Welcome to the GSV

Family History Matters

Welcome to the GSV Blog

At this Blog - Family History Matters - you can find reports about the various activities and groups at the GSV, news about our library and resource collection, book reviews and articles of interest about family history and genealogy.  It is a way to keep in touch as a member or to discover what GSV can offer you as a soon-to-be-member.

To submit a Blog Post, please contact the Blog Editor: blog@gsv.org.au

For general questions about the Blog, please contact the Blog administrator: blogadmin@gsv.org.au

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Correction to 'E partimmo!' talk and Vic/Tas Discussion Circle notice

13 November 2019
CORRECTION to earlier post on 'E partimmo' The coming talk on Saturday 15 November - 'E partimmo. We left' - at GSV International Settlers Group is, of course... Read More

Two young boys sent back to England from India : an 1857 mystery solved

13 November 2019
Mary Anne Gourley tells this research story from the GSV's British India Discussion Circle, of the return of two young boys from India to England in 1857.  ... Read More

'E Partimmo. We Left'

11 November 2019
    The International Settlers Group invites all GSV members to a talk given by Angela Scarino and Antonio Mercurio. Their book - E Partimmo. We left- tells... Read More

Writing about our entwined lives? Hear acclaimed author Richard Broome Nov 15

2 November 2019
  An exciting event has been added to the GSV’s calendar. On 15 November Dr Richard Broome, the President of the Royal Historical Society, will talk about his... Read More

180 years on descendants of immigrants on the ship 'David Clark' are gathering next Sunday

20 October 2019
    Many families arrange get-togethers of their descendants, but next Sunday there is a gathering with a difference.    180 years later descendants of ... Read More

Were Australians assisting the Serbians in WW1 before Gallipoli?

17 October 2019
    When you start researching the lives of ancestors during the Great War you may become embroiled in the complex history of the 'Eastern Question' and the... Read More

Winner of the 2019 GSV Writing Prize announced

6 October 2019
The GSV congratulates the winner and runner-up of its annual Writing Prize 2019 for a family-history article. The successful entrants were announced at the... Read More

Were convicts sent to Victoria? Find out this THURSDAY.

16 September 2019
This question of whether convicts were sent to the Port Phillip District (later known as Victoria) often invokes a statement that no convicts were transported... Read More

What is over the white cliffs of Dover?

14 September 2019
Behind what may be the most famous piece of coast in the English world, lies Kent - an ancient English county jutting out in to the sea and around which many... Read More

DNA uncovers sperm-donor fraud

7 September 2019
A recent report ('The fertility fraud' by Jacqueline Mroz published in The Age 24 August 2019) reminded me of the tricky questions facing the family historian... Read More

Be Quick: How to Use Google Earth for Genealogy

25 August 2019
At the GSV Writers Circle we often talk about the need to provide more description of the places our family members lived and worked. Many of us feel the need... Read More

From the Keyboard of the President - August 2019

19 August 2019
Hello all members (and soon-to-be members),   Even though it has been a bit wintry, we have been quite busy at the GSV. There has been a lot on, marking... Read More

A Mystery Woman

12 August 2019
  First a reminder that you have ONLY 3 WEEKS TO GO TO ENTER THE GSV 2019 WRITING COMPETITION - CLOSING 30 AUGUST - (See details on our website).   And a... Read More

August is National Family History Month

22 July 2019
There are lots of interesting talks planned for National Family History Month in August. Our first talk on ebooks is fully booked but after that on Thursday 1... Read More

eBooks in family history

21 July 2019
The GSV jumps into National Family History Month - with a talk about ebooks on Thursday 1 August. Be quick to book - or 'ebook' - this event!   eBooks in... Read More

Your own coat of arms

14 July 2019
My teenage grandson recently quipped that: 'The Barlows have a coat of arms, you know'. He had found it on the net. It reminded me that in my early family-... Read More

8 weeks to go - to enter for the 2019 GSV Writing Prize!

7 July 2019
8 weeks to go! Enough time to finish off that family history story for the 2019 GSV Writing Priize. The closing date for entries is 4 pm on 30 AUGUST 2019. So... Read More

The new online Geelong Heritage Centre Archives is now live!

29 June 2019
For the first time in the 40-year operational history of the Geelong Heritage Centre, access to search more than 46,000 records in Victoria’s largest... Read More

Scotland during the Enlightenment - Seminar 13 July

24 June 2019
If you have Scottish ancestors (I have a Campbell) - and even if you haven't - you may have been watching The Rise of the Clans on SBS presented by that long-... Read More

Was your ancestor in the workhouse with Oliver Twist?

22 June 2019
  Hannah Barlow (nee Rex) was admitted as a pauper to the workhouse in Kings Road, London run by the St Pancras Poor Law Union, sometime after Oliver's time... Read More