GSV News

Our next meeting is by Zoom on Friday 4 November, 1:30 to 3:00pm.  

Women in the English Civil War (the presentation delayed from September) will open this meeting. This is a great topic - too often the place of women in our history has been neglected and this is an opportunity to hear their stories and learn about researching and placing them in that time of war and change.

We will then start looking at records from the 1700s that will be useful in your research. There are many useful records available that can help us identify and locate our ancestors despite not having a National Census every 10 years.

Finally, we will hear how using DNA test results together with traditional research helped break through a brick wall allowing a family story that was stuck in the early 1800s to extend back to the early 1700s. Not a talk on how to do DNA but how DNA results coupled with records are a powerful research resource. The family was from Suffolk but the method can be used anywhere.

GSV Discussion Circles are free for members but don’t forget to register.

I never miss an opportunity to collect family stories.

A couple of years ago I was with my parents near Melbourne Cup time. My grandfather owned a large racehorse transport company. Dad worked with him for several years, including driving trucks on busy days like Cup Day. I have fond memories of travelling in the truck with Dad when he transported Rain Lover to one of the Cups that he won.

I asked Dad about his time as a driver. He mentioned that he saw Jean Shrimpton, and was only a couple of metres away from her.

Dad had a bit of a chuckle as he remembered the reactions and the ‘fuss made by all the old matrons over this young bird who had no hat, no gloves and a very short skirt.’

He said she was a ‘very pretty slim girl’ but he wasn’t that interested, he was already married to a ‘very pretty slim girl’.

This lighthearted questioning then prompted Dad to expand on his time driving. He talked about how early they had to start, how hard the work was - so much pressure to get horses transported with tight deadlines and keep them calm, and with no mobile phones. He told me sometimes he’d get a ‘good feed from an owner or trainer in their posh tent, or champagne and fancy food out of the back of their Rolls Royce.’

Do you have family memories of Melbourne Cup time?

Perhaps this is a good time to record some stories of your own.

Jackie van Bergen

Jenny Redman will lead a discussion on 20 Oct at 1.30pm: DNA testing and your Family History: Why, How and When. She will look at how DNA testing can help you find your family story and how to do that testing.

Are you nervous about security and privacy issues? Jenny will cover these in this session. There will be plenty of time for questions.

This event is free for members and visitors as part of the Victorian Seniors Festival. It’s presented via zoom and you need to register on the website under Activities.

An invaluable resource: Off the Drawing Board

Patrick Ferry, a GSV favourite, returns to tell us about a little-known collection held by the National Archives of Australia: over 5,000 architectural drawings of public buildings across Victoria.

The collection of drawings date back to the 1850s and covers not just landmark buildings but suburban and rural facilities too.

This event is free for GSV Members only, with a limit of 45. Please log in to register.

‘Off the Drawing Board’ is a joint event, presented by the Royal Historical Society of Victoria. Presented via Zoom on 17 October at 10.30am.

You may have read in the latest edition of Ancestor that the University of Tasmania is offering a scholarship for a GSV member to study their Diploma of Family History commencing in 2023.

Applications are now open and can be made online through the University’s Scholarship Office: https://info.scholarships.utas.edu.au/AwardDetails.aspx?AwardId=2940

Details of the scholarship are:

• The scholarship will cover the full tuition fees
• The course is fully online and flexible, consisting of 8 units that can be studied at the student's own pace
• Applications are open to members of GSV
• The scholarship recipient will be announced in November
• Applications will need to include:
  1. Evidence of current membership of the GSV
  2. A brief CV (max. 2 pages)
  3. A written statement, comprising two parts:
     • A micro-story (max. 350 words) regarding a family photograph or heirloom and what it reveals about your family history
     • A response to the question (max. 250 words): What would a scholarship to study the Diploma of Family History mean to you?
  4. Be able to commence study in Term 1, in February 2023.

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your family history research skills and to expand your knowledge in finding and interpreting information about families in the past and sharing family stories with others. Further details about the course may be found on the University’s website: https://www.utas.edu.au/courses/cale/courses/r2h-diploma-of-family-history

Breaking News from National Family History Month!

We are delighted to announce that you can now view a recording of a presentation that Dr Jonathan Richards, Adjunct Research Fellow at the School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry UQ, hoped to present at Congress recently.

Dr Richards researches and writes about Australian (mostly Queensland) history, particularly colonial and frontier policy and violence.

His talk about convict Israel Shaw is fascinating to all those who research convicts and covers a wide terrain from Tasmania in the south to Norfolk Island and then Queensland in the north.

You can watch the recording of it here at a time to suit you. Enjoy!

Don't forget to register for our Closing Ceremony on Wednesday 31st August at 5pm.

Our speakers will be joining us live from Yorkshire and Israel via Zoom.

Speakers : Catherine Warr (YouTube Yorkshire's Hidden History) and Daniel Horowitz (MyHeritage)

How to Bring your Ancestors to Life!

Catherine will share how to make history interesting, engaging and accessible for everyone.

Daniel will talk about MyHeritage's latest tool DeepStory and how it can enhance your storytelling.

Catherine Warr has become one of the most prominent young local historians, reaching thousands of people all over the world through her YouTube channel Yorkshire's Hidden History. With a passion for making history interesting, engaging, and accessible for all, she has been featured in a national YouTube campaign recognising regional creators. Her first book - A Yorkshire Year: 366 Days of Folklore, Customs, and Traditions - is due to be released in Summer 2022.

Daniel Horowitz is a Genealogy Expert at MyHeritage, providing key contributions liaising with genealogy Societies, bloggers and media, as well as lecturing, and attending conferences around the world. Dedicated to Genealogy since 1986, he was the teacher and the study guide editor of the family history project “Searching for My Roots” in Venezuela for 15 years. Daniel is involved in several crowdsource digitization and transcription projects and holds a board level position at the Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA).

There are still so many wonderful prizes to give away. Check out our competition page here https://familyhistorymonth.org.au/index.php/competition-page.

To register for the Closing Ceremony just email jan@jansquire.com to be sent the details to connect via Zoom or use the NFHM website contact form.

Member Societies Showcase

Gisborne Genealogical Group Inc

Spring is coming, time to get out and about again?

How about the Gisborne Genealogical Group’s Celtic Day on Saturday 27 August, 9.30am to 4.00pm?

You could also visit their Family History Room and support regional tourism by making a weekend of it and doing both!

Make the most of your trip to Gisborne and also call in at The Gisborne and Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society centre, just on the other side of the library from GGG. This is open Wednesdays.

CELTIC DAY SCHEDULE

Saturday 27 August 2022

THREE SESSIONS

9.45 – 11.00am – The Celts, Cornwall, and the Cornish in Australia – Lyn Hall

11.15 – 12.30pm - Scottish Kirk Session Records – Joy Roy

1.15 – 2.40pm – You can’t research Irish ancestors - All the records were lost – WRONG! - Susie Zada

Venue – Uniting Church, Brantome Street, Gisborne

Bookings are essential

Contact Lorna Jackson – Ph 0402 091 034

Featuring Harpist – Fran Thiele



GGG members: $20 | non-members: $25

For more information please contact Lorna Jackson at: lorna_jackson@bigpond.com

FAMILY HISTORY ROOM

The Family History Room is located next to the Gisborne Library. It will be open for research, between 1.00pm and 4.00pm. each day during the week preceding our Celtic Day (Monday 22 August until Friday 26 August).

Volunteers will be on duty each day to help you with your research queries.

The Family History Library contains:

• over 1200 reference books
• thousands of fiche
• data CDs and DVDs
• journals
• maps

You can view the catalogue at https://www.ggg.org.au/catalogue

Additional family history resources (e.g. Ancestry.com, findmypast, Trove and over 300 years of UK newspapers) are available on the Gisborne Library computer system. For more information visit the Gisborne Library’s Family History page at https://www.ncgrl.vic.gov.au/e-resources/familyhistory<p>

For further information about the Gisborne Genealogical Group, please see their webpage: https://www.ggg.org.au

Images

Top: Family History Room of the Gisborne Genealogical Group, part of the old Council Chambers and Mechanics Institute complex. (Photo courtesy of GGG).

Bottom: Gisborne and Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society in the restored old Gisborne Court House (1858). (Photos courtesy of G&MMDHC).

Acknowledgments: Julie Dworak, GGG; Kristy Love, GSV volunteer.

[Other GSV Member Societies might like to showcase their activities in this section of our blog. Ed]

Each year the GSV awards a Writing Prize for family-history writing.

The purpose of the Prize is:

• to encourage the writing of family history
• to provide an opportunity for recognition and publication
• to publish the winner as an example of quality family history writing

Last year's winner Sue Wight, in ’The Mystery of the extra Booth Hodgett’, conveyed the thrill of her chase in solving a family history mystery. You can read the judge’s report from last year on the GSV website and also read the winning entry in the December 2021 Ancestor issue.

The GSV website / Ancestor tab gives essential guidelines for writing articles that may appeal to the readership of our journal and contribute to our told stories.

So there is time and incentive to finalise that article you have been working on!

Entries close 4 pm Friday 26 August

Full details of the competition are on the website

https://www.gsv.org.au/gsv-writing-prize-2022

In the last few months the GSV has uploaded 13,028 records to our Genealogical Index of Names (GIN) database and 10,035 Records to our Milestone database.

Many thanks to all our hardworking DIGI team who assist us. The highlights of the additions are below.

Genealogical Index of Names (GIN) Database

VICTORIA

General alphabetical list of electors of the Electoral District of Port Phillip for the year commencing 1st June 1850, and ending 31st May 1851

[Index to] The Victorian municipal directory and gazetteer for 1885 compiled by David Holloway

Baringhup schools: Baringhup State School No. 1687 (Old), Baringhup West State School No. 941

Register of municipal ratepayers: Nepean ward and surrounding areas of the Mornington Peninsula shire 1864-1900 compiled by Frank South

FAMILY HISTORY

Index of names from “My wonderful family and me: an overview of Alan's ancestry” by Alan Haintz. Families include Haintz, Boadle, Kelly, Bousted, Lyons, Pickering

Milestones

GEROGERY (NEW SOUTH WALES)

Gerogery Lutheran cemetery headstones 1869-1979 by C A J Summerton

NARACOORTE (SOUTH AUSTRALIA)

'The Spirits' of Pioneer Park: Narracoorte-Kincraig Cemetery 1850-1878 by Murray Sherwell

CLUNES (VICTORIA)

Clunes burial register 1861-1989 compiled by Genealogical Society of Victoria Ballarat Group

YAN YEAN (VICTORIA)

Yan Yean cemetery (Whittlesea) headstones 14/5/1853-2/5/1951 compiled by Niel T Hansen

GEELONG (VICTORIA)

St Giles Presbyterian church Geelong: baptisms 1889-1916

MELTON (VICTORIA)

Christ Church Melton marriage register 1906-1954 compiled by Judith Bilszta

RICHMOND (VICTORIA)

St Stephen's Church of England, Richmond, Victoria baptisms 1901-1914 compiled by Miriam Macartney.

What did you and your ancestors play with as a child?

Dr Carla Pascoe Leahy will explore the history of children’s play in the twentieth century in a talk on 14 July at 10.30am. She’ll draw on evocative examples from her own research and the collection of Museums Victoria.

This is a joint zoom event with the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and has limited numbers.

Book in early. It’s $5 for GSV members.

The title “Slingshots, rag dolls and knucklebones” prompted me to look through my old photos. I found quite a few photos of my grandfather’s siblings, and my mother and her sister at play. What a wonderful prompt for a 350 word story. Perhaps you are also inspired.

If so, register for the talk, check your old photos, and then write up a little story for one of the discussion groups.

Written by Jackie van Bergen