GSV News

Valerie Britton-Wilson: GSV’s British in India circle’s guest speaker on Tuesday 18th March at 7:30 pm.

I think many Family Historians fantasise about discovering a suitcase containing a trove of one’s ancestors’ love letters! Melbourne-based author, Valerie Britton-Wilson did just that. And to add to the interest, Valerie’s forebears include French, Irish, Italian, British and Indian lines.

In her book, “A Touch of India”, Valerie tells the story of her mother, Pearl, a young Anglo-Indian woman, determined to become a journalist, in Bombay (Mumbai) towards the end of the second World War.  She met, and ultimately married, a Chindit officer who was on leave from the extraordinarily dangerous and challenging fighting behind the Japanese lines in the jungles of Burma.

Eventually Valerie’s parents migrated to Australia and had to negotiate around the remnants of the White Australia policy.  Valerie herself became an academic, but a trip to India in the late 1990s aroused in her a fascination with that country.  She started a textile and clothing importation business, bringing Indian clothes and fabric, with all their charming irregularities, to the Australian market.

Valerie has continued her love affair with India and has very interesting insights into what is happening in modern India and its colonial past. She will be talking about a very recently completed trip to India as well as her book, “A Touch of India: Chutney Mary, Charming Irregularities and an Unlikely Romance” which is available to view in the GSV library.

Valerie’s talk will be of interest to those interested in India, tourism, textiles, family history (aren't we all?), religions, caste, and what it meant to be an Anglo-Indian.  She herself is a perceptive and amusing storyteller. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear her story with the British in India circle on Tuesday 18th March at 7.30 pm. Simply go to the Events Registration page and sign up!

Clare Claydon

Convenor
British India Discussion Circle

Driven by troubles or drawn by hope? A journey of grand adventure or one of trials and tribulations? Travelled alone or with their community? Do you know what your ancestors' migration experience was like?

How do you think you got here? Immigration to Victoria in the Nineteenth Century is a seminar examining the motives, mechanics and experience of immigrating to the Colony of Victoria in the 1800s.

The one day seminar will be held at the Docklands Library between 9am and 4pm on Saturday 29 March.

Professor Dianne Hall of Victoria University, historian Dr. Liz Rushen, and panels of family history researchers will address the questions:

Why did they come?
What schemes brought migrants to Australia?
What happened on the voyage?
What did immigrants experience on arrival in Melbourne?
What resources are available at the Immigration Museum, PROV, SLV, TROVE, FHC and GSV to help you discover what your ancestors experienced?

Tickets cost $70 for GSV or Family History Connections members and $90 for members of the public.

For more information or to book, visit https://www.gsv.org.au/how-do-you-think-you-got-here

How do you think you got here? Immigration to Victoria in the Nineteenth Century is a joint venture of the Genealogical Society of Victoria and Family History Connections.

Image Information:
Chevalier, N. (Nicholas). (1863). EMIGRANTS LANDING AT THE QUEEN’S WHARF, MELBOURNE. [picture]. Melbourne: Ebenezer and David Syme. State Library of Victoria

If you have tested your DNA with Ancestry and wish to learn some basic techniques for effectively working with your match lists to confirm your family tree and solve its mysteries, then we have the course for you.

The seven session course Using DNA for Family History will begin on Wednesday 12 March 10am-12pm and continue monthly from May to October. Meeting over Zoom, Maureen Trotter will lead sessions providing ample time for questions and discussion. The course will cover:

1. Exploring our DNA results
   • the genealogical treasures included with our Ancestry DNA results
   • how to navigate and make sense of the information
2. Shared Matches: Our Connection to Cousins
   • how shared DNA, relationship estimate tools and family trees can help us work out relationships to matches
   • what to do if our DNA results reveal unexpected relationships.
3. Clustering DNA Matches
   • learn two easy methods of organising your DNA match list to group related people
4. Research Objectives and Tree Building
   • using specific research objectives to help us focus on the relevant cluster of matches
   • how to set up a private and unsearchable research tree for your matches and find connections
5. Confirming your Tree and Solving Mysteries
   • how to solve more complex family mysteries using all of Ancestry’s hints systems, including Thrulines, building research trees and charts
6. Digging Deeper
   • investigate some of the innovative tools and techniques developed to enhance our DNA research, including uploading to other sites, keeping track of matches with multiple kits and across different companies
7. Sharing your progress
   • the possibilities for sharing your findings should you choose to
   • Discussion of our progress so far

The course is run as a progression of classes which should be completed consecutively, but can be taken as one off events for those who need a refresher on that topic.

Each session will cost $20 for members and $40 for non-members.

To register for the first session visit here.

Nearly 3000 single, free women arrived in Australia in the 1830s in response to enticing advertising and a scheme to encourage women to migrate. At least a quarter of these women are known to have married convicts.

On Thu 27 Feb at 1.30pm, Dr Liz Rushen AM will discuss why so many of these free women married men still under sentence.

This will be a hybrid meeting for GSV members only. When you register you should indicate whether you will attend by zoom or in person. The venue is the Kathleen Syme Library, 251 Faraday St, Carlton.

Dr Liz Rushen AM is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University, on the Editorial Board of the Australian Dictionary of Biography and a Director of the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network. She is also a member of the Professional Historians Association (Vic & Tas), a former Executive Director of the RHSV and former Chair of the History Council of Victoria. She has researched and written extensively on the experiences of nineteenth century migrants, particularly those who left Ireland. In 2021 Liz was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to community history and heritage preservation.

The Convicts and Transportation Discussion Circle meets quarterly and is free as part of a GSV membership.

You can register your intention to attend here or via https://www.gsv.org.au/events.

On Saturday 8 February, Dr Perry McIntyre will be presenting at the IADC zoom meeting. Dr McIntyre has been involved in and researched Irish history and genealogy for over 40 years.  Her topic "In good health and fit to undergo the voyage: workhouse orphan immigrants" will be based on the 4114 young women who arrived in Sydney, Port Phillip and Adelaide from the workhouses of Ireland during the period October 1848 to July 1850. Six ships from those ports offloaded 1,255 girls in Melbourne.

Dr McIntyre has published and spoken extensively on immigration, particularly 19th-century Irish immigration.  Her doctoral research on convict family reunion was first published by Irish Academic Press in 2010 and  then republished by Anchor Books in Australia in 2018.

The IADC are particularly thrilled that she has made herself available.  Within our cohort there is great interest in the Earl Grey Scheme, and in immigration from Ireland generally. Her talk is eagerly awaited.

Members can register to attend by logging into the GSV website and finding the Irish Ancestry Discussion Circle entry on the Events page.

This is a members only event held via Zoom on February 8th between 1 and 3pm.

About 1.8 million Australians have a Scot in their heritage, descended from the 230,000 who emigrated from the auld country in 1788-1900, and the many more who have arrived since then.

On Saturday 8th February, a special day of Scottish family history research is being held in Ballarat to explore the Scottish Australian experience.

The great list of speakers include:

• Carol Armstrong, Secretary BDGS: Overview & Scottish influence in Ballarat & Western District
• Jan McDonald, Secretary Victorian Scottish Union: The role of the Group and Scottish Clans
• Dr. Kevin Molloy, Principal Librarian State Library of Victoria: Victorian and Australian Collections
• Joy Roy, Secretary Bendigo Regional Genealogical Society: Scotland’s People
• Stephen Matthews, Vice Chair of Pipe Bands Victoria & Vice Principal (Ensemble Victoria) of the Pipe Band College: Pipe bands in Victoria history and development
• Rebecca Landy, GSV Library & Resources Manager: Resources and collections.

Book soon for a great day of all things Scottish and a chance to meet and share information with other Scottish descendants and researchers.

This is organised by the Ballarat & District Genealogical Society in conjunction with the Scottish Discussion Circle of the GSV.

All other details, including how to book, can be found on the GSV website here.

Image reference: Caledonian Society at Casterton, Victoria. 1909. Museums Victoria Collections https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/items/766361 Accessed 17 January 2025

If you are hoping to use DNA to further your genealogical research this year, the GSV can provide lots of support:

"I received a DNA test kit for Christmas. Now what?"
After briefly introducing how DNA is inherited, this information session will concentrate on DNA tests, hoping to answer all your questions about buying, registering, testing, preparing for test results, viewing and interpreting your results.

Wed Jan 22nd 10:30 am; Free for GSV members, $10 for non-members.

Using DNA for Family History
This newly revised course will help you learn some simple techniques for effectively working with your Ancestry DNA results to both confirm your family tree and solve mysteries.

Beginning in March 2025, for a small cost with discounts for GSV members and those who enrol for the whole course. More information is coming soon.

DNA Study Group
A free monthly discussion circle for GSV members with a keen interest in DNA who work together to continue to build skills and discuss new developments in genetic genealogy.  

BanyanDNA is the topic for the group’s first meeting of 2025 on Tues Feb 4th at 10 am.

You can register for each of these Zoom meetings via the GSV Events page.

Join the GSV Writers on Wed 5 Feb at 12.30pm for an author talk with a twist.

Prize winning author Jeff Steel will give an overview of how he became a published author, with some tips on how to get our family histories published. Jeff will look at such topics as:

• making your story ‘tasty’
• being clear on your genre
• the royal road to writing history
• self publishing for the family
• the use of back stories to upgrade good material to great material
• the challenge of dealing with pure gold material
• how to find, approach, and work with a publisher
• the curse of dodgy publishers

After discovering a link to the convenor’s border clan family, Jeff remarked to her: “Clan loyalty dictates that under the rules of chivalry, I have to creep up on you and take all your sheep.”

This sounds like an interesting and entertaining meeting. It’s free for members. Don’t forget to log in and register under the Activities tab.

You can read more about Jeff’s books at https://www.bigskypublishing.com.au/jeff-steel/

We do not produce an e-News in January, so here is a quick run down of our program of events for the month. We hope you can join us.

Tuesday 7th - The GSV Library Re-Opens

The library will reopen for normal operating hours from 10:00 am to 4pm Tuesday to Friday. Library Research Assistants will be available to help with your enquiries.

Saturday 11th - Library Research Day    GSV Library Open this Saturday    

The GSV library will be open on Saturday, January 11, welcoming members from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. For a smooth and secure visit, please remember that advance booking is essential. Ensure you reserve your spot no later than noon on the preceding Friday. You can make your reservation by reaching out to us via phone at (03) 9662 4455 (Monday to Friday, 9:30 am to 4:00 pm) or via an email to gsv@gsv.org.au.

Wednesday 22nd  - Special Event    "I was given a DNA test for Christmas. Now what?"

This presentation, including a Q&A, is for those who were given or gave a DNA test for Christmas but have questions about how to proceed. If you are pondering whether to take a test, this introductory session is for you too. Held via Zoom between 10:30am and 12pm, this session is open to members (free) and non-members ($10). A recording will be provided should you be unable to join us on the day. You can submit questions in advance of the session, to ensure they are addressed, by emailing Rebecca at libraryadmin@gsv.org.au.

Thursday 23rd - New and Existing Member Orientation: Discovering the GSV and our Resources

This session will examine who the GSV is, how we help each other with our research, what resources we hold and how best to access those resources from home and at the Research & Education Centre. The meeting is designed to inform both new and existing Members and will be held online via Zoom between 10:30-11:45am. Your host, David Down, will demonstrate how to access our online resources and will answer any questions.

Friday 24th  - Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle

Any GSV members can join convenors Jackie van Bergen and Michael Considine to share stories about our ancestors arrival into Victoria or Tasmania, including how we researched them. This Victoria and Tasmania Discussion Circle will run from 10:30am to 12:00 pm via Zoom.

You can register for any of these events on the GSV website events page here.

The celebrations are over, the presents unwrapped, and now you, or a family member, are sitting there with a DNA test kit in hand and wondering what to do about it.

Perhaps you’ve heard that different tests produce different information, so you’re wondering what the test in your hands will tell you.

Perhaps reading the paperwork has you vaguely recalling advice about how to register and manage accounts of family members to gain the most information, but the specific advice has escaped your memory.

Are you wondering what else you need to do? Or if this test means you have to take out a subscription to a database? Are you asking ‘How does the test work?’, ‘How do I interpret the results?’ or ‘What happens to my results long term?’ Do you have concerns about privacy and security issues?

Are all your questions giving you pause about proceeding?

The GSV can help answer your questions about DNA testing, and clarify and consolidate your understanding of what to expect and what to do next.

If you’d like our assistance, register for our introductory DNA session, “I was given a DNA kit for Christmas. Now what?”  The session is open to anyone interested – members or non-members – as an online presentation with a Q&A.

Date:  January 22nd, 10:30am - 12pm
Location: Zoom (the link will be included in the email acknowledging your registration)
Cost: Free for GSV members, $10 for non-members

The recording of the session will be made available to those who cannot attend on the day.

Given the complexity of DNA testing and the variations between tests and processes used by different companies, our presentation will use Ancestry.com examples. Much of the general information will be relevant to other DNA Kit providers.

For more information and to register visit here.