Ancestor wins 2011 Elizabeth Simpson Award for outstanding family history journal

Leading family history association, the Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV), announced today it has been awarded the 2011 Elizabeth Simpson Award for Ancestor – the journal making the Best Contribution to Family History.

At the Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) held in London on 24 March, the GSV was announced as overall winner of the Elizabeth Simpson Award for 2011 in recognition of the high standard of its journal Ancestor and its contribution to family history.
David Holman, Chairman of the FFHS, was in Adelaide to attend the Australasian Congress on Genealogy & Heraldry (28–31 March) and present the award.

Tony Arthur, President of the GSV, said “we are very proud that Ancestor has been we recognised in this way”.

For just over two years Ancestor has been under the direction of Narelle Donegan and Dorothea Rowse who have introduced a new look and feel to the publication. In addition to design and historical imagery, Ancestor features a mixture of articles by both professional writers and family historians. Ancestor has showcased the work of historical writers such as Grace Karskens, Charles Fahey and Richard Reid.
Narelle commented “Dorothea and I are very fortunate to work with some of Australia’s best authors. Through their words we get a better understanding of our history and the lives of our ancestors”.

Narelle Donegan accepts the award from David Holman, Chairman of the FFHS. Image courtesy Festival City Photography.

Federation of Family History Societies and the Elizabeth Simpson Award

The Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) located in Leicestershire, UK is an educational charity formed in 1974. Members of the Federation include societies throughout the world and its principal aims include:

• assist work of societies or other bodies interested in family history, genealogy and heraldry
• foster mutual co-operation and regional projects in these subjects
• represent the interests of its member societies, and family historians in general, on numerous national and regional bodies.

The Federation encourages its member societies to produce high quality journals and websites by making awards each year. The Elizabeth Simpson award for the journal making the best contribution to family history, and the FFHS award for the best website are presented each autumn at the Federation general meeting. The Elizabeth Simpson Award was first introduced in 1979 and is awarded annually to the society who, in the opinion of the judges, submits a well presented journal with the best content, both in quality and range of articles and for the quality and diversity of news items and information appropriate to that society's aims and objectives.