Ryerson now at 5 Million

This past weekend saw the Ryerson Index reach five 5 million names. The free Australian website which indexes contemporary death notices from Australian newspapers has been growing steadily since its establishment over seventeen years ago with some of the original indexers still submitting files to the website.
Volunteers at Yarra Plenty Regional Library have been submitting information from notices from the Diamond Valley Leader, Whittlesea Leader and Heidelberg Leader. Hard copies of which can be accessed at Diamond Valley, Mill Park and Ivanhoe libraries.
It is believed that the Ryerson is now the largest free database of Australian death information in Australia, and quite probably the world. The NSW Births Deaths and Marriages index has about 4.5 million entries. None of the other states are larger than this.

Image: Example of death notice indexed for Ryerson Index Leader Newspaper January 1989