News

 Family Tree Maker Seminar

10 October 2024

Session 1: Getting the Most Out of Family Tree Maker & Family Book Creator

• Why Family Tree Maker among so many alternatives for building a family tree?
• Exploring approaches for getting started with building a family tree.
• Customizing to make things work for you.
• Seven family history workspaces. Soon to be eight
• Working with Ancestry and FamilySearch
• Introduction to Family Book Creator
• The story behind Family Book Creator.
• How to use Family Book Creator.
• Family Book Creator and Microsoft Word a perfect match?
• And more…
• Q & A

 Session 2: What’s Coming in Family Tree Maker 2024 & Family Book Creator

• Introduction to Family Tree Maker 2024
• Connect! A completely new workspace and new Relative Hint™ feature that make it easier than ever to share your tree and collaborate with your family.
• Easy on the Eyes™: a revolutionary way of enlarging parts of the screen right when you need it. An answer and relief for those of us with tired old eyes.
• Introducing AlbumWALK® — Making your photos talk — literally.
• Turn Back Time expansion to remembering your last 5,000 changes.
• Hyphenated dual surnames support following the Hispanic tradition.
• Improved support for managing and reporting relationships.
• Tools for cleaning up orphaned items (media, sources, and citations).
• Advanced features of Family Book Creator.
• How to publish your results.
• Q & A

Meet the Authors

28 August 2024

We're celebrating Family History Month with a special event: Meet the Authors.

Brought to you by the QFHS Family History Writing Group, Meet the Authors is for everyone interested in Queensland local and family history, and the writing thereof.

The event will showcase three published authors of Queensland local and family histories.

They will be interviewed about their inspiration, experiences, and writing process from inception to publication. 

There will be ample opportunity to ask questions, purchase copies of the books and authors will sign your copies.

Meet the authors:

Catherine Smith is a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Brisbane College of Advanced Education, James Cook University, Victoria University and Deakin University. Among the youngest of 38 first cousins, she listened to stories from within the extended family and produced the biographical work Queensland's Sugar King: The Zammit Legacy - a story which holds significance for the history of North Queensland and fills an important gap in the history of pre-WWI European migration.

Karen Rosser is a fourth-generation Tamborine Mountain local who grew up on a dairy farm on the South End. Her grandfather, Stan Rosser, was just five years old when his family came to The Mountain in 1896, and her father, Allan Rosser, aged 97, still lives there today. An avid historian and bush lover who has travelled extensively, Karen is a retired science and mathematics teacher who now lives in North Queensland with her husband Darby Monro. She has just published Wangalpong to Mt Tamborine. Volume 1: the Moreton Bay story.

Sylvia Bannah grew up in Gordonvale, a sugar town in Far North Queensland, before moving to Brisbane to further her education. After bringing up a family and working for many years as Librarian at Family Planning Queensland, she completed a PhD on the organisation’s history at the University of Queensland in 2010 and shortly after, retired to Boreen Point. Intrigued by the history that she found all around her in this tiny town in the Noosa hinterland, she dug and delved, and in 2021 self-published Boreen Point…not just any small town: a history 1871-2021. She then turned her attention to her father’s family history which had been evolving since the late 1990s and was published in 2023 as What’s in a name and where did we come from? The Louis family from 1778. She continues to pursue her interest in local and family history. Sylvia is the winner of this year's QFHS Family History Book Award.

Congratulations Shauna Hicks OAM

We warmly congratulate member Shauna Hicks on her recent accolade: Shauna was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her service to community history as part of the Kings Birthday Honours. As one of our founding members and one of our Inaugural Fellows, Shauna holds an honoured place in the establishment and development of the Society. 

 Shauna worked in government for over 35 years primarily in libraries and archives including the State Library of Queensland, the John Oxley Library in Brisbane, the Queensland State Archives, the National Archives of Australia in Canberra, and Public Record Office Victoria in Melbourne. 

Her qualifications include Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from University of Queensland, Master of Arts in Australian Studies from Griffith University (QLD), Diploma in Family Historical Studies from the Society of Australian Genealogists.

In 2007, the Australian Society of Archivists award Shauna a Distinguished Achievement Award for career achievements and services to the archival profession and, in 2009, she received the (AFFHO) Services to Family History Award for her achievements in Queensland, Canberra and Victoria.

Shauna has been tracing her own family history since 1977 and is one of the 22 founding members of the Queensland Family History Society (of course, we hold them all in high regard for their foresight!). No doubt the allocation of member numbers may have been by a process of random draws out of a hat, but Shauna’s #7 member number (and its association with a well-known 007) was indeed prescient – it reflects well her energy and drive, and her innovation and commitment to the fields of family history and genealogy.

As recorded through the decades in the Society’s journal, Shauna has taken on many roles at QFHS:

• Management Committee Member (1980 to December 1986)
• Cemetery Coordinator and Liaison Officer (1980-1983)
• Education Officer (1983-1986)
• Vice President (1986)

The 1986-1987 Annual Report (published August 1987) states: We were most unfortunate to lose the services of Shauna Hicks from the Committee. Shauna has been with the Society Committee since its formation and she has served in the various roles of Cemetery Co-ordinator, Education Officer, Guest Speaker … and unofficial adviser to many members who appreciate her expertise in family history research.

Shauna received the QFHS Award for Services to Family History in 1999. Five years later, she was made an Inaugural Fellow of the Queensland Family History Society for her long and sustained positive promotion of the Society in all facets of family history and genealogy, and for her continuous contribution to the running of the Society.

Shauna was an early indexer of records – in 1984 she commenced indexing the records of Charters Towers Miners Homestead Leases for 1874 to 1912 and, as early as 1982, Shauna was speaking to regional societies on research – in June 1982 she spoke to the South Burnett Genealogical Society at Kingaroy.

Whilst working at Public Record Office Victoria, Shauna played a key role in the digitisation of key records making them far more readily available to researchers whilst at the same time preserving the paper originals.  Following retirement from her professional career as an archivist, Shauna was an integral part of the Unlock the Past team assisting researchers learn through her guidebooks (author of some 15 titles in the UTP series), presentations on cruises, and seminars in various parts of Australia.

To round off a comprehensive biography, Shauna is a member of

• Professional Historians Association (QLD)
• Association of Professional Genealogists
• Genealogical Association of Victoria
• Genealogical Society of Queensland
• Genealogy SA and, of course,
• Queensland Family History Society.

Shauna is also Patron of History Queensland, the peak body uniting and supporting family and local history organisations and collections throughout Queensland.

Congratulations, Shauna Hicks - a bright and shining star in the Australian family history firmament!

Family History Book Award 2024

presented to

Sylvia Bannah

for her book

What’s in a name and where did we come from?

The Louis family from 1778

Sylvia Bannah pictured here with Book Award Coordinator, Gayle Thomsett
at the QFHS Annual General Meeting 19 June 2024

Image: pixabay.com

The Les Moreland Scrapbook Index 

To celebrate the Central European Interest Group’s 40^th anniversary in 2024, a dedicated group of volunteers has created a valuable new index for the benefit of members interested in researching their ancestors of Central European origin. We are grateful to Eric Kopittke, Rosemary Kopittke, Stuart Johnston and most notably Lyn Hooper for their expertise and countless hours applied to creating the Les Moreland Scrapbook Index and its underpinning documentation. Eric launched the index at the 40^th Anniversary celebrated on 1 June.

Background to the Les Moreland Collection

Following the death of Leslie Gordon (Les) Moreland in 2007 his widow Shirley bequeathed his extensive collection to the Queensland Family History Society.

As well as having researched his own ancestral German families, Les had a strong interest in, and a remarkable knowledge of, other German families in Queensland.

In the years surrounding the bicentenary of European settlement in Australia (1988), an increasing number of people became interested in their family history. However, in the days before widespread availability of the internet and the development of the large commercial online genealogical databases, many people found it difficult to start their German family history or to proceed beyond the most basic level.

Les was always willing to help but would request that people include details of what they already knew. Family history research in Germany can only be done if the place of origin of the family is known. This usually requires assembling all known information about the family, therefore people included copies of documents such as birth, marriage, and death certificates, confirmation certificates, naturalisations, and passenger lists with their letters. These were pasted into scrapbooks and cross-referenced by Les. This all helped to answer further enquiries.

Once the place of origin in Germany had been located, it became possible to obtain genealogical information by reading microfilmed copies of church or civil registers or by commissioning a researcher to extract the information at an archives or a church parish. Les was able to read German and the old German script, and was happy to receive copies of entries and provide a translation.

First dwelling of a German settler, Rosewood?, Queensland, ca. 1880
Image: State Library of Queensland

What is in the Les Moreland Scrapbook index

• Births, baptisms, marriages, banns, deaths, and burials
• Confirmations
• Naturalisations
• Impfung – vaccination (from Impfschein, vaccination certificate)
• Bürgerrechts-Verzichts – waiver of civil rights (in preparation for emigration)
• Reise Pass – permission to travel
• Auswandern Erlaubnis – permission to emigrate
• Entlassung – dismissal, usually from military service
• Gemeinderaths Protokoll (mention of emigrating families in municipal council minutes)
• Statutory Declaration
• Oaths of allegiance
• Passport applications
• Work contracts
• References – as provided for or by an employer
• Wills
• Verzichts – waiver (usually of the rights of a citizen)
• Volkszählung (census)
• Annahmeschein (acceptance certificate)
• Powers of attorney

In some cases, it has not been possible to identify the nature or source of a document, especially if only a small portion of the original has been copied. Where these contain useful information they have been indexed.

There are 6,984 entries in the Les Moreland Scrapbook index. These point into a collection of 2,284 PDF files (not images). Some of the PDFs are excellent but other photocopies, done in the 1980s and 1990s, are not particularly clear. Nonetheless they can provide relevant information and may allow a better copy of the document to be located from current online sources.

Check out the Les Moreland Scrapbook Index here

This new and unique index has been added to Queensland Family History Society’s valuable collection of searchable datasets. Our 62 searchable datasets provide access to information in electoral rolls, school admissions records, shipping and migration, occupations, cemeteries to name a few categories. While over half a million entries are available for online search by the general public, some 15 million more are reserved for QFHS members only.

Check out all QFHS datasets here

Nominations received for Management Committee 2024-25

The following nominations have been received for the 2024/2025 Management Committee for voting at the QFHS 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on the 19 June 2024. Proxy Voting forms can be found on the QFHS Website.

Nominations from the floor will also be considered at the AGM.

 Raffle and Lucky Door Prizes

Thank you to MyHeritage for generous donation of the major raffle prize – a one-year subscription to MyHeritage (value $460) and thank you to all members who purchased raffle tickets in support of the Central European Interest Group’s 40^th Anniversary 1 June 2024

Lucky Door Prizes

• Hamper of Continental goodies – Cecily Hally
• Continental meat tray  – Michele Erbele
• Continental meat tray  – Rosemary Kopittke
• Unlock the Past book: Arrivals in Australia from 1788  (online participants) – Pat van Gaalen

Raffle Prizes

• My Heritage – one-year subscription – Cecily Hally
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars – one-year subscription – Linda Keulemans
• Legacy Family Tree Webinars – one-year subscription – Anne Mackay
• Unlock the Past book bundle 1 – Karen Beyer
• Unlock the Past book bundle 2 – Helen Vince
• Unlock the Past book bundle 3 – Linda Keulemans
• Unlock the Past book bundle 2 – Trish Hickey
• Box of chocolates – Tony Swain

 Volunteers Week 20-26 May 2024

During Volunteers Week 20 - 26 May, we want to pay tribute to our mighty QFHS volunteers.  No matter the task or what time you are able to give, every contribution helps to keep the wheels turning.  Your work supports a dynamic, reputable organization which has recently emerged strongly from the trials of COVID, a move and an open BCC tender.  We couldn’t have done it without you!

As the Volunteer Coordinator I sincerely hope that your work at QFHS is meeting your expectations and enriching your relationship with the society.  If it is not – please don’t hesitate to contact me at volunteering@qfhs.org.au explaining your concern or to arrange a confidential chat about it.  Volunteering should be a two-way street – providing satisfaction and enjoyment for the volunteer as well as contributing to the continuance and growth of the society.

Caroline Brudell
Volunteer coordinator

Another significant milestone achieved by the School Pupils Index team

369,500 new records added to the online database!

A further 369,500 entries have been added to the online Queensland School Pupils Index Part 7 database in April. In total, our index to school pupils now has over 5 million records. 

Where we have extracted the pupil names directly from admission registers, a 20 year closure has been observed as recommended by the Queensland State Archives. Schools range from large city ones, with admissions in the thousands, to country one-teacher schools with a total enrolment of hundreds. Some schools have long ceased to exist; others are still functioning. 

All additional names are from admission registers. The schools include both large and small from across Queensland – including Acacia Ridge SHS, Balaclava SS, Biloela SHS, Deception Bay North SS, Mabel Park schools, Southport SS, Thursday Island SHS, Weipa North SS, William Duncan SS and Wonglepong SS.  

Check out the list of schools here to find those marked “new”.   

Congratulations to the QSPI team who contributed to these additional records: Dorothy Jeffrey, Lyn Hooper, Maureen Arthur, Wendy Couper, Jackie Buttress, Mary Geiger, Bev Bonning, Eric and Rosemary Kopittke with technical support and dataset maintenance provided by John Perryn. 

Teacher and pupils of Glenview State School, ca. 1911

Back row (from left to right): George Skerman, Walter Skerman, Walter Jones, Alf Wendt, May Cramb, Doris Nichol, Warnes, Flo Munro.
Second row: Frank Wendt, Pat Sylvester, Wendt, Cramb, Doris Knop, Lyn Skerman, Florrie Braidenberry, Isabella Munro, Edith Munro.
Front row: Miss Handley (Mrs T. Rapjohns).
Unidentified students, Wendt, Cramb.
School identified as probably Glenview school near Mooloolah.

Image & description: State Library of Queensland

21 February 2024

Services to Family History Award 2023

Rosie Gall

We were delighted to present, at the Volunteers Morning Tea in December last year, the Services to Family History Award 2023 to long-time volunteer, Rosie Gall. Rosie has been a member of QFHS since August 2007 and she demonstrates many of the qualities we value in our volunteers – steadfastness, good humour, compassion, thoughtfulness, professionalism, an enquiring mind, innovation – and then some.

The complete nomination, outlining Rosie's contribution to the Society over many years, is published in the February issue of Queensland Family Historian.

Rosie receiving the award from President Allana (Image courtesy Alex Daw)

Congratulations, again, Rosie. You are indeed a most commendable volunteer. 

5 October 2023

Queensland School Pupils Index Part 7

319,500 new records added 29 September 2023

A further 319,500 entries have just been added to the online Queensland School Pupils Index Part 7 database. The additional data includes names from 173 schools – all from admission registers. The schools include both large and small from across Queensland – including a number of very large schools such as Caboolture SS, Caloundra SHS, Harristown SS, Hermit Park SS, Holland Park SS, Kirwan SHS, and Nambour SHS. There are also many small to very small schools such as Alice Creek SS, Aloomba SS, Charters Towers School of the Air, Darling Point Special School, Rise and Shine SS, Ubobo SS, Warooby SS, and Wyaralong SS. Also included is the Wacol East SS for New Australians which opened in 1949 and closed in 1963.

As with all the schools in the QSPI collection, some of these schools include adult students not just those we might usually expect to find. Be aware also that some students appear multiple times for the same school because a decision was made to partially rewrite and/or renumber the entries. It is definitely worth looking at all the entries for each student.

Check the uploaded List of schools for all those marked ‘new’ to find out all the 173 schools that have had records added in this latest update.

School admission records can provide so much information not accessible elsewhere. Once an entry is found in the index researchers should follow up to find the original register which will give the age (or birthdate), the address, parent’s occupation, religion and progress through the grades. Many entries provide further information on vaccinations and general information about the student. The Queensland State Archives has indicated that all the admission registers they hold are now available as digital copies.

14 June 2023

QFHS Book Award 2023

presented to

Linda Cartmill

for her book
From Green to Gold

pictured here with Book Award Coordinator, Gayle Thomsett

at the

QFHS Annual General Meeting  

21 January 2023

QFHS 

Services to Family History Award

2022

QFHS Book Award 2022

presented to

Clem Ditton

for his book
Shaking the Mulga

pictured here with Book Award Coordinator, Gayle Thomsett

at the

QFHS Annual General Meeting 

(This book is available on the QFHS website. Select the book title above.)

 Indexers Tribute Morning Tea

After many years of indexing and providing millions of searchable entries for QFHS, the Publications Team has retired. Our Society acknowledged the work of the most dynamic of our data dynamos - those who have indexed more than 100,000 entries each – with a Tribute event to recognise their sterling contributions.

The data dynamos, who are listed on the Indexers Honour Roll, were Guests of the Management Committee at a celebratory Indexers Tribute High Tea on Monday, 9 May 2022.

Row 1: Rosemary Kopittke, John Perryn, Bryan Hacker
Row 2: Deanna Robertson, Ellen McDonald, Lynn Hooper, Liz Grech, Maureen Arthur, Mary Geiger, Joan Kane, Elaine Eager
Row 3: Jackie Buttress, Dorothy Jeffrey, Jenny Hacker, Bev Bonning, Bev Moore. 

Sue Reid has been admitted as a
Fellow of the Queensland Family History Society.
This is the highest honour the Society can bestow.

Sue has made outstanding contributions to many aspects of the Society.
Her dependable leadership, knowledge, supportive engagement and
hard work have delivered substantial and ongoing benefits.

Congratulations Sue and thank you for your exemplary service to our Society.

Talking about ... your family in the navy

See our new Research Guide - Your family in the Navy

Welcome to our newest Special Interest Group

Family Historian Software User Group