The conference was held under the auspices of the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations (VAFHO) and hosted by Victorian Interpretive Projects Inc. There were over 30 speakers at this event, with roughly 150 family historians, genealogists, archivists and historians attending.

From left: Ann Copeland (State Library of Victoria), Anne Burrows (State Library of Victoria), Karen Seckold (Plaza Library, Wyndham City) and Charlie Ferrugia  (Public Record Office Victoria) (photograph  - Fay Vandyk)

I attended over 15 presentations that looked at such themes as – multicultural goldfields, the Irish on the goldfields, gardens on the goldfields, Ballarat footballers, lawyers on the goldfields, immigration to Victoria and the use of maps to trace ancestors and their homes. They were all excellent presentations – but here are a few of the highlights

Goldfields Comparisons: Georgia (USA) 1820s, New Zealand, California and Victorian Goldrushes. Assoc Prof David Goodman, University of Melbourne
David gave a fascinating presentation revisiting research he had undertaken for his book Gold seeking – Victoria and California in the 1850s. He talked at length about the discovery of gold in Georgia, US in 1829 and the similarities between life on the Georgian and Victorian goldfields. He also discussed the reasons why men were drawn to the goldfields and how the experience helped develop a new ‘self reliant’ character.

“Blood and Bone”: Discovering Ned Kelly: Using DNA to trace an ancestor resulting in family reconnections. Leigh Olver
In 2009 a number of skeletons were removed from a burial site at Pentridge Village. To determine if one of the skeletons was that of Ned Kelly the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine compared the DNA of each skeleton to the mitochondrial DNA taken from Leigh Olver – a direct maternal descendant of Ned Kelly.
Leigh explained how the DNA process worked and went on to discuss how the descendants of the Kelly family finally got permission to obtain Kelly’s body and bury him in consecrated ground. This was a fascinating presentation that demonstrated just how important DNA testing can be to genealogical research.

‘Those Whom God Hath Joined Together, Let No Man Put Asunder’: Women and the Quest for Divorce in the Nineteenth Century. Claire Muir, Assistant Curator at the Gold Museum (Sovereign Hill Museums Association), Ballarat
This was a terrific presentation that looked at the fight nineteenth century women had, to gain their freedom and independence.
Claire gave a brief outline on the history of divorce and divorce reform in the UK and Australia and looked at the lives of  Eliza Perrin and James Petford, two residents of  the Ballarat goldfields whose lives were effected by the lack of divorce laws. Some of their personal items and letters are now held in the Gold Museum.

The official welcome, Ballarat Town Hall (photograph: Lisa Gervasoni)

 
The Footy Tribes of Ballarat. Prof. Robert Pascoe, Victoria University
Robert Pascoe is the author of The winter game: over 100 years of Australian football  and is co-authoring a multi-volume series on football in colonial Victoria. He gave a fascinating presentation on the development of football in Ballarat and the lives and the 19th century Ballarat players.
What I found particularly interesting was his explanation of the ‘prosopographical research’ process that he is using to compile biographical information on individual players. This processes uses resources relevant to other relationships and activities in their lives to find key information i.e. Sands & McDougall for work, Ancestry Library Edition for births, marriages and death records of other family members, Electoral Rolls for housing, newspapers for sporting activities etc.

The Cornish on the Victorian Goldfields. Dr Charles Fahey, La Trobe University, Bendigo
Charles Fahey gave an insight into the life of the Cornish migrants on the Victorian goldfields.  He talked about their success in mining, their shift from Ballarat to Bendigo, their close-knit communities, how the houses they built replicated their buildings in Cornwall and how they migrated as family groups rather than individually. I was particularly interested in his use of early census material to track their movement around the goldfields.

Insanity on the Goldfields: Victoria’s Lunatic Asylums. Nathaniel Buchanan
Nathaniel Buchanan operates one of the largest privately owned dark tourism businesses in Australia, running historical tours of various Victorian asylums, gaols and cemeteries. He talked about the history of lunatic asylums in Victoria – in the 19^th century Victoria was known as the ‘mad colony’ with twice as many inmates as NSW.  He explained how and why the asylums were set up, the appalling conditions,  barbaric medical treatment and reasons for closure. He also commented on the magnificent architecture of the Victoria asylums – some of the largest buildings in the state.

 (photograph: Lisa Gervasoni)

The conference was a great success, with terrific speakers, food and atmosphere. For me it was a wonderful chance to hear genealogists, historians and archivists talk about their research, the resources they use, and the stories they have uncovered.  These stories really helped to contextualise what life was like on the goldfields.

The National Archives is the official archive and publisher for the UK government, and for England and Wales.

The Archive holds over 11 million British historical government and public records from the last 1,000 years. Many of the most popular records are now available online and can be downloaded in PDF format.

Some of the online collections include:

Wills (1384-1858)
Cabinet papers (1915-1982)
British Army medal index cards (1914-1920)
Royal Air Force service records and record books (1918-1920 and 1939-1945)
Royal Naval officers’ service records 1756-1917
Merchant shipping movement cards 1939-1945
Irish maps (c.1558-c.1610)

Many other collections of National Archive documents are already available online through such databases as Ancestry Library Edition and Findmypast.UK – both available in the State Library of Victoria.

To help you find the records relevant to your research the National Archives have developed three excellent guides on looking for a place, a person or a subject.

Access is available from home. Simply go to the link on our trial database page and sign in using your State Library registered user card.

We encourage you to use this fabulous new eResource and  ask that you send your comments to us via our online feedback form, by May 22.

On Tuesday 16th April, come join Grant Hamston and myself at the National Archives of Australia’s annual Shake Your Family Tree Day (SYFTD). Held at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne,  SYFTD is a free day of family history talks, seminars and tours.

Come hear Janet McCalman speak on Victorian convict ancestors, or learn about children’s care records from Cate O’ Neill, from the Find and Connect web resource project. And for all you Roo fans out there, Michael Firrito from the North Melbourne Football Club will be making a special appearance with the seminar Roo boy shakes the family tree and discovers his roots.

Grant and I will be staffing the State Library stall in the Victorian Archives Centre’s foyer. Come say hi and feel free to ask us your family history questions.

You can find the full Melbourne program on the National Archives’ website
Book online or by phone (03) 9348 5609 (10am–4.30pm)

Hope to see you there!

 This year the event will have a military research theme. We are pleased to announce that the annual Don Grant Lecture organised by the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations will be given by well-known military historian Lieutenant Colonel Neil Smith AM.

Lieutenant Colonel  Smith spent 24 years in the Army throughout Australia and overseas including active service inVietnam and Explosive Ordnance Disposal duties for which he was decorated with the Order of Australia. Since resigning 20 years ago Neil and his wife Sylvie have developed Mostly Unsung, a unique military history research business using resources inLondon and around Australia. 

Neil has researched and compiled scores of publications and articles on servicemen and women, various regiments and conflicts ranging from the British garrison in Australia through the Boer War, both World Wars and post 1945 conflicts, such as the Malayan Emergency. He is well known for his media and documentary work and frequently provides presentations on military history, where the emphasis is always on those who served. At the 2013 Feast, Neil will be speaking on ‘That elusive Digger : tracing your military ancestors in Australia”.

 Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Smith AM (private collection, 2013)

Bookings for this year’s event will open on Monday 17 June through Public Record Office Victoria’s online booking system. Watch the State Library of Victoria’s website for further booking and program details as we get closer to the event.

Family history – digging deeper  by Simon Fowler
This book is idea for anyone interested in taking their family history research to a higher level. Simon Fowler and a team of renowned genealogists detail how to make the most out of using the internet and suggest some unusual archives and records which might help transform your research.
Topics covered include genealogical traditions, variants of family history around the world, current developments in DNA testing, new resources and digitised online material.  There is also a section on how to solve common problems and tackle `brick walls’ .  If you want to dig deeper into your family tree or want to make sense of the huge array of records available, then take a look at this book.

How to trace your family history on the internet-find your ancestors the easy way by Nick Barratt & Readers Digest Association
This is a terrific introduction to family history research, focusing primarily on UK resources.  Each chapter looks at specific collections of material, for instance census, church records, wills etc followed by information on the best resources available on the internet. What’s really useful is that for each collection of material there are tips and examples on how to search the `big’ genealogy databases -Ancestry, Find my past, Scotland’s People and Family search. There are also chapters on making contact with other family historians, creating a website, publishing your history etc.

How to archive family keepsakes: learn how to preserve family photos, memorabilia & genealogy records by Denise May Levenick

This book gives you step-by-step advice on how to organize, preserve and share family papers, photographs and artifacts. It includes checklists and workflows on how to break down the tasks, information on preservation and digitising items and reseach techniques to help you get more organised. This is a very useful guide for anyone who wants to preserve their family archive for future generations.

Turn your iPad into a genealogy powerhouse by Lisa Louise Cooke
This is a useful guide for anyone who wants to use their iPad for family history research.
Over 65 useful apps are included covering such themes as file storage, note taking, collaboration, photography and repository. The genealogy apps are mainly related to US genealogy but many of the other apps would be of interest to Australian genealogists. You may be familiar with Ancestry, Facebook and Skype but have you used Pinterest, Dropbox, Flipboard and Gedview?  Apps for android tablets are also included.

Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Genealogy by Cecile (Ceil) Wendt Jensen

Sto Lat is a beginners  guide to researching through at least one hundred years of Polish family records. The book focuses on finding American-Polish records but there is a section on researching records in Poland - this would be of use to Australian genealogists. There are chapters on  maps and geographic data, tips on how to  transcribing records and preserve material and advice on how to collaborate with other researchers.  Over one hundred international websites and mailing lists are cited throughout the book.  The cases studies that detail how to find Polish records are particularly interesting.

During this time the following genealogy services will be available in the Newspaper Reading Room on Level 2:

 -librarians to assist with enquiries from 10am to 4pm each weekday and from 10am to 6pm on Saturday

 -staff to retrieve Genealogy Centre collection items (other than microfilm) for you from 10.30am to 3.30pm on weekdays and from 10.30am to 5.30pm on Saturday

Access to computers and microfiche readers will be limited, so you may wish to defer your visits, although some information databases such as Digger indexes, Ancestry Library Edition and Find My Past are available on all other computers in the Library.

Databases only loaded onto specific computers in the Genealogy Centre will not be available.

We regret any inconvenience.

The guide provides information on how to identify and access indexes, databases and microfilm collections held in the centre. It also includes links to relevant external resources and websites. Navigation is easy as the guide is divided into the following sections -

• finding books
• birth, death and marriage records
• divorce records
• inquest records
• cemetery and headstone transcriptions
• church records
• will and probate records
• land records and maps
• electoral rolls and directoris
• immigration and naturalisation records
• other libraries and archives
• genealogy and family history societies

This is a work in progress. If you would like to suggest any other information sources or approaches to the topic please leave a comment below.

Don’t forget that there are also many other excellent research guides available on the State Library of Victoria’s website. Here are just some of the family history guides.

• Aboriginal people and family history
• Adoption and Forgotten Australians
• Early Australian census records
• Ships information
• Victorian immigration and emigration
• World War 1: Researching soldiers

But looking at my own ancestors’ death certificates, I’ve realised that in a lot of cases, despite having the stated cause of death, I still have no idea what they died of!

Decoding medical terms is tricky, and decoding old medical terms even trickier.

Luckily, I’m not the only person who’s experienced this particular dilemma and many helpful guides have been produced for genealogists. A few you can access in the Genealogy Centre:

Death certificates and archaic medical terms
Causes of death & old medical terms: as recorded on death certificates
A medical miscellany for genealogists
Deadly details: a guide to some causes of death listed on death certificates

Another interesting publication, is the Nosological index : or guide to the classification and tabulation of the various causes of death. The guide was compiled by the Registrar-General’s Office “with the object of promoting scientific accuracy in the classification of the causes of death in this colony”

You can tell the author was clearly annoyed by bad examples he had come across in the past. Under the terms “Natural Causes and Visitation of God” he writes

“Are frequently given as causes of sudden death without violence, and are extremely unsatisfactory, as the former literally means nothing, and all deaths might be reduced to the latter cause. These terms are inadmissible, unless there be an absence of all other evidence.”

Do you have any odd, unusual or mysterious deaths in your family tree?
Or maybe even a Visitation by God? Feel free to share your stories in the comments below

Search over 50 million historical records, including directories, gazettes, electoral rolls, cemetery records and other miscellaneous sources. Records from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Pacific Islands are included.

Key resources include
- Victoria Police gazettes
- Victorian and other State’s directories
- Victoria funeral notice index 1981 – 1997 (Herald Sun notices only)

Findmypast Australasia can be accessed for free within the State Library building.

[Portrait of unidentified family] [picture] / James Howe & Co

31 March   Participation in the annual Shake Your Family Tree Day organised by National Archives of Australia

28-31 March 13th Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry Your Ancestors in their Social Context  held in Adelaide. I represented the Genealogy Team and on Friday 30 March spoke on Publicans and public servants, a look at some of the records held at the State Library of Victoria that can help you find out more about the occupations and working lives of your female ancestors

July The Library’s Genealogy Team was pleased to announce the publication of the Aboriginal people and family history online Research Guide prepared by Grant Hamston to coincide with NAIDOC Week (1-8 July).

30 July    Hosted the annual Family History Feast at the Library as part of National Family History Week 2012

13 October  I represented the State Library of Victoria at the inaugural and very successful Deniliquin Genealogy Muster organised by the Deniliquin Genealogy Society

Monthly (except January)  Finding Families public training sessions were conducted for the public. All sessions were booked out in advance and received excellent feedback. These will continue in 2013 except for January.

Regular posts on Family Matters blog continued.

What is in store for 2013?

For those who like to plan ahead Family History Feast will once again be hosted by the Library on Monday 5 August 2013  during National Family History Week  ( 2 to 11 August).

The Genealogy Team looks forward to meeting you in person and online in 2013. Best wishes for a very happy holiday season.

A Merry Christmas  [picture] Manuscripts Collection, State Library of Victoria

(MS 11281)