GSV News

We’ve ‘travelled’ to South Australia, New South Wales, New Zealand and Queensland in our State to State series so far. If you weren’t able to attend SA and NSW presentations, you can find them as webcasts in the Members area of our website. They are well worth a visit. The NZ and Qld webcasts will be available soon.

Tuesday 28 October at 1.30pm sees us ‘travel’ to the ACT. Michele Rainger, President of Family History ACT will highlight the unique resources in Family History ACT society’s collection and answer questions about researching ancestors who lived and worked in the Territory.

This event is open and free to all members via Zoom. Please register via the Activities tab of the GSV website to obtain the Zoom link - https://www.gsv.org.au/current-and-upcoming-events.

Forward notice:
On Wednesday 26 November at 10.30am we travel across the strait to Tassie:
President of the Tasmanian Family History Society, Robyn Gibson will give us a summary of the TFHS branches and the resources they hold. She will also give some general comments on Tasmanian family history resources.

Did you know you can access MyHeritage for free as a GSV member?
There are two ways: 
1: through the Members Area - Access from Home section of our website: you can contact us during office hours to get the password.
2: through the Research - Research Services section of our website: you can search at home and send in a quick look up request with a screenshot or all the details.

Of course, if you are like me and want the answer NOW - you can get a subscription to MyHeritage. Make sure you look out for specials or times when they offer extra.

Don’t forget to join us for one (or two) of our MyHeritage talks on Zoom.
We are lucky to have Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage talk us through many of the features. 

Tue 14 Oct at 7.00pm: Planting a Family Tree Online on MyHeritage
Get a general overview of the MyHeritage platform and features so you can use these technologies to quickly and efficiently grow your tree. You’ll learn the basics of building or importing a tree, adding new people, and filling in their details.

Fri 17 Oct at 7.00pm: Maximizing MyHeritage Technologies for Family History Research
Learn more about the key technologies that make finding family members on MyHeritage quick and simple. Take an in-depth look at MyHeritage’s AI tools, matching technologies, DNA features, and billions of historical records, and receive helpful tips to leverage them for your genealogy research.

It’s time to think about who to give a DNA kit for Christmas and purchase before the end of the October.
Ancestry have kits from $69
MyHeritage have kits from $58

Following the success of our January 2025 talk: “I got a DNA kit for Christmas, now what do I do?” we will be running another early in 2026.

This talk will lead in to a repeat of the “Using your DNA for Family History” course to start a month or two later and run for about seven sessions. This course is designed in separate modules and you can book for the entire course, or just modules where you feel your knowledge needs a refresher.

And don’t forget our DNA Study group aimed at the more intermediate or advanced level.

You can find more information about DNA and the GSV here:
https://www.gsv.org.au/dna-and-family-history-gsv

In the recent education team survey that so many of our members responded to, the top of the list of ‘want to learn more’ was Online Databases.

We took notice and have organised a couple of talks to start addressing this need.

These talks will be aimed at different levels as you also indicated your level of expertise in certain areas.

First cab off the rank is Daniel Horowitz from My Heritage in October.
This will be followed by Jenny Harkness of FamilySearch in November.

Tue 14 Oct, 7pm: Planting a family tree online on MyHeritage: a general overview of the MyHeritage platform and features

Fri 17 Oct, 7pm: Maximising MyHeritage technologies: take an in depth look at the specialist tools and technologies available with a MyHeritage subscription.

Thu 19 Nov, 10.30am: New features of FamilySearch, focusing on those found through the FamilySearch Labs link, and the new full text search.

Stay tuned for more. We are working on getting people from other online databases to talk to us.
Thank you for your feedback to help us shape our education offerings.

Trena Ronnfeldt joins the Genealogy Society of Victoria staff today as as our new Library and Resources Manager, bringing with her a rich and varied background that includes three years at the National Library of Australia, where she worked with Trove and served as a Reference Librarian.

Before transitioning into the library sector, Trena built a successful career in administration and retail support, honing her organisational and customer service skills - strengths that continue to shape her professional approach. Her lifelong passion for family history inspired her to pursue a career in libraries, and in 2021 she graduated with High Distinctions from the Diploma of Library and Information Services at Swinburne University, completing work placements at both the National Archives and the National Library of Australia in Canberra.

A dedicated family historian since childhood, Trena deepened her expertise by completing the Diploma of Family History at the University of Tasmania in 2025, earning a place on the Roll of Excellence. She is particularly interested in harnessing DNA analysis and innovative technologies to deepen and expand genealogical research.

With a broad range of experience in family history methods, Trena is enthusiastic about sharing ideas, learning from others, and contributing her skills and energy to the vibrant GSV community.

Do you have Welsh ancestors and wonder why they came to Australia? Or perhaps like me, wondered why they moved from England to Wales? What political, religious and socio-economic factors were influencing our ancestors?

Historian and educator, Nigel Hughes will join our Welsh discussion circle on 2 Oct at 7.30pm. Please note the evening time slot as Nigel lives in Aberystwyth, Wales.

Nigel will share insights into the social forces that shaped our ancestors' lives and decisions to migrate. He will discuss the discontent in Welsh society from the fourteenth to the early twentieth century, with focus on cause and effect of emigration and inward immigration.

This is a special opportunity for conversation with someone on the ground in Wales. Nigel is keen to interact and assist you so please come along with your questions.

Photo courtesy of Jackie van Bergen: William Francis, born in Bridgend Glamorganshire in 1835, emigrated in 1862, her 2x Great grandfather.

The GSV missed the deadline for advertising in the seniors month publications.

But we didn’t miss organising some great free events for our members and friends.

These events are open to the public for the month of October:

Fri 3 Oct at 1.30pm: Researching your Scottish ancestry back from Victoria to Scotland

Mon 6 Oct at 1.30pm: This class on ScotlandsPeople website will explore what you can find on the website, how to register as a user, buy credits, and obtain certificates.

Sat 18 Oct at 9am: Introduction to the GSV and its Resources: A good intro for a non or new member: what resources do we hold, how can you access them from home or in our Research Centre.

Sat 18 Oct at 10.30am: Researching your Family History: Looks at methodology: searching, recording, staying on track and pitfalls.

These events are free for both members and non-members.
We hope to see you there.

You can register on our website under the Activities tab, Events.

Are you interested in convict history? Do you have convicts in your family tree?

Disorderly Women, a new musical play based on real events, tells the story of the first female convict ship that transported women from England to Sydney Cove in 1789. Scandal followed the ship, the Lady Juliana, and it became known over time as a floating brothel. In the play, we meet the feisty women who made the perilous journey, learning of their heartache, fear, conflicts, humour, and warm camaraderie. Stuffed full of memorable songs from a range of different genres, this is an uproarious, poignant and engaging musical.

GSV member Gillian Sealby has written this musical play about the first female convict ship, the Lady Juliana. 
She based her writing on historical facts from the book The Floating Brothel by Sian Rees. 

The play is part of the 2025 Melbourne Fringe Festival:

DISORDERLY WOMEN
Dates & Times: 9 & 10 Oct at 8.30pm. AND 11 & 12 Oct at 4.30pm & 6.30pm.
Running time: 50 mins running time
Venue: Curate Space, Level 6, 306 Little Collins St, (entrance via The Causeway Lane), Melbourne, VIC 3000
Tickets: $32 standard. Conc: $20 - $28. Discounts for group bookings.
To buy tickets: https://www.melbournefringe.com.au/whats-on/events/disorderly-women

A GSV member was recently walking along the waterfront at Mumbles (Wales) and recognised another Australian couple by their AFL gear (all sad Bombers supporters). After chatting with them she found out that the woman was descended from the Ace sisters who were commemorated in a blue plaque our member had just seen at the end of the Mumbles Pier. This lady told her a little of their story. Not knowing at the time that Jessie and Margaret's story is very well documented, our member asked if she had written it down for her family.  'Oh no, I couldn't do that!' was the shocked response.

Sometimes the 'couldn't' is about ownership. Sometimes it's about the mechanics of writing or the organisation of the story.  Sometimes it's just hard to get started.
Whatever your 'couldn't', if you want to write your family stories, you should enrol in the new GSV course 'Writing Family Stories’.

This is a writing course with a difference.
It is not just one day. It is not just lectures. It’s not even just writing exercises.
We have mentors. They are authors, academics, historians, teachers, UTas grads, and they are there to help you tell your story. They will work with you and give you feedback as you work through the course.

Don’t miss out, only a few places left.
Course fee: $200 for the full course, GSV members only.

The course will be over four Tuesdays from 2.30pm to 4pm via zoom:
Tue 7 Oct: Getting ready to write
Tue 21 Oct: Tell your story
Tue 11 Nov: Revise and polish
Tue 25 Nov: Share your story

In our recent survey, a number of questions / issues were raised in the ‘suggestion’ box. 
With such a large response to the survey, and so many different issues, we can’t contact you all individually. We’ll try to address a few of the more common issues raised.

I don’t have many ancestors in Victoria so don’t tap into your resources much.
We are not just a Victorian research society. We are based in Victoria and have a number of unique Victorian resources, but we are skilled researchers in many areas. All of us have researched ancestors who came from and lived in other states and countries.
We have many discussion circles (all free with your membership) focused on other parts of the world. You can find the links to these under the Activities tab on our website.
A quick look up request can be for international queries too. This is also free for members and can be found under the Research tab on our website.

I live interstate. I can’t get into the city. I work during the day.
Did you know most of our talks are on zoom, and recorded? In most cases, the recording is emailed to those subscribing to the relevant noticeboard. 
We are trying to make most talks available as a webcast but need more volunteers to help us get ahead of the backlog. Perhaps you can help? We will train you.
Many of our resources, or at least indexes are available online through our catalogue. You can search these from home and send a quick look up request (also free with your membership) to check the relevance to your research. In many cases we are able to send you an image of the result. 
And don’t forget our free monthly ‘Introduction to the GSV and its Resources’ sessions. A great introduction and ‘how to’ for our online resources. Check our Events under the Activities tab on our website.

I’d like to learn more about DNA.
We are almost finished our ‘learning about’ course for this year. It will run again next year. If you have been working with your DNA for some time, you might be comfortable joining our DNA study group which meets on the first Tuesday of each month. You can email them on dna@gsv.org.au
We also have a couple of library research assistants who can help with DNA research requests.
You can find more information under the Activities tab on our website.

How to progress from brick walls / dead ends
Have you tried our discussion circles? We have many of these and they are all free with your membership. I recently took a brick wall to the Midlands group and received a couple of brilliant leads which have taken me to the next generation. If you can’t attend the actual zoom session, you can still submit your brick wall to the convenor. It can then be used as a case study and discussed in the meeting with the results fed back to you.
You can find the contact details for the discussion circles under the Activities tab on our website.

Jackie van Bergen