day and she just went silent for a while,” said Gail. “She was so shocked that it somehow ended up at Glasgow Airport. “There were so many pictures I’d never seen before from when I was younger.” “I’m so grateful and thankful to William for doing that and taking the time. “How many people would do that?” Catrina and her partner are making arrangements to meet William in January to collect the photos before they go on a holiday. “We might not get it back to the real owner but it’s going to a family member,” she said. William informed BBC Scotland News that he was pleased social media had assisted him in finding the individuals in the pictures. “It was a nice outcome,” he said. “I would’ve hated to see them go to waste or go in the bin if they went to lost and found, just because they’re damaged.” “When you find stuff at the airport, it could belong to anyone in the world. “I’m just glad it’s just someone who’s in Scotland and it’s easy to give it back to them.”