GSV News

We do not produce an e-News in January, so here is a quick run down of our program of events for the month. We hope you can join us.

Tuesday 7th - The GSV Library Re-Opens

The library will reopen for normal operating hours from 10:00 am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday. Library Research Assistants will be available to help with your enquiries.

Saturday 11th - Library Research Day    GSV Library Open this Saturday    

The GSV library will be open on Saturday, January 11, welcoming members from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. For a smooth and secure visit, please remember that advance booking is essential. Ensure you reserve your spot no later than noon on the preceding Friday. You can make your reservation by reaching out to us via phone at (03) 9662 4455 (Monday to Friday, 9:30 am to 4:00 pm) or via an email to gsv@gsv.org.au.

Wednesday 22nd  - Special Event    "I was given a DNA test for Christmas. Now what?"

This presentation, including a Q&A, is for those who were given or gave a DNA test for Christmas but have questions about how to proceed. If you are pondering whether to take a test, this introductory session is for you too. Held via Zoom between 10:30am and 12pm, this session is open to members (free) and non-members ($10). A recording will be provided should you be unable to join us on the day. You can submit questions in advance of the session, to ensure they are addressed, by emailing Rebecca at libraryadmin@gsv.org.au.

Thursday 23rd - New and Existing Member Orientation: Discovering the GSV and our Resources

This session will examine who the GSV is, how we help each other with our research, what resources we hold and how best to access those resources from home and at the Research & Education Centre. The meeting is designed to inform both new and existing Members and will be held online via Zoom between 10:30-11:45am. Your host, David Down, will demonstrate how to access our online resources and will answer any questions.

Friday 24th  - Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle

Any GSV members can join convenors Jackie van Bergen and Michael Considine to share stories about our ancestors arrival into Victoria or Tasmania, including how we researched them. This Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle will run from 10:30am to 12:00 pm via Zoom.

You can register for any of these events on the GSV website events page here.

The celebrations are over, the presents unwrapped, and now you, or a family member, are sitting there with a DNA test kit in hand and wondering what to do about it.

Perhaps you’ve heard that different tests produce different information, so you’re wondering what the test in your hands will tell you.

Perhaps reading the paperwork has you vaguely recalling advice about how to register and manage accounts of family members to gain the most information, but the specific advice has escaped your memory.

Are you wondering what else you need to do? Or if this test means you have to take out a subscription to a database? Are you asking ‘How does the test work?’, ‘How do I interpret the results?’ or ‘What happens to my results long term?’ Do you have concerns about privacy and security issues?

Are all your questions giving you pause about proceeding?

The GSV can help answer your questions about DNA testing, and clarify and consolidate your understanding of what to expect and what to do next.

If you’d like our assistance, register for our introductory DNA session, “I was given a DNA kit for Christmas. Now what?”  The session is open to anyone interested – members or non-members – as an online presentation with a Q&A.

Date:  January 22nd, 10:30am - 12pm
Location: Zoom (the link will be included in the email acknowledging your registration)
Cost: Free for GSV members, $10 for non-members

The recording of the session will be made available to those who cannot attend on the day.

Given the complexity of DNA testing and the variations between tests and processes used by different companies, our presentation will use Ancestry.com examples. Much of the general information will be relevant to other DNA Kit providers.

For more information and to register visit here.

Christmas is a great time to talk to older family members about their lives and memories. Make sure you have a pen and paper handy, or your phone with a recording option. Learn their stories before it’s too late.

Think ahead, what questions can I ask? What will engage the younger generation? Here are a couple I’ve experimented with:

What jobs did you have during the holidays?
I asked Dad about what jobs he’d done when he was young. Dad reeled off a list of weird farming jobs that no longer exist (or not in the same way) and the grandchildren were fascinated and asked for more details. Mum then volunteered that she was a tailoress in Toorak Village and went to modelling school - the granddaughters knew about the sewing but couldn’t get enough of her stories about the modelling.

What Christmas traditions did you have when you were young?
I asked Mum about her childhood Christmases. She told us all about how they would travel by train to her grandparents farm, and in wartime sit on soldier’s knees because there weren’t enough seats. She would watch her Nanna plucking the turkey in the scullery. The way they roasted the potatoes in all that fat just horrified the grandchildren now working in the medical field. But questions ensued about why there were coins in the Christmas pudding, and other foods that were on the table.

Other questions you could ask that might spark inter-generational interest are:
Tell us about where you went to school? What subjects were your favourite?
What sports or hobbies did you have?
Do you have any recipes passed down to you? Do you make them still?
Who was the oldest relative you remember meeting?
Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper? What about?
What were some of the early cars that you or your father had?

And best of all, it helps steer the conversation away from all those depressing topics no-one wants to discuss at Christmas.

What will you learn this Christmas?

Jackie van Bergen

As the end of 2024 approaches, our thoughts turn to giving to our families and friends and perhaps also giving to causes and worthy organisations which are important to us and to our community.

We hope that you will consider the Genealogical Society of Victoria as one of your worthy organisations. Indeed, as a member you have already demonstrated your interest.

The GSV is becoming increasingly dependent on technology, allowing members to access more detailed information, much of it from home. This is a massive benefit to all of our members.  It does however come with increased risks. While we have very competent and dedicated volunteers doing much of the back-office work, we now face the need to engage the services of external, and at times expensive, professionals to ensure our technology setup is resilient to the risks of today and the future. We need your help to enable us to fund this.

We are always enormously grateful for a donation of any amount. Each gift makes a difference.

Donations to the GSV are tax-deductible. They can be made:

• online through the Donate Now link on the GSV website homepage or online through this link;
• by calling the GSV (on 03 9662 4455) with your credit card details; or
• by cheque in the mail (to Level 1, 10 Queen Street, Melbourne Victoria, 3000).

While talking about the need to secure the future of the GSV, may we ask you to consider the possibility of a bequest?

Such a gift in your will, after having provided for your family, will have the potential to transform the long-term future of the GSV.

If you would like to have a confidential, no obligation discussion, please contact the GSV by:

• email to bequests@gsv.org.au; or
• phoning the GSV on 03 9662 4455.

I will then contact you.

Brian Reid, President

St Andrew is the patron saint not only of Scotland, but also of Ukraine, Barbados, Tenerife, and a few other regions. While he is most famously associated with Scotland in the English-speaking world, his influence extends beyond its borders.

Andrew, who was a fisherman and one of Jesus’ apostles, did not bring Christianity to Scotland (the Irish St Columba did), although his role as Scotland's patron saint is deeply embedded in the country's history and culture.

The legend of St Andrew's connection to Scotland dates back to the 9th century. The night before a battle between the Scots and Picts against the Angles, the Pictish King Angus had a dream in which St Andrew appeared and promised victory. The following morning at daybreak, King Angus saw a cross in the sky that resembled St Andrew’s Cross ^[1] . This vision is said to have inspired the adoption of the Saltire Cross (the white diagonal cross that appears on Scotland's flag) as a symbol of the nation.

St Andrew's feast days have been observed in Scotland since around 1,000 AD^[2] . In 1320, when Scotland signed the Declaration of Arbroath, St Andrew was named the Scotland’s patron saint. The Declaration of Arbroath gave Scotland independence from Pope John XXII^[3] .

Some of St. Andrew's relics are believed to be housed in St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, while others are buried in St Andrews, Scotland. There are also parts of St Andrew’s remains said to be kept in St Andrew’s Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine.

St. Andrew's Feast Day, which is celebrated on 30 November, is traditionally accepted as the day of his death. In Scotland, the day is marked with festive activities, including eating traditional food like Cullen skink (a fish soup), drinking Irn Bru (a beloved Scottish soft drink), and participating in ceilidh and the Highland Fling – and we can’t forget there are games played that tell you who you’ll marry.

While we can't offer you Cullen skink or an Irn-Bru, if you would like to mark St Andrew's Day, join the Scottish Discussion Circle at 1:30pm tomorrow. The last meeting for 2024 will include information about St Andrew, a chance to share experiences of the old university and cathedral city of St Andrew's, a chance to yarn about the pronunciation of Scottish place names and to share any new learnings from your research. To register, book here.

[1] https://www.scotland.org/events/st-andrews-day/a-history-of-st-andrew
[2] https://www.scotland.org/events/st-andrews-day/who-was-st-andrew
[3] https://www.scottishtours.co.uk/blog/why-is-st-andrew-the-patron-saint-…

Are you aware that recordings of many Discussion Circle sessions are made available for viewing for the month after the event?

Information about the recordings is communicated via the Discussion Circle Notice Boards. If a member subscribes to the Notice Board they will receive an email notification that the recording link is available. You do not, however, have to subscribe to the Notice Boards to access the recording. When logged into the GSV website, members can view the posts on any Discussion Circle’s Notice Board via the Notice Board page.

At the moment members can access recordings of:

• Anne Merrick discussing researching and writing her novel Cold Blows the Wind based on a period of the lives of her great-great-grandparents. See the VicTas Noticeboard (Going soon)
• In the latest of the series on "My ancestor was a…" four members present about their research into their barber surgeon, Grenadier Guard and other relatives.  See the London & South East Counties Noticeboard
• Alison Alexander, the Tasmanian historian, speaking on The Convict Stain. See the Convicts and Transportation Noticeboard.
• A discussion of user experiences of entering information into one-tree websites. See The Good Oil Noticeboard

More recordings are added to Noticeboards each week.

Next time you can’t attend an event that sparks your interest, don’t forget to check for the recording a day or two later.

What happened at the wedding at Ripponlea Estate in 1870?

The bridegroom was an important public figure and member of Parliament

What could possibly go wrong?

Sue Reid will tell you - in her story ‘Speak now or forever hold your peace’

Read the story which won the GSV Writing Prize for 2024 in the December issue of Ancestor

The judges praised it as follows:

With a strong opening, starting with the most dramatic part of the story, this article unveils
a complex tale, involving many players from well-connected families. The action crosses generational and geographic boundaries, but the story flows well, ensuring the reader is not confused or overwhelmed by the detail. This is a well-researched piece that draws on a variety of sources and holds the reader’s interest to the end.

Sue has won a 12-month subscription to Ancestry Worldwide Membership plus a DNA test kit.

GSV and Ancestor thank Ancestry for their provision of the prizes for winner and runner up.

Image credit: Rippon Lea Estate, view from the garden in 2013. Creative Commons by michaeldgbailey

The Genealogical Society of Victoria invites all members to join us at the inaugural meeting of the Convicts and Transportation Discussion Circle on Tuesday November 12th at 1:30pm.

Formed via the merger of the Descendants of Convicts Group and the Genealogical Society of Victoria, the Convicts and Transportation Discussion Circle (CATDC) is for all members interested in the experience of transportation and convict life in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The first meeting of CATDC will be honoured with a presentation from historian Alison Alexander speaking on The Convict Stain. The Australian colonies, particularly New South Wales and Tasmania, had a terrible reputation in Britain because of the convict presence. Why did this stain arise, how long did it last and how did it affect the country?

Alison Alexander was born, bred and educated in Tasmania and has a PhD in Tasmanian history. She has written 38 books on the topic, mostly commissioned histories but also exploring the impact of convict settlement, Tasmania as utopia, Jane Franklin (an award-winning biography) and, most recently, the battle to end convict transportation.

To attend this special event, register via the GSV Events page to receive the zoom link to the meeting. This event is expected to book out, so get in early.

To keep informed of future CATDC plans, subscribe to the Noticeboard in the Members Area of the website via the Members Sharing tab.

If you have questions about this event you can email the convenor at catdc@gsv.org.au

The Genealogical Society of Victoria and the Descendants of Convicts Group are delighted to announce their amalgamation.

With a long history of association, this re-merger brings together the resources, volunteers and knowledge of both groups to create new opportunities for the benefit of their members.

In light of this, the GSV has launched a new discussion circle. Called the Convicts and Transportation Discussion Circle (CATDC), it will focus on helping members understand and research the process and experience of transportation and convict life in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Ancestral connections to a convict are not a requirement for participation in the discussion circle. Access to the quarterly sessions are included for free as part of an active GSV membership.

Details about the first session of the Convicts and Transportation Discussion Circle will be announced soon.

We have a few evening sessions (on zoom) coming up. Grab a cuppa and join something much more interesting than all those reality shows on TV.

Mon 29 Aug at 7.30pm Are you just starting your genealogical journey? Are you an experienced researcher overwhelmed by the vast array of options? Join Meg, Rebecca and David as they explain the strengths and pitfalls of the available resources and tools, including commercial databases, free resources, and libraries and associations such as the GSV. Members free, Non-members welcome $15.

Register via the front page or activities tab on the GSV website to get the zoom link.