GSV News

As part of Seniors Month, this meeting of the British India Discussion Circle is free and open to non-members. Members are encouraged to bring a friend.

Railways transformed India under British rule, creating employment for generations of Europeans, Anglo-Indians and Indians. Did any of your ancestors work on the railways of the Raj? Join us to explore their stories and discover more about this fascinating aspect of family history.

Leigh will give us an overview of the development of India’s railways from their establishment in the 1850s to Independence (end of Raj) in 1947. He will also show us an authentic Indian Raj Railways promotional book from his collection.

Some of our members will share stories of their own ancestors who worked on Indian railways. Clare will talk about the important role of Anglo-Indians in the running of the railways, illustrated by four case studies from her family history.

Beyond transporting people and goods, the railways helped consolidate British control and facilitate the export of Indian resources. Yet they also connected previously isolated regions, helping foster the sense of national unity that contributed to India’s independence.

Whether you have railway ancestors of your own or are simply interested in the history behind our ancestors’ lives, this promises to be a fascinating session. We encourage you to share your knowledge and related family history.

Tuesday 20 October, from 10.30am on Zoom. Please register on the GSV website: What’s On? > Events and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Could one of them be an ancestor of yours?

Western Australia has hundreds of places where communities once flourished but have now disappeared or almost returned to bush. Mining booms, harsh climate, vast distances and changing fortunes all played their part.

But what about the people who lived there?

Christine Harris, President of FamilyHistoryWA, will introduce The People of Western Australia’s Ghost Towns Project. This project, led by a dedicated volunteer team, aims to create a comprehensive index of the individuals who once resided in Western Australia’s ghost towns, to locate all their records and tell their stories.

The project team has now identified 939 ghost communities and 1,828 alternative names for those places, and the list is continuing to grow. They are uncovering records, historical, demographic and geographical information, and, most importantly, the stories of the people who called these places home. Some places were well-known mining towns. Others may have left little more than a name, a few street patterns or a crumbling building. Yet each had people who worked, raised families, built businesses and experienced the ups and downs of life in these remote communities. Fabulous fortunes, shocking tragedies, mystery and excitement surrounding the people who lived in Western Australia’s many ghost towns are being unveiled.

Come and discover what the project is uncovering and how these forgotten towns and their people are being brought back into the historical record.

Thursday 22 October, 1.30pm–3.00pm via Zoom. For GSV members only, and free.
Please register on the GSV website, What’s on? > Events and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

You asked for experts in Victorian school records — and we’ve got them!

School records can provide fascinating glimpses into your ancestors’ childhoods and family lives, and their working lives if they were a teacher—information that may not appear in other records. You may discover where they lived, who their parents were, which schools they attended/taught at, photographs, details of teachers and even notes about incidents or events.

In October, the GSV is offering two opportunities to learn from people who know these records inside out: Kate Sullivan from the Department of Education, followed by Dr Sebastian Gurciullo and Jack Martin from Public Record Office Victoria (PROV).
Both are on Zoom through two of our Discussion Circles:

Exploring the Department of Education’s School Records Website

Thursday 15 October, 1.30pm–3.00pm, Family History Toolbox
Kate Sullivan will give GSV members a hands-on walkthrough of the new School Records website, including the Victorian Government Schools Directory and its history section, which contains previously unavailable information.

Ask Me Anything: Victorian School & Education Records in PROV

Friday 23 October, 10.30am–12 noon, VicTas Discussion Circle
Bring your questions to PROV’s Dr Sebastian Gurciullo and Jack Martin. They’ll cover finding and ordering records, creating accounts, FAQs and more, using PROV’s extensive school and education collections.

These talks are available to all GSV members, and both are free. The Zoom link will be emailed to you when you log in and register on the GSV website: What’s On? > Events. You need to register for both separately.

Two great events, two expert perspectives—and plenty to discover about the school years of your Victorian ancestors.

It’s Seniors Month and you don’t have to be a senior to attend! We have a number of events (all on Zoom) that are open to the public during October.

Tuesday 13 October, 1.30pm-3pm: Introduction to the GSV and its Resources. The what, where and how of the GSV. Free event.

Friday 16 October, 1.30pm-3pm: Researching your Scottish ancestry back to Scotland.  Free for members, $10 for non-members

Tuesday 20 October, 10.30am-12pm: Railways of the British Raj. 
Join our British India Discussion Circle to explore the lives of ancestors who worked on the railways in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. Free event.

Wednesday 21 October, 12.30pm-2pm: Learn how to get the most out of the ScotlandsPeople website. What you can find, how to access it. Free for members, $10 for non-members.

Thursday 29 October, 1pm-4pm: Getting started with Oral History: Every story matters. Practical techniques for interviewing, recording and sharing. Q&A. Free for members, $10 for non-members.

To register: go to the GSV website: What’s On? > Events. Scroll down to the relevant date. Zoom links are emailed after registration. Members please log in to get discount.

We encourage our members to invite a friend. If they decide to join the GSV:

• we will extend your membership by two months
• we will waive the joining fee of the new member

To take advantage of this generous offer, please phone our office on 03 9662 4455 between 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday. Or email gsv@gsv.org.au

We have many more events in October for members only - what a great reason to join.

We hope to see you there.

How can a film maker help us understand the lives of our Welsh ancestors?

Join us on Thursday, October 1, 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm and meet Anthony Hontoir, film maker and founder of Downwood Film Productions. Anthony lives in Porthcawl on the south coast of Wales and has produced local history documentaries on towns such as Maesteg, Bridgend, Porthcawl and Port Talbot.

He has also explored some fascinating and dramatic stories, including “Dangerous Coast” about the S.S. Samtampa and Mumbles lifeboat disaster of 1947 and “The Restoration of Sker House” about the renovation of an Elizabethan manor house near Porthcawl. Anthony’s films provide an opportunity to look beyond our family records and discover some of the places and communities that give context to our ancestors’ lives.

There is more to Anthony’s story. He began his professional career as a freelance journalist, moved into film making and more recently is the author of a series of whodunit novels. Quite a variation! Anthony suggests members might take a look at a sample of his films before the meeting.  You can explore these at https://www.youtube.com/@downwoodfilms/videos

The meeting is free and open to GSV members only. Please register on the GSV website: What’s On > Events page and a Zoom link will be emailed to you.

Did your ancestor serve in WWI or WWII? Perhaps they fought in the Boer War, or served with a British or other overseas regiment?

Military records can reveal fascinating details about an ancestor’s service, but knowing where to look and how to understand what you find is key.

This session will focus mainly on Australian WWI and WWII records, including resources from the Australian War Memorial and National Archives of Australia. We’ll also briefly explore Boer War records and records of Australians who served in overseas regiments.

And you won’t be left to work it all out for yourself! You’ll receive useful handouts listing military resources, along with handy lists of military abbreviations to help you decipher those sometimes-baffling service files.

Whether you’re just starting to investigate a military ancestor or want to take existing research further, this session will give you plenty of places to look — and some practical tools to help make sense of the records.

Join Trena and Jackie to discover what lies beyond the service record.

Details:
Thursday 24 September at 1:30pm-3.00pm, online via Zoom
GSV members: log in to access your discounted rate.
NB: This course is Session 8 of our 9 session Australian Family History Course: Research Strategies and Resources but can be joined as a stand alone session. You do not need to register if you have booked the entire course.

Did your ancestors arrive in Australia during the excitement of the gold rush? Did they strike it rich or struggle? Or did they make their living supplying or supporting the gold miners? Whatever their story, the gold rush years generated a wealth of records that can help you uncover more about their lives.

Fiona Tellesson (Experts in Genealogy) will share the fascinating research journey of her own ancestor who arrived in Australia during the gold era. Through a real case study, she'll demonstrate the strategies and resources that helped her piece together her ancestor's story.
GSV Digital Resources Manager Meg Bate will guide you through the available records—where to find them, how to access them and what to expect to find in them.
The session will cover a wide range of records, including occupations, health, police, education, Electoral Rolls, Parliamentary Papers and Government Gazettes.

Whether your ancestors came to Australia in search of gold or simply lived through this period of rapid growth, these records can reveal far more than names and dates. They can provide valuable clues about everyday life, occupations, movements and the communities in which your ancestors lived.

Thursday 27 August at 1:30pm-4.30pm, online via Zoom
GSV members: log in to access your discounted rate.
NB: This course is Session 7 of our 9 session Australian Family History Course: Research Strategies and Resources but can be joined as a stand alone session. You do not need to register if you have booked the entire course.

What can the first land sales of Melbourne tell us about the city's origins—and the people who seized the opportunity to shape its future?

Join us on Wednesday 26 August at 2pm on Zoom. This talk is for members only and is $10. Please log into the GSV website to register on the What’s ON - Events page. The Zoom link will be emailed to you.

On 1 June 1837, surveyor Robert Hoddle stood on a log and began auctioning the first allotments of land in the newly-surveyed Hoddle Grid, now the heart of Melbourne’s CBD. The purchasers came from a wide variety of backgrounds, but most shared a common ambition: to build wealth in a fast-growing new settlement.
Dr Liz Rushen will take us back to 1837 and introduce us to some of those early purchasers — from former convicts and publicans to merchants and investors whose fortunes were tied to global trade. They acquired land on Wurundjeri country for next to nothing, setting in motion changes that would shape the city for generations. Some went on to amass considerable fortunes; others lost everything. Every allotment reveals Melbourne’s complex origins.
This talk also looks at how these allotments have evolved, including the buildings that once stood, and those that stand today. Melbourne began as an act of confidence and enterprise — and that speculative spirit remains part of the city’s character today. It’s a tale of dreamers, schemers, workers and empire builders: the people who first bought Melbourne's land.

Dr Liz Rushen is a well known Australian historian and author. She has curated an exhibition at the Royal Historical Society, 239 A’Beckett St, Melbourne. If you want to see the exhibition, it is in the RHSV main gallery. Free entry. Open until 11 November, 10am-5pm weekdays.
https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/current-exhibitions/

Have you got a family history story waiting to be told?
You’ve done the research. You’ve jotted down the details. You may even have solved a long-standing family mystery. We are providing the deadline!

It’s time to turn that research into a story - and enter it in the GSV Writing Prize.
There’s still time, but not much! 

Entries close at 4pm on Friday 28 August 2026.
Your entry should:

• be 1,200–2,400 words
• have a family history or genealogy theme
• be your own original work
• not have been previously published
• include appropriate citations to sources

GSV members and members of GSV Member Societies are eligible to enter.
There’s a great prize on offer. Ancestry™ is again generously sponsoring the competition, with a first prize of a 12-month Worldwide Membership subscription and an Ancestry™ DNA kit.

So, dust off that unfinished draft, revisit that Writers Circle project, or finally write that story you’ve been meaning to get around to.

Find the full details, including eligibility and entry conditions, on the GSV website: 
https://www.gsv.org.au/gsv-writing-prize-0

Who in your family has the stories you've always meant to record? What memories could be lost if they're never captured?

Every family has memories that can't be found in certificates, census records or newspapers. They live in the stories people tell – about childhood, migration, work, war, celebrations, hardships and everyday life. Once those voices are gone, those stories can disappear with them.

Members and friends are welcome to join us on Thursday 13 August, 1.00–4.00 pm on Zoom to learn the practical skills to confidently interview and record family members.
Get useful tips as to how to prepare for an interview, ask questions that encourage meaningful conversations, keep interviews on track, and use readily available technology to capture clear recordings. We'll also cover consent, copyright, fact-checking, preserving recordings, and interviewing about sensitive subjects.

You'll see and hear real-life examples, hear inspiring stories from experienced family historians, and have plenty of opportunities to ask questions throughout the afternoon.

If you've ever thought, "I wish I'd asked Mum about that," or "I should record Grandpa's stories someday," this seminar will give you the confidence and practical skills to begin.
Because every story matters.

To register go to the GSV website and register through our What’s On > Events page. Remember to register to get the member rate: members free, non-members $10.