Facebook Helped This Woman Find Her Great-Great-Grandmother’s Wedding Dress

Update February 11, 6.06 p.m.: Thanks to the power of Facebook, a missing 150-year-old wedding dress has been found! Tess Newall posted yesterday that her wedding dress, which was made in 1870 by her great-great-grandmother, Dora, seemed to have been lost when her dry cleaners went into liquidation. After her post went viral, the new owners of the dry cleaners' unit contacted Newall to let her know they had found the dress "in a crumpled heap on the floor." "My Mum & Dad have just been let in to the shop and to their amazement and joy it is our dress! (not cleaned but still with our ticket)," Newall wrote on Facebook today. For what Newall calls "procedural reasons," the dress is now being held by an administration firm, but she expects to have it safely returned to her on Monday. "My family can't thank you all enough for creating this frenzy which allowed us into the shop before it was cleared, and are over the moon to be *almost* reunited with Dora's dress," Newall added gratefully.

This story was originally published at 12.55 p.m., February 11, 2016.

A woman has turned to Facebook after her family's beloved wedding dress, made by her great-great-grandmother in 1870, went missing at an Edinburgh dry cleaners. Tess Newall wrote in a Facebook post yesterday that the dress, which she wore at her own wedding last June, seems to have been taken away to be sold after her once-reliable dry cleaners went into liquidation. "It could be winging its way anywhere," she wrote in the post, sharing a picture of herself wearing the dress. "Please share this far and wide in case anyone stumbles across it! I realise there are far greater issues in the world but it means the world to us. More family memories need to be woven into its threads."

Heartwarmingly, Newall's post has already been shared more than 250,000 times on Facebook as friends, their friends and many, many others share her distressing story. Wedding planners Bridebook have also come to Newall's aid, offering to buy a replacement wedding dress for any bride who may have bought the 150-year-old gown since the dry cleaners went into liquidation. If you'd like to help with the search, simply share Newall's original Facebook post with the hashtag #FindTheDress. We'll keep you updated as soon as Newall's beloved wedding dress is found.