GSV News

The Genealogical Society of Victoria has made available many Webcasts for members to enjoy. Below is the list that has been uploaded to our webpage from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

Just login as a GSV member from home and these are available from our Webcasts page at https://www.gsv.org.au/webcasts

If you are not a GSV member, purchase a GSV Visitor E-pass https://www.gsv.org.au/visitor-e-pass and for the special price of $10 you can access a large range of Genealogical resources for a short period (6 hours) from home, and it includes viewing our webcasts.

AUSTRALIA

Dancing at the southern crossroads: histories, families, genealogies.

Presented by: Mollenhauer, Jeanette

Dr Mollenhauer describes her research into the history of Irish Step Dancing in Australia.

Great War Soldier Settlement and its records.

Presented by: Fahey, Charles

In this presentation Dr Charles Fahey describes the Soldier Settler Scheme in Victoria and examines the scheme and the effects on the farmers and the community.  He also discusses the records that are available for researching soldiers and their farms.

Passenger records: how did your ancestors get here?

Presented by: Johnson, Claire

Describes the records available to assist research into your ancestor’s voyage to Australia.

Strategies for researching and writing about convict ancestors.

Presented by: Vines, Margaret

Explores convict records and resources available in the UK and in Australia and discusses how best to utilise them to research and write about your convict ancestors.

Why did they leave? Exploring the migration of our ancestors from Ireland.

Presented by: Vines, Margaret

An examination of the migration of people from Ireland to Australia. She considers the choices, the push and pull factors and other reasons for their decision through the eyes of her family ancestors. Families mentioned Fogarty, Shannahan, Stawell, Lonergan, O'Shannassy, Baggot, Ferguson

VICTORIA

Exploring the RHSV: register of Victorian pioneers.

Presented by: Hiscock, Gillian

The RHSV has collected and maintained an ‘Historical Register of Persons who arrived, or were born in Victoria before 1900.’ In this presentation Jillian Hiscock describes the Register and provides information regarding how to access the data.

BATE FAMILY

James Bate: an enigma.

Presented by: Blackwood, Sue

Describes searching for James Bate who lived in Scotland during the first half of the 18th century.

DE FIRCKS FAMILY

My journey: researching my family history.

Presented by: de Fircks, Alex

Describes the journey researching family in Germany and Latvia.

MADDOCKS and STEVENSON FAMILY

Maldon: the Maddocks and Stevenson families.

Presented by:   Vanderstoel, Jane

Jane Vanderstoel discusses researching her families who resided in Maldon for many generations.

O'DONNELL and BARRY FAMILY

Chain immigrants from Southeast Limerick to Victoria: 1854 and after.

Presented by: Noone, Val

The story of immigration of families from Limerick to Victoria during the gold rush era and afterwards through the lens of Michael O'Donnell and Johanna Barry

PLAYNE and JENNINGS FAMILY

The life of a squatter in the Port Phillip district 1837-1854.

Presented by: Playne, Martin

ROBERTS, LATTER, TONKIN, FORESTER and PRICE FAMILY

Living in the 1890s depression years in Victoria: family experiences.

Presented by: Trotter, Maureen

How their families lived and survived the 1890s depression years in Victoria.

WAINEWRIGHT FAMILY

Thomas Wainewright: artist and convict.

Presented by: Norwood, Clodagh

The life of her ancestor Thomas Wainewright who was transported to Hobart for fraud, became an artist and his portraits provide documentation of personalities in Hobart before 1850.

GENERAL

GSV Member Research Interests Database.

Presented by: O'Dea, Tom

The developer of the GSV Member Research Interests Database describes the background to this project and provides a detailed demonstration of the functionality of the system

Preservation of your collection.

Presented by: Parry, Debra

Debra Parry of Melbourne Conservation Services outlines methods of preserving documents, books, maps, plans as well as ceramics, textiles and other objects

UNITED KINGDOM

Using the Tithe Apportionment records.

Presented by: Down, David

The tithe apportionment records of England and Wales from 1836 - how to use the records to enhance the stories of your rural ancestors.

ENGLAND

Cholera in South-West England.

Presented by: Hawke, Stephen

Explores the major cholera outbreak in the 1830s in south-west England and also the later outbreaks of the pandemic in the UK in the 19th century.

DEVON

Devon cottage scenes during the cholera.

Presented by: Carman, Cathy

Using the diary of a Devon vicar to describe the scenes in a Devon village during the cholera outbreak of 1832

LONDON

Richard Turner: an excise officer in London.

Presented by: Trethewey, Jillian M

The life of a 19th century Excise officer based in London. Jill describes how she researched her ancestor and the records that are available.

Watermen in London: the Round family in Williamstown.

Presented by: Ansell, Robyn

Are you struggling to write your family history? Are you surrounded with paper or digital files wondering where to go next?

Margaret Vines will conducting her Writing Family History course over three weeks commencing on Monday 20 June. Margaret has successfully run this course for many years. She is the author of several books about her family including the recently published John Vines from Christian Malford: a Wiltshire convict and his family. Margaret also has many years of experience as a member of the Editorial Committee for the GSV journal Ancestor.

The course will be conducted by Zoom over three weeks. There with be zoom sessions on each Monday at 10.30 am for face-to-face contact with Margaret. Participants will discuss information and techniques for writing future articles and books, particularly

• The Writing Process - getting started, especially drafting and editing
• Basic writing skills
• Historical skills, including documenting your writing

With encouragement and feedback, each student will produce a small piece of family history of about 1,500 to 2,000 words. Participants will be expected to be writing both in class and between classes.

You can enrol in the course by registering on the GSV Event Page listing for 20 June, click here..

The charge for the course is $90 for GSV Members.

Enrol now to ensure you do not miss out as there is a limit of 10 places.

At this meeting Clare Claydon will lead a group discussion on some useful resources for extending your knowledge of the history of India, its influence on world history and how the British lived and worked on the sub-continent. India developed sophisticated cultures and technologies long before Europe and, with China, led the world for more than 2,000 years, economically and politically as well as culturally and technologically. Over time Indian religions, language and culture have travelled the globe and had immense influence on societies throughout the world.

Come along and enter into the discussion. The Circle is open to all GSV Members. Please remember to register through the GSV event page to obtain the zoom link.

A Reminder to Register …… Note that this is an evening meeting (6pm-7pm)

This presentation by Craig Sandy, Surveyor-General of Victoria, will be held on Monday May 2 by Zoom, 6pm-7pm and will examine the role of the early surveyors in the establishment of Melbourne and Colonial Victoria.

The event is being held in conjunction with RHSV ($5 for members)

Register now via the GSV website (https://www.gsv.org.au) or by using the link:

https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/event/the-role-of-the-surveyors-in-the-establishment-of-melbourne-and-victoria/

If you are quick you can book in to hear from Ken Smith and learn how to go about finding early Victorian land records.

This coming Thursday 21 November 12.00 - 1.00 pm. at GSV Research Centre.

Go HERE for details and to book. Places still available if you are quick.

$5 GSV members. $20 non-members. FHC, RHSV and CAV members should contact the GSV for a 25% discount.

Bookings are required and can be made online, by email, in person or by telephone (Mon-Fri 9.00am-4.00pm). Joint members please book in separately if both attending.

Our guest speaker Ken Smith is a long-time member of the Port Phillip Pioneers Group (PPPG). Ken has researched early records of the Port Phillip District. He has scrutinised all the land transactions in the Port Phillip District from the time of the first land sales on 1 June 1837 until 1851 with the aim of finding where people lived.

You can read more about the Port Phillip Pioneers Group https://www.portphillippioneersgroup.org.au/

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APOLOGIES

Our original post for this talk apparenty mixed up two Ken Smiths  both associated with Port Phillip Pioneers Group. We extend our apologies to both. But this Ken Smith's talk at GSV was well-attended and much appreciated by all.

GSV Blog Editor

Updated: 14 Dec 2019.

I see that in 1897 in the Bendigo City Court my great grandfather was one of six men charged by Mounted Constable Lysaght with having neglected to vaccinate their children against smallpox virus. At the close of the 18th C this contagious disease killed 400,000 people in Europe each year and 80% of children who caught it died. After 1853 all Australian colonies, except NSW and Queensland, introduced compulsory vaccination for smallpox, and it wasn't until 1980 that WHO declared it eradicated.

My ancestor was fined 10 shillings and 2/6 costs for failing to provide a vaccination certificate, whether through preoccupation, laziness, or misguided principle we can't know.

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The Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV) could help your COVID-affected small business during this difficult time.

Do you, or does someone you know, have a small business in Victoria offering services to the family-history community? If your business is having a tough time in this locked-down world tell us what you do and the GSV may tell others on this popular blog Family History Matters, which goes out to over 3000 people.

Maybe you provide genealogical or record-searching services, research and write about people or old houses, offer publishing or print services for family historians, provide photographic and digitisation services, photo-restoration, or provide archive material or skills. COVID-19 has reminded us of the importance of our connections to others, to the past and to our family's future. The value of whatever you do to help us capture our family stories is all the more apparent as we live through the pandemic of our own times.

You could also consider helping the GSV by: 

- donating HERE

- advertising in Ancestor, our quarterly journal. See PLACING AN AD for rates and details (copy for Sept closing end June)

- becoming a member or giving a membership - JOIN HERE

- engage us for paid research. Find out how HERE.

Contact us with your story at blog@gsv.org.au

Book an ad in Ancestor at ancestor@gsv.org.au

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'Small Pox in Melbourne'; Illustrated Australian News, David Syme & Co, 3 Sept 1884 (SLV Accession IAN03/09/84/133).

This week I decided to go for a trip and visit the church of St James* in Haslingden Lancashire. I had been finding lots of records of Barnes family in the 1800s from there courtesy of the MyHeritage database access for GSV Members. (see below).

'Exciting to be getting out' I thought, so I drove up from Manchester and got off the motorway on to the A680. Shortly I entered the valley village of Haslingden nestled between the high moors and the Forest of Rossendale to the east. After some to-and fro-ing I could see the way up a side street to the church gates on the hill. It was great to see it and also great to get out after a few weeks of 'iso'. From the air I had seen the little cleft in the moors to the west that had enfolded the old village of Grane and Blackhill Farm where my ancestors had probably been for centuries. So I thought I would turn up Heap Clough, a small side road and have a look on the ground. I could see up the old track, so I stopped, got out to walk - and fell into a black void of undocumented nothingness. Google Street View© hadn't been there.

***

Good news for GSV members. More databases can be accessed from home, Jenny Redman, GSV President announced this week.

'I hope this finds you virus-free and well, with plenty of time to continue your family history research. We are pleased to be able to tell you that we now have access to two more databases for you to use from home. This is in addition to the access we already have to MyHeritage.

The library versions of findmypastand TheGenealogistare now available for GSV members only. Instructions for accessing these databases can be obtained by logging into the members area of the GSV website. Allow time for these instructions to be received as emails are replied to between 10am-4pm on Monday to Friday.Please note that members cannot use any personal subscription to findmypastat the same time as using this library version. Also note the 20-minute time limit and the need to logout when using TheGenealogist.

For those less familiar with the content of the major databases there is a very good introduction at https://www.rootstech.org/video/comparing-the-genealogy-giants?lang=eng

This is a video link to Sunny Morton’s talk 'Comparing the Genealogy Giants: Ancestry, FamilySearch, findmypast and MyHeritage'at the London 2019 RootsTech conference.Sonny’s basic message about finding which records are on which site is to look at the Catalogues at each site (subscriptions not necessary).

findmypast has good Irish record collections, 1939 census, maps and extensive UK parish records (many quite early and not available elsewhere).

Unfortunately the video does not include TheGenealogist, a good UK-based site for census and parish (especially non-conformist) records, tithe maps, war and many other records.

I should also remind you that the free “Quick Lookup” service for members is still available despite the GSV Centre being closed.

Enjoy your researching and stay safe,

Best wishes,

Jenny Redman, GSV President

***

Where will you go next week?

Me? I've got to write up this week's trip and the story of the Barnes of the Rossendale Valley first.

* No doubt eagle-eyed readers picked up that St Chads was incorrect, that is in Rochdale and also Poulton-le-Fylde. Of course.

***

How are you going in your research of the women in your family tree?

Some of the discussion circles this month are talking about this, eg CONE (Counties of Northern England) on 8 March.

This is a photo of my great great grandmother Emma Pearson nee Rowden, born 1853. Her father had left for Australia in 1855 so she would barely have known him. Her mother died in 1857. There is a gap in my research from then until she emigrated to Australia in 1864 aged eleven.

She came to Australia with a widow, Elizabeth Bowden nee Downing. Elizabeth became Emma’s stepmother and they lived in Melbourne city.

Emma married in 1874 in Geelong to Frederick Augustus Pearson. My great grandmother, Florence May (May) was born nine months later.

As we often find, it’s always easier to research the men in our families. Sometimes we only learn where our women ancestors lived and what they did because of our research of these men. Emma and Frederick lived in Geelong. Frederick was a professor of music, a composer, a band master and a piano teacher. His body was found face down in deep water near Limeburners jetty, Geelong in 1884 aged just 36 years.

Emma was now a widow with five small children. One of her sons had died in 1882 at six months old. Emma may also have been an accomplished musician, as I found her working as a piano teacher in Geelong in 1888.

She died in 1889 of acute gastritis. Her daughter, May, was fourteen years old and the youngest son was only five. Emma’s father and his third wife took the children in and raised them.

My research of Emma is much more difficult than my research of her husband or father. But by trawling through BDM certificates, PROV inquests, PO directories, and Trove family notices, business advertisements and court inquest reports, I have been gradually joining the dots.

Jackie van Bergen

The GSV has recently released a new feature which enables members to enter and display the family names and brief details of ancestors and special interest areas they are researching. This database is only able to be accessed by members of GSV.

Log into the GSV website, select Members Area, then select Member Research Interests Database.

You can access this database to search existing entries, and to submit or edit your own entries.

It’s really easy to use. There are ‘?’ buttons beside each field for clarification.

You must select a ‘Discussion Circle/SIG’ or ‘Other Interest’.

There is a Comment box for additional information.

Your email address is not seen by others viewing the database.

Use the search boxes at the top of the screen to filter to database to identify shared interests.

If you wish to follow up an entry submitted by another member, you can click on that person’s name. This takes you to a form where you can type your response or query and this is emailed to the member.

If you have questions, there are lots of answers in the FAQ section of the Home page of the GSV website.

What have you got to lose?

Maybe you’ll break down one of those brickwalls, or find a long lost relation!

Apologies if you received a garbled copy of this!

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A busy few weeks ahead

Zoom talks start again this week. It looks like being a busy month with eight events in this later part of January.

Meg Bate kicks off the year on Wednesday with a small interactive class on accessing Australian BDM records from home and at the GSV library.

On Thursday 20 January, David Down discusses the 1836 Tithe Commutation Act. These are very useful records for those wanting to learn more about the places that your ancestors lived and worked.

The following week sees the resumption of our discussion circles and a talk introducing the 1921 census of England and Wales on Monday 24 January.

Mary McKee of FindMyPast will provide historical context, answer questions and give you all-important tips for effective searching. Book in and learn how to track down those elusive relatives.

All these events are free, so pop over to the GSV website and book yourself in.

Jackie van Bergen