Assistance is sought from older members of the community who have family roots in the Macleay, Hastings and Nambucca areas.

Historical Society spokesperson and volunteer Ellen Brown said they desperately need to "put names to the faces" of the lost ancestors.

The Angus McNeil photo collection, featuring images from 1880-1940s, can be viewed at the society's museum.

About 40 per cent of the faces in the collection do have names but the remaining photos require identification.

"We are losing the last of those generations who could recognise and put names to faces," Ellen said.

"So, if you are home for holidays bring your mum and dad to have a look at this historic treasure trove."

Angus McNeil was one of the first people to bring photography to the Mid North Coast.

Angus and his son ran a photography studio in Kempsey from the early 1880s and continued up to the 1940s.

In the 1960s, the McNeil photographic studio was demolished and thousands of plate glass negative were found.

The Macleay Historical Society rescued what was left and for 40 years the plate glass negatives were stored in barns and people's homes.

In the 1980s, the Macleay Valley Historical Society began sending as many of the plate glass negatives they could afford to be printed. Many had surnames of those in the photos scratched into the base. Others featured the surname of the person who paid for the photo to be taken.

All the photos have now been uploaded digitally, and it takes only seconds to search a surname.

"Even if you have already come to the Kempsey Museum before and looked through the photos, we really need people to come back and we can help you do a search and make sure to view every photo associated with your married or maiden surnames," Ellen said.

"We also have 9,000 photos that have no name hints at all and if anyone can spare some time to review them also, we would greatly appreciate it."

"Even if you can say 'that looks like a Hudson, or that looks like a Clarke', that would be fantastic. Because then we can get members of that family to review the photo. While family is home for Christmas, we are hoping people can bring their older members to do a search and view photos.

"If people find it difficult to get out and about, I can do a search of surnames and print out the photo identification sheet and deliver them to the person's home to see if they can put names to faces."

Phone the Kempsey Museum on 6562 7572 and leave your name, address and phone number if you can help.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.