Plaque a precious piece of history

In the wake of the Anzac commemorations, the story of a Dumbleyung soldier was unlocked when Katanning's Peta Garstone found a World War I memorial plaque buried in the backyard.

Uncovered when her parents were moving into their home in town, Ms Garstone stumbled across the war plaque but never looked into its history.

During the centenary celebrations, she decided to research the soldier and discovered he was 26-year-old Horace James, a Dumbleyung farmer who died in France serving in the 11th Battalion in August 1916.

Ms Garstone said researching the Anzac history had become much easier because of the availability of information.

"We tried about 10 or 15 years ago but we couldn't really get anywhere with it; now you can research all soldiers and all wars and to have a photo of him is even more amazing," she said.

"We saw similar plaques in the Canberra museum but we had no idea who it was - there is no date, we just knew fallen soldiers' families were given one when they die.

"We thought it was time to find the family, because it would be extremely precious to them."

Horace James was the son of Thomas and Charlotte James, who established the Wishbone Baptist church in Dumbleyung.

Dumbleyung RSL president Stephen Hughes said looking through the records, there was no more family around, but they had been a significant part of Dumbleyung's history.

"When you uncover their history, it puts a bit of closure to the story and his story," he said.

"I guess we are all looking for a bit of a tie to Australia's past before it is all lost."

During this year's Anzac commemorations, Mr Hughes said there had been an increase in the search for people's ancestors.

"It gives us a bit of comfort knowing this is our history … even though Australia's history is short, it definitely is full," he said.