4947's blog

We are excited that a few members of the GSV Scottish Discussion Circle are joining a number of international speakers to present at the upcoming Outer Hebrides Emigration Conference on 30 September to 2 October.
Rebecca Landy, Cheryl Bollard, Cath Proud and Eric Smith will present online at about 7pm Wed 1 Oct (AEST):
Far away over the sea to … Australia - travel from the Outer Hebrides and life in Victoria.

Emigration is an important aspect of the islands’ history, as it affected demographics and split families across the globe through the 1700-1900s. People left the islands for a number of reasons, whether through forced clearance, in hope of improving their economic prospects, or to join family members who had emigrated previously.

The conference is a hybrid event, being held in person at Lews Castle, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis or online. The daily online fee to attend the conference is £12. You can register through at https://outerhebridesheritage.org.uk/event/saoghal-mor-farsaing-day-2/

Members of the GSV can hear a free preview of our presentation at the next Scottish Discussion Circle meeting on Saturday 20 September at 2pm.
Register via the Events page of the Activities tab.
You can contact the Scottish discussion circle on scotland@gsv.org.au or better still, subscribe to their Noticeboard and receive notices about forthcoming events and the quarterly newsletter Thistle.

I was lucky enough to meet and volunteer with Joyce Ryerson when living in the northern suburbs of Sydney. Living until the age of 95 years young, Joyce was sharp as a tack, and had a dry sense of humour. But, Joyce was a hoarder. Her daughter Sue would roll her eyes over this.

When Joyce started her ‘collection’ of death notices, she was not a genealogist, just an ‘old girl’ of SCEGGS Darlinghurst (school) looking to help with a register of former pupils. This collection would accumulate over 14 years and was stored in her laundry.
She was luckily a member of The Dead Persons Society and when she mentioned what she had, they were thrilled and member John Graham went around to see. What he found was an almost complete collection of death notices from the Sydney Morning Herald for the years 1986 to 1998 inclusive. Sue was thrilled as John took them all away.

These notices were converted into searchable indexed data and more newspapers added.
The result is a free online index to death, funeral, probate and obituary notices appearing in newspapers throughout Australia. 
The index continues to grow thanks to an army of volunteers.
The date range covers from 1803 up to those published in the last week or so. The coverage depends on availability of volunteers. There are in excess of nine million records compiled from more than 470 newspapers and other sources across Australia. The index is at https://www.ryersonindex.org/

Come along to our Family History Tips & Tools discussion circle meeting on Thu 24 Sep at 10.30am on zoom. John Graham will talk to us about what you can discover and how to get the most out of this fabulous research tool.

Jackie van Bergen

Did you wonder why we didn’t ask much about interest in writing your family history in the recent survey? Well this is why.
A small dedicated team of GSV members has been working on a new course for months.
This short course aims to inspire and educate family historians about how to write their family stories. It will assist in identifying a topic and audience, develop participants skills in use of accurate language and historical evidence in writing an engaging narrative, and develop awareness of different formats and genres. Participants will receive expert and peer feedback.

The course will be led by Professor Peter Sherlock and Dr Elizabeth Hartnell-Young, and supported by a team of six skilled mentors.

We are excited to be offering this new course to our members.

Bookings open 9am Tuesday 2 September
Get your fingers ready as this course is limited to the first 16 registrants.
There will be a waitlist.

This is a GSV member only event.
Course fee: $200 for the full course.

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

We’ve ‘travelled’ to South Australia and New South Wales in our State to State series so far.
If you weren’t able to attend these, you can find them as webcasts in the Members area of our website. They are well worth a visit.

Thursday 21 August sees us travelling just a little further: to New Zealand. 
Sarah Hewitt, chairperson of New Zealand Society of Genealogists will speak to us about their unique records and how they can help you further your research.
So many of those who came to Australia came via New Zealand, or spent some time there. I’m always surprised at the ease at which people moved between our two countries.

Sarah will also give you a sneak peak at the AFFHO Congress that will be held in February 2027 in Wellington.

More information about the New Zealand Society of Genealogists can be found at their web site - https://genealogy.org.nz/

Thursday 21 August at 11am via zoom.
This event is also open and free to non-members as part of Family History Month. 
Please register via the Activities tab of the GSV website.

Forward notice:
The State to State series will see us travel to Queensland on 18 September and ACT on 28 October. Stay tuned for more.

We all know writers LOVE a deadline!
This is it!
You only have until 4pm on Friday 22 August 2025 to get your entries in for the 2025 GSV Writing Prize.

Ancestry™ is again generously sponsoring the competition with a first prize of a 12-month subscription to their Worldwide Membership together with an Ancestry™ DNA kit. A runner-up prize of a 6-month subscription to Ancestry™ Worldwide may also be offered at the discretion of the judges.

Entries should:

• be between 1,200 and 2,400 words
• have a family history/genealogy theme
• be the author’s own original work
• not have been previously published in any form
• contain appropriate citations to sources.

Entries can contain up to four images.

Members of the GSV and GSV Member Societies are eligible to enter.

Check the full details of the prize, including eligibility and entry conditions, on the GSV website: https://www.gsv.org.au/gsv-writing-prize-2025

This is no time to procrastinate. 
Put the final polish on your story and get it in!

The International Settlers Group (ISG) has a special guest speaker at their next meeting on Saturday 16 August at 1pm. 

GSV member, Bronwyn Paschalidis, will be talking about Scandinavian research. Bronwyn recently wrote an excellent article for the March 2025 Ancestor on this subject, and this talk will build on that information.

Bronwyn invites members to submit their research questions in advance, and perhaps she can then show them how to tackle their problems. Please send your questions to isg@gsv.org.au

Have a read of her article before submitting your question, you’ll find it on page 30 of the March 2025 issue of our Ancestor journal.

GSV Discussion circles are usually only open to members but this meeting is part of AFFHO Family History Month and will be open to non-members.

Be sure to register at the drop down menu from the Activities tab on the website. If you are a member please log in first so your details are auto filled.

Family History Month is an initiative of the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations (AFFHO). Each year AFFHO promotes events relating to family history, genealogy and related initiatives to encourage our community to explore their family connections.

Please check out the website, particularly the drop down box of Family History Month, for a list of events and sponsors offering prizes. Many societies and libraries are offering events that are not always open to non-members. Some are in person, many are hybrid or online. More events are being added every day, so keep checking back: https://www.affho.org/family-history-month-events/

There is an opening event on Fri 1 Aug at 5pm that features Andrew Redfern’s talk ‘A Lasting Legacy in the Digital Age’, exploring how we ensure our legacy survives the test of time, technology and interpretation.

The closing event is on Sun 31 Aug at 5pm. This event features Jane Smith’s talk ‘Keeping your family’s historical stories alive through writing non-fiction’; and Anne Young’s talk ‘Sharing your legacy through blogging’.

There are many prizes from sponsors to be given away to registrants. You can read about these events here: https://www.affho.org/opening-and-closing-ceremonies/

There is also a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AFFHOFamilyHistoryMonth

We know there are some great stories out there just begging to be told. 

Who has become your favourite ancestor?

What is the most exciting / tragic / funny story you have discovered in your research?

Have you unearthed a scandal?

Well, get writing about it and enter the GSV Writing Prize.

You have until 4pm on Friday 22 August 2025 to get them in.

Ancestry™ is again generously sponsoring the competition with a first prize of a 12-month subscription to their Worldwide Membership together with an Ancestry™ DNA kit. A runner-up prize of a 6-month subscription to Ancestry™ Worldwide may also be offered at the discretion of the judges.

Entries should:

• be between 1,200 and 2,400 words
• have a family history/genealogy theme
• be the author’s own original work
• not have been previously published in any form
• contain appropriate citations to sources.

Entries can contain up to four images.

Members of the GSV and GSV Member Societies are eligible to enter.

Check the full details of the prize, including eligibility and entry conditions, on the GSV website: https://www.gsv.org.au/gsv-writing-prize-2025

We’ve recently had two requests for participation from our members

Miriam Reynoldson, a PhD student at RMIT University is researching how people engage in non-formal learning in digital spaces. She is seeking people to interview. Miriam is particularly interesting in people who learn through family history research, especially through digital archives and online communities. Her mother is involved with the GSV and with the Geelong Family History Group.

The image attached is her poster.

If you are interested in taking part in an interview with Miriam, or want learn more about her study, you can phone her on 0414 278 269 or email s4136644@student.rmit.edu.au

Another request was published in our recent e-News:

Wei Zhao is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne. They are conducting a project called TALES (Technology, Ageing, Life Experiences and Stories).

This project aims to explore life storytelling - how older adults capture and share their life stories and memories, and how technology can support these meaningful practices. They are also interested in hearing from those who have supported an older adult in telling their story.

There will be a short online survey. You can opt to do a follow up interview and be rewarded with a $30 gift voucher.

You can read more about the project here:

https://cis.unimelb.edu.au/research/hci/projects/digital-storytelling

If you are interested or have any questions you can email them at

tales-project@unimelb.edu.au

They offer help to complete the survey over the phone too

As our financial year-end approaches, have you thought about what your family history and the GSV means to you? The GSV is always here to help you. To be able to do that and to continue to expand the scope of the help we offer, I am asking you to consider donating to help ensure the GSV remains in a sound position, able to provide an increasing breadth and depth of support for all of our members.

We have a number of on-going projects and some soon to be commenced, subject to the funds being available.

We need to continue to upgrade our website to make sure you are able to navigate it easily. We need to buy new software and to replace ageing and obsolete equipment. We need to further embrace digital marketing.

To be able to do all this and more requires funds beyond our income from membership fees. We need to ask for donations.

So this year I am being “adventurous” and hoping that with your support we will be able to raise $30,000.

If enough of our loyal members and supporters are prepared to chip in, I believe and hope this will be possible. And if you donate for the first time, we welcome you to this special group.

So my request to you is – would you please consider a donation to help ensure a strong and healthy future for the Genealogical Society of Victoria?

Whether it be $50, $100 or $500, any amount will be gratefully received.

I hope your answer is “yes” and that you’ll consider giving before 30 June.

Donations of $2 or more to the GSV more are fully tax-deductible. You can choose to give online through the Donate Now link on the GSV website homepage. Or if you’d find it easier, by calling the GSV on 03 9662 4455, and Linda will be happy to help you make a donation using your credit card. A third way to donate is by cheque, mailing it to the GSV, Level 1, 10 Queen Street, Melbourne Victoria, 3000.

I hope I’ll soon be signing a thank you letter to you.

Many thanks and best wishes,

Brian Reid
President