GSV News

Inaugural Meeting – Thursday 8 August at 10.30am

Are you researching Welsh ancestors? Have you favourite sources of information that you can share? Are you encountering brick walls that are limiting your research? Looking for a forum to share experiences and seek help?

Come along to the inaugural session of this Circle and meet like-minded members. Please be prepared discuss where you are researching, what approaches you have used and to share your research experiences at this first meeting. Plans for future meetings of the Circle will also be discussed.

All GSV Members are welcome to attend. Please register through the GSV Events page to obtain the zoom invitation link. If you need any assistance with registering please contact the GSV Office.

Do you have a story to tell?

Does your family tree have a villain or a saint; a rejected suitor, or a devoted lover; a wild adventurer or a contented stay-at home; a hilarious comedian or a sad, peculiar and mysterious character?

Is there a fantastic, funny or heart-warming incident you would like to tell us about?

Enter the GSV Writing Prize

It closes on Friday 30 August 2024

Win a subscription to Ancestry.com  

Image

and be published in Ancestor

Full details on the GSV website at https://www.gsv.org.au/gsv-writing-prize-2024

‘Finding Family’ is a one-day seminar organised by Uniting Heritage Service to help people seeking family, known or unknown. It is particularly relevant to those who have experience in the family of adoption or out-of-home care.

Handouts on useful resources and a planning guide will be provided to you. Members of the Uniting Heritage Service will present. Alan Rhodes from the Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV) will talk about the use of DNA and planning a family research project, and David Down will explain how the GSV can assist in your search.

The workshop will provide a good overview of planning and conducting a family search project, and will cover:

• The history of adoption and out-of-home care in Victoria,
• How to obtain records of your family member
• How to plan a family search project,
• Privacy and ethical considerations in your search,
• Key resources for family searching,
• Using DNA in your search, and
• How to conduct and organise your search.

Cost: $100
Date: Saturday 27th July
Time: 9.30-4pm
Lunch will be provided.
Venue: Uniting, Level 4/130 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne

RSVP and enquiries: Catriona Milne 0402969621
Email: Catriona.Milne@vt.uniting.org
Learn more: https://unitingvictas.org.au/heritage-service

The Genealogical Society of Victoria is delighted to invite non-members to our library to learn about and spend time researching your family story in Scotland.

As part of the Melbourne Tartan Festival 2024, we are opening our Library to give you an opportunity to learn about our resources and meet our experts.

The session will include an introductory talk and then time to explore our resources and receive individual assistance with your research.

This session is relevant to any level of knowledge and experience of family history research.

Due to our limited space, the Library will be open to eight (8) members of the public only at each of two sessions.
WHEN: WEDNESDAY 10TH JULY  
MORNING SESSION: 10.30am - 12 NOON
AFTERNOON SESSION: 1.30pm - 3.00pm
WHERE: Level 1, 10 Queen St, Melbourne (Accessible access is available from Bond St at the rear of the building). Take the lift to the 1st Floor.
COST: $15. Payment options are PayPal or call the GSV on 9662 4455 to provide credit card details over the phone.

Book by selecting the session you would like to attend and click the link to access the booking page. Registration is essential. All participants will receive an email containing further information upon booking.
Click https://www.gsv.org.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2626 to register for the first session between 10 30 a.m. and 12 noon.

Click https://www.gsv.org.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2627 to register for the second session between 1:30 pm and 3 pm.

You may also be interested in our other contribution to Tartan Festival 2024: ScotlandsPeople a Zoom class about using the Scottish government’s official site for searching government records. This session is open to both members of the GSV and non-members. More information about this event can be found at https://www.gsv.org.au/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=2625

A quick reminder that the 30 June financial year end is fast approaching and donations to GSV are tax-deductible and very much appreciated.

The GSV is a place where members volunteer to assist other members to research their family histories, aided by a small but highly experienced team of professionals. It is fair to say we are a respected and well-loved organisation.

Whether you are currently seeking information about your ancestors, have yet to start, or think you may have finished, the GSV is here to assist you at every stage of your journey.

Our highly regarded quarterly Ancestor journal is probably the most visible of the GSV’s offerings, but there is so much more. Behind the scenes is a sophisticated, technologically advanced organisation with teams of dedicated volunteers continually updating the means by which you can carry out your research.

Then we have a number of discussion circles where members share their special interests, seek help, learn more and enjoy the company of other members.

Our volunteers are in at GSV five days a week, working for the benefit of our members and ready and prepared to help you with your research – or to point you to the multitude of GSV resources and other sources of information.

It is costly to maintain and to add to what we have to offer, to keep up-to-date with changes so as to be prepared to help you when you are ready.

For the GSV to continue to “be there” for you when you need us, we rely on donations.

We hope the approach of the end of the tax year, June 30, is a time when you might think about supporting “your” organisations and interests.

We ask - “Would you please consider a donation to the GSV to ensure a strong and healthy future?”

We hope your answer will be “yes”.

Donations to GSV are tax-deductible. They can be made online through the Donate Now link on the GSV website homepage, or by calling the GSV (on 03 9662 4455) with your credit card details, or by a cheque in the mail (to Level 1, 10 Queen Street, Melbourne Victoria, 3000).

We are looking for volunteers who have hidden talents and are willing to help us out.
Perhaps you have experience from your working life, or with another community group?
Perhaps you have a passion to learn a new skill? We’d love to talk to you.

Please note, you can do all these tasks from the comfort of your own home. Some training might need to be at GSV.

Marketing
We are reviving the marketing team with the aim of looking at what our members want, are we reaching enough of our members?, how do we attract new members? Perhaps you have experience growing membership, or in conducting member surveys? We’d love to talk to you about it. Please contact Jackie via gsv@gsv.org.au

Website
We’d love more volunteers to help us with creating and updating website content on a regular basis. You will need reasonable computer skills. It would be great if you have some writing and editing skills, basic image editing skills and the ability to create user-friendly content layouts. Some training can be provided. Please contact Tom via gsv@gsv.org.au

Blog creators
Content creators need some basic writing skills to write or edit info sent to them. As many discussion circles now share 350 word stories, that would be a perfect background for this role. Please contact Jackie via gsv@gsv.org.au.

Webcast editors
Do you have experience with editing videos? We have a backlog of recordings waiting to be edited and added to our webcast library. We currently use the Macintosh program iMovie and it would be great if you have some experience using this. If not, we can train you. Alternatively if you have experience or skills using a Windows video editing program we would love to hear from you. The editing can be done from home. Please contact us by emailing education@gsv.org.au

Ancestor contributions
We welcome the submission of articles from both GSV members and non-members on family history topics for possible publication in our journal. We especially encourage new writers and we look for, and appreciate, stories and research which break new ground. See the website for details: https://www.gsv.org.au/submit-an-article.   Editorial assistance  will be provided for articles accepted for publication.

Do you have some fractions of “exotic” DNA in your DNA profile? Has that been a bit of a surprise to you? Should you take these small parcels seriously, or are they a bit of an anomaly that it is best to ignore? Are you surprised, disappointed or puzzled by your ethnicity results? Or when you think about it, do they begin to make sense?

The British in India discussion circle talk by Alan Rhodes, “Fractions of ‘exotic’ ethnicities” will be on Tuesday, 18th June 730 – 9.00 pm by Zoom. All GSV members are welcome. Free of charge. Don’t forget to log in and register.

Alan’s talk is likely to be of interest to other GSV members who have small amounts of “exotic” DNA in their profiles or would like to better understand their unexpected ethnicity results. While the context is the mixing of Indian genes with European genes, the focus of Alan’s talk will be applicable to other ethnic mixes.  If you are interested, do join us!

Alan plans to cover:

• What is ethnicity?  And how is it calculated? Why do results change from time to time? Why does ethnicity differ from site to site?  Why do siblings’ ethnicity results differ?
• Why do ethnicity results often only partially or barely reflect known ancestry?    
• What do ethnicity results show and how do you read them?
• Are traces of ‘exotic’ ethnicity real parts of my inheritance?
• How can we use ethnicity to trace our family history?
• The session will present several case studies using ethnicity to research family history.

There will be a chance for questions but Alan would like to point out that he cannot give detailed responses to specific questions about participants’ DNA profiles.

The British India Discussion Circle is for GSV members researching their family history in India between 1599 and Independence in 1947.

The GSV is a place where members volunteer to assist other members to research their family histories, aided by a small but highly experienced team of professionals. It is fair to say we are a respected and well-loved organisation.

Whether you are currently seeking information about your ancestors, have yet to start, or think you may have finished, the GSV is here to assist you at every stage of your journey.

Our highly regarded quarterly Ancestor journal is probably the most visible of the GSV’s offerings, but there is so much more. Behind the scenes is a sophisticated, technologically advanced organisation with teams of dedicated volunteers continually updating the means by which you can carry out your research.

Then we have a number of discussion circles where members share their special interests, seek help, learn more and enjoy the company of other members.

Our volunteers are in at GSV five days a week, working for the benefit of our members and ready and prepared to help you with your research – or to point you to the multitude of GSV resources and other sources of information.

It is costly to maintain and to add to what we have to offer, to keep up-to-date with changes so as to be prepared to help you when you are ready.

For the GSV to continue to “be there” for you when you need us, we rely on donations.

We hope the approach of the end of the tax year, June 30, is a time when you might think about supporting “your” organisations and interests.

We ask - “Would you please consider a donation to the GSV to ensure a strong and healthy future?”

We hope your answer will be “yes”.

Donations to GSV are tax-deductible. They can be made online through the Donate Now link on the GSV website homepage, or by calling the GSV (on 03 9662 4455) with your credit card details, or by a cheque in the mail (to Level 1, 10 Queen Street, Melbourne Victoria, 3000).

England and Wales Discussion Circle
Tuesday, 28 May 7:30 – 9:00pm via Zoom

Caning, flicks to the ear, a dunce’s cap: I’d heard of those punishments being used in schools in the past. Being flung in a basket and hauled up to hang from the ceiling? That was a new one for me.

Stephen Hawke’s presentation ‘Educating our Ancestors in the 19th Century’ contains many descriptive nuggets to help us imagine what our English and Welsh ancestors may have experienced in school. While the focus is on education in the United Kingdom, relatives who attended Australian schools in the 19th century would have faced many of the same circumstances.

Stephen’s presentation examines the very fractured education system that operated in the first half of the 19th century and then the radical changes mid-century that led to compulsory education in England and Wales from 1870. He also explores a case study of an elementary school in Northampton in 1888 as an example of what children experienced at school.

This evening Zoom session is free for all GSV members. Register here to receive the meeting link by email. (You will need to log in first).

I hope to see you there!
Rebecca Landy

Note: this is a repeat of the session from Friday 10th May.

Are you up for something quite different on a quiet almost-winter evening?

Then grab a nice cup of Darjeeling tea and settle in to the next British in India Discussion circle zoom meeting on Tue 21 May at 7.30pm.

You don’t need a personal connection to colonial India to join this discussion circle. All GSV members are invited to enjoy a fascinating interview with someone who experienced the final years of the Raj in Bengal.

Our special guest will be Heather Spicer, born in Chandpur, Bengal, in 1936. She spent her first eleven years in India, with home at Comilla and school a four-day adventurous journey away at Darjeeling.

Heather will be in conversation with Janine Marshall Wood to tell us about her parents and why and what they were doing there at the time.  Just like India then and now, there are engrossing stories, surprises and stunning things to learn in store for us as we hear about her childhood. In 1966 Heather returned to Bangladesh for four and a half years with her husband and two children, with two more babies born there.

This meeting is open to GSV members only - what a great reason to join the GSV!

Please log in to the website and book. See you there.