WE asked you to help us trace out Examiner ancestors – and you certainly responded.

The Examiner’s editorial office is due to relocate from Queen Street South to Bradley Business Park in the coming weeks and while packing up we unearthed framed photographs of six employees who worked for the paper in the early part of last century. All had been with the newspaper for at least 50 years.

Now thanks to relatives, friends and neighbours, we have been able to find out so much more about four of them.

Irene Collier spotted her late grandfather, J W Precious, who worked at the Examiner from 1893 to 1945.

His full name was John William Precious and Irene believes the photograph was taken to mark his 50th year at the Examiner.

His marriage certificate says he was a compositor and she thinks he might have worked his way up the ladder.

Either to mark his 50 years or his retirement, Mr Precious was presented with a gold pocket watch which Mrs Collier still has today.

Mr Precious and his wife, Edith, lived at Folly Road, Cowcliffe, before moving to Sheepridge. They married in July 1937 and had three children – Donald, Silvia and Lema, who was Mrs Collier’s mother.

Mr Precious died before he turned 70, sometime around 1967. Mrs Collier was around 18 months old at the time of his death and she was born in 1965.

“I had such a shock seeing my grandfather in the paper,’’ she said. “It was so out of the blue but it was lovely to see his smiling face again.

“I think he worked as a printer. He was very smartly dressed on the picture so that’s why I think it was taken for his 50 years service there.’’

Also always smartly dressed was Joseph Stringer who worked at the Examiner from 1866 to 1939.

He used to live on Ripon Avenue in Fartown and is remembered by his former neighbour, Leah Fox, who was just a young girl when he died.