Cherished memories of a wedding 55 years ago set to be reunited with family after extraordinary find

A South West resident has managed to find an especially precious treasure while looking through an Op-Shop during a holiday in Darwin, stumbling across a couple’s wedding vows from the 1960s.

Looking to build on his collection of thousands of records, Gelorup resident Barney Tompkins found a record which truly stood out to him while on a trip to Darwin.

It features the recorded sounds of Mr and Mrs Samuel’s wedding ceremony from January 25, 1969, at Strathalbyn Lutheran Church in South Australia, preserved for more than five decades on vinyl.

Taking the record home to Western Australia, Mr Tompkins looked to reunite the memento with the couple or their family though social media.

His efforts proved successful after he was eventually linked with the now deceased Mr and Mrs Samuel’s daughter — still living in South Australia and unaware the recording ever existed.

“It really shows the power and reach of social media,” Mr Tompkins said.

He said once he managed to connect with their daughter, he asked for her permission to listen to their ceremony, not feeling it was appropriate to listen to such a personal moment without permission.

“It just seemed rude to come home and play it, and it felt right to ask for permission,” he said.

Mr Tompkins said it was an honour to be allowed to listen to the ceremony, finding himself drawn into their voices as he pictured the scene in his mind.

He said he could hear the nerves in their voices as they delivered their vows, the crying of babies in the background and the echoing of the church as the vicar conducted the ceremony.

Sounds bringing the scene to life in Mr Tompkins’ mind reminded him of his own wedding with his wife Donna.

“It’s strange because listening to these people exchanging vows, even though I’ve never known these people, it was quite moving,” he said.

“You’ve got to picture what’s happening at the time, what these people would have looked like on the day, it was just so of it’s day, you know?

“The thing that stuck with me the most was the vicar, just like thousands of vicars from around the world asking the guests to not throw confetti outside the church, just like they did for us.”

Mr Tompkins said he didn’t know how the record travelled from South Australia to Darwin, but was glad he was able to connect with a surviving family member.

He told the Times he was eager to get the record returned, but was apprehensive about using the postal service to send such a valuable item.

“It’s always a risk sending records through the post, especially in the Australian summer,” Mr Tompkins said.

“I’ve got to find a way of packing it now the weather is starting to ramp up so it can get to her safely and she can enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed it.”