QFHS Snippets - March 2013 Volume 13, No. 3
QFHS Snippets - March 2013 Volume 13, No. 3
|
|
Enjoy burning up bandwidth with the great variety of articles this month!
The QFHS library will be closed for the Easter holiday break.
Have you joined one of our special interest groups yet? Meet other members and share your experiences.
Remember to book your spot at our seminars in April and June.
Your contributions and feedback can be sent to us at: snippets@qfhs.org.au
Happy researching!
2013 Meeting Dates
Military Records for Family Historians
More information is available at: http://www.qfhs.org.au/seminars/semFlyerMilitary.html
To make your booking, go to: http://www.qfhs.org.au/seminars/eb_military.asp
Convict Lives: Finding our Founders
More information is available at: http://www.qfhs.org.au/seminars/semFlyerConvicts.html
To make your booking, go to: http://www.qfhs.org.au/seminars/eb_convicts.asp
Allow yourself the privilege of having a fun day in family
history and play the Trout Game! The game simulates researching an
English family (the Trout family) using eleven types of records.
The aim is to see if you can get back to the 1500s. Use the game
to see how good a researcher you are using basic research
techniques not involving computers at all and find out why you may
have brick-walls in your research.
The Trout Game will be played on Sunday, 19 May 2013 from 10am to
4pm at QFHS Library. Cost is $5.00 which includes morning and
afternoon tea (BYO lunch). To make your booking, contact Game
Master Ann Swain via email at: a.swain@bigpond.com or
telephone (07) 3352 5537. Numbers are limited and early bookings
are essential.
Queensland State Archives will be open to the public on the
second Saturday of every calendar month from 9am to 4:30pm. The
next three Saturday opening dates are:
Queensland State Archives are located at 435 Compton Road,
Runcorn, Queensland.
For more details, go to: http://bit.ly/H4ubPc
For those who find it difficult to get to the Queensland State
Archives (QSA), there is a taxi service for researchers available
every Tuesday.
Information can be obtained at: http://bit.ly/JzSy5n
To book taxi travel to QSA, phone (07) 3131 7777.
Getting Started
From 10 am to 12 noon, Tuesday, 19 March. Learn about Queensland
State Archives' collection and how best to find the information
you are seeking.
This seminar, presented by an experienced reference archivist,
will provide you with the basics you need to start your research
at Queensland State Archives and will include a short tour.
Advanced ArchivesSearch
From 10 am to 11 am, Tuesday, 16 April 2013. Discover how to get
the best out of ArchivesSearch, the Queensland State Archives'
online catalogue.
This seminar will teach you more advanced techniques to locate
records of interest and will give useful tips for finding what you
want.
To book your place, call (07) 3131 7777.
Applications are now open for the above award. This award
honours the work of late historian Helen Taylor. The Award
encourages excellence in research and made stories about Brisbane
available to the community. Eligible projects include those that:
Applications for the Lord Mayor's Helen Taylor Award close on 18
March 2013.
For more information, visit: http://bit.ly/148fCRa
or telephone program manager Justine Wilkinson (07) 3178 5338.
You can now search the Western Downs Regional Council Cemeteries
online at: http://www.wdrc.qld.gov.au/cemeteries_online
Family and friends of the late Alfred and Kate Unwin, their son
Herbert and daughters Mollie, Elsie, Roma , Olive, Madge, Renee
and Jess, earlier of Commissioner's Flat and later of Hendy
Street, Woodford are invited to a family reunion.
It will be held from 12 noon on Sunday, 7 April 2013 at Woodford.
Please bring any photos or memorabilia you wish to share. BYO
picnic lunch (tea and coffee are facilities available).
For more information, contact Michelle Short on mobile: 0419 655
258 or email on: michelle.short@gpyr.com.au
This FamilySearch collection spans the years 1829 to 1961and
includes land records, school records, court records and
occupation/guild records. Details on Australian convicts can be
found buried in the court records. There are four types of convict
records (tickets of leave, certificates of freedom, pardon and
convict indents). The records are organised by location.
Access to the collection is free and is available at: http://bit.ly/13t2FG4
The State Library of Western Australia has digitised and put
online the Police Gazette of Western Australia. This collection
spans the years from 1876 onwards.
Go to: http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/eresources/police_gazettes
Helen Moyle is a PhD candidate in the Australian Demographic and
Social Research Institute (ADSRI) in the Australian National
University. She is studying historical demography; specifically
the fall in fertility among couples who married in Tasmania in the
second half of the 19th century.
Helen is looking at the birth histories of couples who married in
Tasmania in four different years- 1860, 1870, 1880 and 1890 - by
reconstructing their families. She has used the Tasmanian
digitised birth, marriage and death records as the major data
source, but because couples moved outside Tasmania, she has also
used other sources such as the births, deaths and marriage indexes
of other colonies/states.
She has a number of couples in each marriage cohort (1860, 1870,
1880 and 1890) for whom she does not have sufficient information.
These couples are listed on the website http://adsri.anu.edu.au/research/19thCTasmania
She would be most grateful for any information about these
families. Please email your information to Helen Moyle at: helen.moyle@anu.edu.au
by 31 August, 2013.
Join the Australian War Memorial on Saturday, 6 April from 10am
as it marks Canberra's centenary with an action-packed Open Day.
The Memorial will put on an unforgettable show for the public. As
well as an exciting fly-over by the Roulettes and two helicopters,
there will be a display of rare military vehicles and equipment on
the grounds, and a packed program of indoor and outdoor activities
and presentations, including behind- the-scenes tours. The
day will end with a concert by the Band of the Royal Military
College, Duntroon, featuring a performance of the renowned Beating
Retreat ceremony with the Federation Guard Precision Drill Team,
and will culminate in a stunning firework display.
More details at: http://www.visitcanberra.com.au/c100/amw-open-day.htm
The National Archives has released online thousands of early
photographs and drawings of Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga
and other Pacific Islands. You can view images of Australian
towns, buildings, landmarks and people, dating back as far as the
mid-nineteenth century.
Go to: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/australasia/
The National Library of Australia has posted a list of newspapers
that will be digitised and made available during the year.
You can find the list at: http://www.nla.gov.au/content/new-titles-coming
Recent additions to FamilySearch include: Australia,
Cemetery Inscriptions, Sydney Branch Genealogical Library,
1800-1960; Australia, New South Wales, Alphabetical Index to
Newspaper Cuttings, 1841-1987; Australia, Tasmania, Miscellaneous
Records, 1829-1961; New Zealand, Immigration Passenger Lists,
1855-1973 New Zealand; Probate Records, 1860-1961. Some records
have been digitised.
Go to: http://bit.ly/XGWVEn
British genealogical website Ancestry.co.uk has put the
transcripts of thousands of Victorian divorce proceedings online;
which reveal the racy details of an era that most modern Britons
consider to have been dominated by imperial duty, a stiff upper
lip and formal familial relations.
The UK Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1911 date from the year when
the Matrimonial Causes Act removed the jurisdiction of divorce
from the church and made it a civil matter.
Available via subscription, you can find the divorce records at: http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=2465
Over 600,000 Royal Navy service records available for ratings who
joined the service between 1853 and 1923. Some of the records
cover periods of service up to 1928.
Available for free from: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/royal-naval-seamen.htm
Findmypast.com, has made available more than 6 million pages from
British newspapers, including original images, to its extensive
historical records collection. The British newspapers include
local and regional titles from England, Scotland and Wales from
1700 to 1950, and encompass nearly 200 titles. The British
newspapers are part of an exclusive partnership with the British
Library to digitise 50 million pages over the next 10 years. You
can learn more about the collection at http://www.findmypast.com/articles/world-records/newspaper-archives/british-newspapers
The newspapers are available via subscription or for free from the
QFHS library, the newspapers can be found at: http://bit.ly/XeDYJL
More than 2.5 million records dating from 1770-1934 will be
easily searchable and provide a wide variety of colour, detail and
fascinating social history, chronicling the fate of criminals
ranging from fraudsters, counterfeiters, thieves and murderers and
their victims.
With this new addition, findmypast.com World Subscribers will have
access to mug shots, court documents, appeal letters, registers
from the prison 'hulk' ships used when mainland prisons were
overcrowded. The first 500,000 of criminal records are now
available to search on findmypast.com, with the remainder is to be
online soon.
Available via subscription or for free at the QFHS library at: http://bit.ly/Wr4Zvm
Here's where you can check: http://www.bonavacantia.gov.uk/output/advertised-estates.aspx
More than six million Manchester parish records, dating back as
far as 1538, can be now viewed online for free at Manchester
Libraries. The collection of records details baptisms, marriages
and burials that took place at Anglican churches in the Diocese of
Manchester from the 16th century until the twentieth century.
Available via subscription or for free from the QFHS library at:
http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
From tenements to palaces - these records offer a fascinating
snapshot of Scotland during the Edwardian era and are a major new
genealogy resource. Over 2 million names of Scots included in the
property records for 1905 are being released online for the first
time via ScotlandsPeople, the official government family history
website. The new records, known as the Valuation Rolls and
comprising over 2.4 million indexed names and over 74,000 digital
images, cover every kind of building, structure or property in
Scotland which was assessed as having a rateable value.
Available via subscription, go to: http://media.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/index.html
The website offers online tuition in palaeography for historians,
genealogists and other researchers who have problems reading
manuscript historical records written in Scotland in the 16th,
17th and 18th centuries. The emphasis of the website is on
practical help to improve the palaeographical skills, rather than
on the academic study of Scottish handwriting.
Go to: http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/
Islay is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of
Scotland. The Islay Family History Society (IFHS) was established
in October 1991. As at 31 March, the IFHS will close its doors at
Islay House Square.
Records collected by IFHS will be maintained and made readily
available to future researchers at ICCI (commonly referred to as
the Gaelic College) in Bowmore.
Details may be found at http://blog.islayinfo.com/article.php/islay-family-history-society-closed
A revamped digital street directory database is now available for
family historians at: http://bit.ly/15VwY7N
Researchers can use this free online facility to search a large number of directories for many towns in Ulster for the period 1819 to 1900 including the New Directory of 1839 and new important 19th Century genealogical and local history resource.
You can read more about the Directories in an article at: http://bit.ly/Wr6ee1
In 1849, a coffin-ship called the Hannah, carrying 180 Irish emigrants fleeing Ireland's potato famine, hit an ice reef in the strait near Cape Ray, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The captain, a 23 year-old Englishman, took flight in the only lifeboat, leaving his passengers to either drown or freeze to death. Seventeen hours later, the survivors were rescued by another famine ship, the Nicaragua.
Famine and Shipwreck, an Irish Odyssey tells this extraordinary
tale of horror and survival. The documentary combines drama,
treated with visual effects, to recreate the shipwreck and heroic
survival of some of the passengers, with powerful documentary
scenes, involving descendants of the passengers from both sides of
the ocean, historians' testimonies and impressive archives of
letters, photographs, documents, newspaper articles and art.
You can watch the YouTube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcU6xmqHjoQ
Effective 17 December 2012, GRONI has now implemented new
regulations which allow for all new death registrations to note
each deceased person's parents' names.
Up to now, only the deceased's date and place of birth was
recorded, and even this practice only dated from the end of 1973.
This interesting 27 page document details surname history, usage
and Anglicisation within Ireland.
Check out at: http://homepage.eircom.net/~seanjmurphy/studies/surnames.pdf
The Pennsylvania State Archives publishes a quarterly newsletter
that is available in digital format on the Web.
You can read this great e-newsletter at: http://bit.ly/10UsD4U
Forty-nine thousand 1962 Missouri death certificates are now
posted online. Missouri death certificates can't be posted for 50
years - so the annual January posting is always looked forward to
by genealogists doing Missouri family research. There are now 2.36
million death certificates posted from the year 1910 through 1962.
To search and view the Missouri death certificates go to: http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/resources/deathcertificates/
The Missouri State Archives website is available at: http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/
Riverside Cemetery was established in 1887 and is the final
resting place for more than 18,000 people. Carefully maintained
records, including thousands of obituaries, have been kept and
maintained since the cemetery's inception in 1887.
Riverside Cemetery provides an online database to simplify finding
loved ones. The search allows anyone to search for interments,
view personal and family memorials, view original obituaries, and
to locate grave sites on a map. Photos of many of the sites are
shown, but not all pictures are currently available.
You can access the database at: http://www.riversidecemetery.com/
The Dallas Genealogical Society has added records for Oakland
Cemetery and Perry Cemetery to their cemetery database. The
database is approaching 27,000 records from 27 different Dallas
area cemeteries. In addition to the database, the society has a
page for each cemetery, providing information about its location,
history, maps and other useful information.
The database is free and available at: http://bit.ly/WvxXEN
My Genealogy Hound is a new, free website that makes available
thousands of biographies extracted from numerous pre-1900 United
States county history volumes. The biographies are organised for
easy viewing by county or by family surname. Currently,
biographies are available for Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and
Tennessee with more states to be added soon. In addition, My
Genealogy Hound also features a selection of free, vintage county
maps from Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
(including Indian Nations), and Tennessee with additional states
to be added soon.
My Genealogy Hound is available at: http://www.mygenealogyhound.com/
State Library of Queensland has a dedicated page containing
useful information to help salvage damaged books, photographs or
other personal collections that have been damaged by water, mould
and insect infestation.
Available at: http://bit.ly/Vu5XCQ
Google searches are great at finding information on the Web, but
Google also frequently floods you with too many hits. Finding what
you want is difficult if Google found 10,000 occurrences of the
words you want to find.
If you happen to know the exact web site that has the information
you seek, you can tell Google to search only that one specific web
site.
More details in an article at: http://bit.ly/X3GP3e
David Kime Jr. wanted a burger and fries at Burger King - his
favourite fast food joint. The World War II veteran, who died on
Jan. 20 at 88, was buried with a "Whopper Jr." from Burger King.He
had requested his funeral procession pass by the restaurant for a
meal on its way to the cemetery.
More details at: http://bit.ly/WtJh78
FamilySearch.org has updated its search system with two new
features that will allow users to focus their searches in a
dramatic way.
These two new features are: Restrict results by record location
and Type and Search the FamilySearch Catalogue with multiple
search parameters.
Family History Daily is now online. It is bringing together
family historians from many backgrounds to showcase genealogical
stories, research, help and resources on a wide range of topics.
Check out the site for helpful articles, expert advice, interviews
and personal stories that bring attention to the great diversity
of family history knowledge and resources available online.
You can read the Family History Daily free of charge at: http://familyhistorydaily.com/
Burglars broke into Tim Shier's home more than a year ago and
stole a safe containing his most prized possession - a
300-year-old family Bible. The Lutheran Bible is written in German
Gothic script and contains the handwritten dates of births, deaths
and marriages for seven generations of Shier's family.
Thanks to a bit of luck, a sharp-eyed family member, local
deputies and Goodwill - which had ended up with the Bible and then
sold it online - the heirloom is back in Shier's hands.
You can read the full story at: http://bit.ly/YFKVBl
Antioch resident Gail Kean is an amateur treasure hunter who enjoys scouring thrift shops for unique items others discard as junk, but she never dreamed the discovery of an 80-year-old diary would lead her on an adventure through history.
Kean was casually browsing the shelves of the Hospice of the East
Bay Thrift Shop in Antioch last October when she came across a box
of old books. She gently sifted through the box and discovered
that one book, despite its appearance, wasn't a hard cover novel
like the rest but a diary written by a woman named Myra Kirker.
Read more at: http://bit.ly/Z1SQaM
A facial reconstruction based on the skull of Richard III has
revealed how the English king may have looked. The reconstructed
face has a slightly arched nose and prominent chin, similar to
features shown in portraits of Richard III painted after his
death. You can read more in an article in the BBC News web site
at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21328380
And at: http://bit.ly/XGj2IM
A novel and exciting event to be held in Dún
Laoghaire-Rathdown as part of The Gathering Ireland 2013
nationwide festival, Bratacha 2013 is an international symposium
on the history, heritage, culture and identities associated with
flags and emblems - in essence, it is a 'Festival of Flags &
Emblems'.
More information is available at: http://www.bratacha.com/
This is a list of free and subscription-based digital online
newspaper archives. Most are scanned from microfilm into pdf, gif
or similar graphic formats and many of the graphic archives have
been indexed into searchable text databases utilising optical
character recognition (OCR) technology.
Check out the list at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives
A new Mennonite genealogy search engine has gone online that
should be a huge help to anyone searching for Mennonite ancestors.
The new web site already claims to have more than 2 million names
in its database.
The goal of the web site is to address some of the common search
challenges, including:
The site has results for both Prussian/Russian and Swiss
Mennonites, but it seems there is much more information available
on the Prussian/Russian side.
MennoTree is available to everyone free of charge. To try
MennoTree for yourself, go to http://mennotree.com/
This article explains definitions of the more commonly-found
terms in old newspapers, with some insight on genealogical clues
that these terms may provide.
Interesting reading at: http://bit.ly/WEXKxQ
Going In-Depth is filled with over 70 pages of guest articles, regular columns and free resources.
The owners of this free, new online magazine plan to issue a new
edition on the 15th of each month.
Sign up today for your free subscription at: http://www.theindepthgenealogist.com/?page_id=6086
Cemetery: (n) a marble orchard not to be taken for granite.
Cussin: what genealogists do when they can't find one.
Floor: (n) the place for storing your priceless genealogy records.
Genealogists: time unravellers.
Genealogist: one always in search of a good dead man!
Genealogy: people collecting people!
Genealogy: a hay stack full of needles. It's the threads I need.
Genealogy: looking for needles in haystacks.
Genealogy: collecting dead relatives and sometimes a live cousin!
Genealogy: the marriage of a jigsaw puzzle to a dungeon & dragons game.
Genealogy: tracing descent from someone who didn't.
Genealogy: tracing yourself back to better people.
Documentation: the worst part of genealogy.
Documentation: the hardest part of genealogy.
Family history: a quilt work of lives.
Kinship: it's all relative!
Relatives: people who come to dinner who aren't friends.
Puritanism: the fear that someone somewhere is happy.
Research: what I'm doing, when I don't know what I'm doing.