Society record sets

Each state of Australia has records in their libraries and archives but many towns have their own historical society and they also have records available for their particular area. A list of many family history societies is found at the AFFHO website – Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations. Alona Tester has also put together a 75 page list of Australian and New Zealand History and Genealogy Facebook groups.

Family history societies are a great and sometimes under utilised resource.

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Do you belong to a family history society? How does your society share its indexes and record sets with its members and the wider community?

I belong to several societies both local and farther afield where my ancestors lived. If $ was no object I’d join even more. 🙂

I belong to quite a few Family History Societies both in Australia and in the UK. Most have a good range of resources online but some records are not digitised. In this case I sometimes use the Society’s research services

I belong to the Tasmanian Family History Society as well as Sorell Historical Society. TFHS has an index on their website you can search tasfhs.org/csi.php

I have used this index Sue. Tasmania seems to have excellent resources for family history

I had never seen this index until I started looking for links for tonight’s chat

Yes and yes. Our resources page lists what we make available on the web and more that can be accessed on site genealogy-noosa.org.au/resources

Yes, I belong to Caloundra Family History. CFH as a large collection of records on computers, maps, microfiche, etc. Members have access to this at the rooms. We have a list online of this & our books so we do get queries. caloundrafamilyhistory.org.au/library-comput…

I belong to 4 family history societies and one of the reasons I stay a member is the online resources provided by them. Oops just realised I belong to 6 societies – how could I forget Caloundra and Bribie Island

These days most societies have access to their catalogues, and some indexes, through their web pages. The best ones have ways of ensuring remote members can get the benefits even if it’s with a fixed time of research offered

I think we’ve come to expect online access after the covid experience of more being online

I only belong to Society of Australian Genealogists (or I will again when I renew. Oops.)

I joined the Maryborough Family History Society years ago and it became the first Australian Society to put records on Ancestry.com. Through the Cooroy and Toowoomba and other Societies I found records I would likely never have found

I found that the Devonport or Mersey branch also have lots of online resources tfhsdev.com/index.html

I used to belong to the Invercargill Branch of the NZ Genealogical Society, but they changed their meeting time to dinner time. I no longer miss meals for meetings. Also the topics were not of interest to me.

I tend to agree with you Margaret. This is something that some societies need to look at. The one in our town is at an inconvenient time and has been that time for decades. Lifestyles and needs change

My local branch changed their meeting day to a work day for me, so I rarely attend now unless it’s a topic or speaker I really want to hear. I’ve joined interest groups instead as they have weekend meetings/events.

I think Covid has also changed societies approach to access – there are more online meetings and access to subscription sites through your membership. Great value the last 2 years.

It’s worth remembering that many societies have social media pages where they post regularly. You can join their Facebook etc pages even if you’re not a member. What you learn might tempt you to join.

The way I’ve used the SAG records is to order files before my visit, using the online search, & then visit the archives site to view. Lucky I can do that, being in Sydney.

I belong to several family history societies, though I don’t often take full advantage of membership. Depends where I’m at in my research! Some have online indexes which have proved incredibly useful.

I belong to several family history societies in England including @GuildOneName some share things with members

I belong to quite a few Facebook groups and follow a lot such as Gairloch Museum, Scottish Indexes, etc.

Facebook groups can be very useful Margaret. I have joined some that display old photos of my ancestral places as well

if you live in regional Australia and don’t have easy access to the major society libraries, then it is essential that they cater for the needs of more remote members.

I used to be a member of Devon family history society and might need to rejoin as have found lots of dad’s new ancestors came from there devonfhs.org.uk

I sometimes join a society especially on overseas one while I am researching a family line. Depending on what is available I might keep the membership going

I was a member of Bedfordshire FH Society for many years, but let it lapse as my research interests changed for a while. Need to rejoin again as I’m back to that line again

I do this too. I usually keep my Australian ones going but dip in and out of the overseas depend on research interests at the time

I know it’s away from the question of societies but relevant archives usually have good indexes to some records as well. @travelgenee is correct – it can be a challenge to maximise our use of all the societies we join.

I also belong to the Essex Society for Family History that I joined a year ago via #rootstech. They have collections online of Parish Registers and Memorial Inscriptions. I have not made as much use of this as I should have! Need to see what else they have

I also belong to the One Place Society although my OPS is not getting far lately

Sorell also has a Facebook page and after lots of chat one time, they did include membership info and many joined.

Have always belonged to SA too genealogysa.org.au essential for South Australian record sets

Many societies now have journals available online for members some go back many years

But @GSQPresident #Toowoomba & Darling Downs FHS and Toowoomba Historical Society #Online #indexes for #records held at society allow me to plan my research ahead of time

I’m part of @IGRS_1936 which has unique databases on its website for members.

For me, one of the most valuable indexes is the Hamburg to Australia indexes and publications through @QueenslandFHS. They are gold for people with German ancestry in that time period.

I belong to Family History ACT. While most of my ancestors are Tasmanian I’ve found their special interest groups and library resources really useful esp for English ancestors further back

Also joined the Irish Genealogy Research Society because I needed to access something on their database. Have not used them much though should investigate South Carolina as I’ve discovered ancestors there going back to first settlement in 1670

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Question 2: Does your society have any of its indexes/record sets online with one of the big genealogy websites? Are there benefits to this? Do you think users realise these were created by society members?

We are now indexing even more at Cooroy-Noosa Sharn. Currently doing photos from 10 years of newspapers 1985-96

Another thing to consider/ask whether your local society sends out the e-journals from other societies. Perhaps another way to access your area of interest? Caloundra FHS does this.

as WebWeaver at Fellowship of First Fleeters website I have been working on improving findability of our records & journals back to 1968 fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au

Our society does not have anything with the big genealogy companies

I am running a workshop on Thursday afternoon at Sorell FHS on the blog I am using for my one place study. Hoping to get some of the participants to write some posts for the A-Z challenge. sorell200.edublogs.org

Another benefit of a local society is that they often have publications relating to their area. Toowoomba and Darling Downs FH Society is an excellent example of this. Check out publications and shop on a society’s page.

I have been taking note of Ancestry’s American sources when researching my New England US ancestry

I don’t think most users look at where the data comes from. Society members might notice but people usually cite Ancestry or whoever without acknowledgement of the original source

I always check Shauna but that is because I add sources to my tree and blog posts. I find it interesting to see where data is sourced from

My guess is that most users of the big sites haven’t a clue who has done the indexing. This is a shame as it might encourage people to see more of the benefits of a society. They don’t realise that members have put a lot of time & effort into the indexes.

I have joined American Ancestors americanancestors.org which covers New England – great online resources – some of these available via Ancestry

I’m sure most users, maybe just casual users, don’t realise society records on the big genealogy sites have been submitted by society members

There are $ benefits to the society for having their indexes with the big sites and also for users who don’t want to/haven’t joined the relevant society as otherwise they may not have a clue they exist.

Two of them do but the other 2 don’t have their resources in subscription sites. This is so the data is exclusive to their members and a reason to join.

I think Covid has also changed societies approach to access – there are more online meetings and access to subscription sites through your membership. Great value the last 2 years

Online meetings and access has been a great highlight of the past two years. =Being regional, I hope it continues

Me too Jennifer. Access to so much more including those free documents from the National Archives UK.  One of the few Covid benefits

Caloundra Family History has indexes they created online with Ancestry. Benefits include access to Ancestry at the rooms for a set period of time. Ancestry acknowledges “Original data: Caloundra Family History Research Inc.” & includes research tips.

Sorell also has a Facebook page and after lots of chat one time, they did include membership info and many joined.

I know that Hampshire and possibly Lincolnshire have indexes on Find My Past

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Question 3: Tell us about indexes/record sets your society holds which are unusual or unique? Have any of these led to research breakthroughs for you?

I found Scottish Indexes a great resource for my only Scottish convict

Cooroy-Noosa indexes cover 25 years of local newspaper clippings, names, organisations, clubs etc. also indexes to early tennis and bowls clubs memberships One member has indexed local land records too.

New members get toured through centre and depending on skill of research assistants (volunteers) on duty that day, should be shown everything. This week one very experienced member running a local history workshop on our resources

We do similar tours with the volunteers and volunteer training. Also give each new member a buddy to help them. They are responsive to introduce them also. Plus do workshops on what we have available. Looks like we are very similar

Illawarra Family History Group showed their resources in Wollongong City Library at its January 2022 meeting – covid restrictions mean that one on one sessions with inquirers are still not possible but emailed inquiries can be handled illawarrafhg.blogspot.com

My favourite discovery in society indexes years ago was at @GSQPresident. They had indexed the Equity files for the period immediately after Separation and I found my Kunkel ancestor there – opened up great discoveries.

With Genealogy SA I can get all the data from birth death and marriage records as part of my membership. Being able to access this data online without purchasing a certificate is really good

The answer to this question is the key differentiator that every family history society should put above the fold on their home page. Potential members need to know, what does this FHA have that I can’t get anywhere else.

Interesting point. I will have to think about what I can do to improve this. Things get pushed down the page and there loads of details on our Join us page. Perhaps a Join us button is needed.

I added a Join us to our home page, links to an online document which can be sent by email, still relying on a bank deposit. Hope to add PayPal soon genealogy-noosa.org.au/home

PayPal fees are a small extra cost though the number of members paying by credit card shows they want this. We have to start providing what members want and keep the old processes for a while also.

#queenslandFHS has indexes of Qld school pupils which can be invaluable if you have peripatetic relatives. My grandfather’s younger orphaned siblings could be found through these. You can easily see the actual register then online at @QSArchives

Caloundra FHS has an index of Railway employees which is also online. Even though I’d searched extensively in other areas I found my great-grandmother listed as a gatekeeper.

Hampshire have a Wills beneficiary index which can be very helpful

Speaking of German migration, the Ances-Tree journals of the Burwood & District society have detailed articles by the late Jennifer Paterson. These are invaluable as well as unique

Lincolnshire actually have a search facility to make it easier to find what may be available for a particular parish that they have indexed

One of our members Peter Mayberry has built a very useful website on Irish convicts to NSW but I think that has been a private effort

Peter Mayberry’s Irish convict site is one of my key go-to resources

Very few of my ancestors came to Australia however Caloundra Family History does have things like some NZ records. Again, I have not made full use of these. Being a @FamilySearch Affiliate Library gives us access to more records via our rooms.

Fellowship of First Fleeters has all its newsletters/journals back to its inception in 1968 online – these are searchable too fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au I have found this useful for doing my own research

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Question 4: Have you helped index, collect record sets, or promoted the society’s holdings?

Not really. However, I’ve written two family history articles for two historical societies in New South Wales. One is published and the other is under review. I’ve also corrected many articles on Trove, which has hopefully assisted other researchers.

It strikes me how much we now take for granted in terms of online access. It really isn’t all that long ago (20-25years) since everything was offline and required in-person visits. It’s changed the face of #genealogy research

Remember this: It strikes me how much we now take for granted in terms of online access. This is why societies indexed so much. No online indexes at archives, no Ryerson, no Trove, no online BDM or census searching. It’s changed the face of #genealogy research.

Am actively involved in 2 digitisation projects indexing stuff, and do all the website, FB and some internal promotions. too. Giving 2 more short how to Zoom workshops in March as some members still not confident.

Caloundra FH is indexing for the @naagovau presently. Has the advantage of a wider audience getting access to the indexes. Though societies need to do some local things that a national body might not be interested in to provide value to local members.

Back in the late 1980s @GSQPresident set out to index deaths in newspapers. I was allocated six months in the midst of WWI. You can imagine how many hours that took reading microfilms. Sadly the project seemed to languish somewhere. Now we have Trove

Though an index can be a quicker way to get to the source. Ryerson, for example, is good when you do not have access to the local newspapers or can chase them up later.

And it lets you get beyond the official death date indexes 😉

Indexing is a great contribution but also look among the publications to which many researchers have contributed. I have entries in the Drayton Cemetery books published by Toowoomba and Darling Downs FHS

During Qld’s sesquicentenary many Qld FHS had special projects. @GSQPresident updated an earlier project on early pioneers. @QueenslandFHS asked for stories of pioneers who arrived pre-1859. I did stories on my own ancestors + “my” German immigrants.

Making things more accessible for distant members or those unable to get to meetings is the way forward now

Yes, totally agree. The assumption that our ancestors lived in the same place as we do is less and less valid as time goes by.

I agree Hilary. I’m regional and I’ve loved being able to participate more during covid than in the past. Online is the way to go for success I’m sure

I have promoted the Fellowship of First Fleeters materials on its website and also the physical library on our Facebook page – we also have the FFF library’s catalogue on the website fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au

Yes back in the 80s I did a lot of cemetery transcriptions with the Genealogical Society of Queensland and the Queensland Family History Society. There can be real clues on tombstones

I help promote our records via the website and we also have a FB group for members only that I must remember to share the resources we have on that so that more members become aware of them.

I have not helped with indexing as I live a distance from the area and did not have the time whilst working

Some comments about family history societies:

Following #ANZAncestryTime I’ve been looking at some #FamilyHistory Society websites. I challenge all FHS website managers to include a picture of young people engaging with #Genealogy at your society. You can’t be what you can’t see.

It would be interesting to know if society membership is going up or down. Some seem to be incredibly active now with online webinars while others don’t seem to be proactive online. Probably depends on their volunteer pool and skills.

Crowdsourcing and NFHM2021

Fantastic topic for #ANZAncestryTime chat especially with National Family History Month in August.

Free-Photos / Pixabay

What do you think is crowd sourcing in relation to Family History?

Genealogists or family history type groups helping each other and working together for a common cause

Excellent definition Sue – succinct and yet comprehensive 🙂

For me it’s about asking for support for a collaborative project

I put a callout on the blog for guest bloggers to write about our shared family members. Maybe that’s crowdsourching? Btw I didn’t get anyone take up the offer

Some societies use guest bloggers to write posts weekly eg @gsq Yet another type of crowd sourcing. gsq-blog.gsq.org.au

Curious fox website curiousfox.com

I’m a member of a number of FB groups, occasionally I will ask for help when I’m stuck but I usually ask for help on How I can find the info I’m looking for so I can find it rather than ask someone else to find the info for me

There’s nothing like making the discovery yourself, that to me is what #genealogy is about plus you learn on how or where to find what your looking for

help from Ireland Reaching Out is a type of crowdsourcing where locals who know the place help researchers from afar.

Morning! Not sure that I can contribute a lot to the topic today but you’ve just quoted the one example I could think of. #ANZAncestryTime Although @duchas_ie also uses crowdsourcing and this can also be a great assistance to 20thC #FamilyHistory research – just ask

Also digitisation has overtaken some earlier indexing. Of course correcting Trove texts and adding to lists fits this category as well.

In NZ there’s the 1893 suffrage petition database nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/women… you are able to contribute a short bio

this event (Twitterchat) is an example of crowd-sourcing n’est-ce-pas?

I would argue that the 2 ancestryhours we participate in are a type of crowdsourcing as well.

There is CSI: Crowd Sourced Indexing available to genealogy societies and special interest groups for indexing their records. It is a free, web-based program I saw at #RootsTech a number of years ago. csindexing.com

The new versions of Rootschat email groups that I m a member of are definitely crowdsourcing with lots helping find info for someone with a question – mainly Tasmanian groups

not used crowd sourcing that much. I have a few FB groups for each of my family groups, in asking questions but hit and miss. Used wikitree but find mistakes.

Perhaps something like hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/… where you can not only claim a convict but also contribute information about them

A great result of crowdsourcing is FreeUK Genealogy @FreeUKGen with lots of volunteers

asking and receiving help on social media, platforms that provide input e.g text correction on Trove, transcription sites so many examples. i’ve had folks improve photos just by asking

I suppose that putting cousin bait out there on my blog could be crowdsourcing

I guess @BillionGraves would be another example of crowdsourcing yes?

using social media & message boards to assist both on and offline. Years ago a helpful person on Rootschat looked at some Welsh records for me, long before they were online.

Left a message on Rootschat 4 years after original post. Got a response and person was able to give me information about my Turnbulls Borders area of #Scotland going back to 1700s 😲 ❤️message boards / #Facebook groups / #Twitter threads opportunity to ask questions & #giveback

Another great example of crowdsourcing is @WikiTreers. From the growing well sourced trees to special challenges, the make use of the crowd to advance trees and familyhistory knowledge.

I had to google the definition “enlisting the services of a large number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the internet”…. So basically getting a group of genealogists together and seeing what unfolds! Hehehe.

Crowdsourcing is when a community helps to research such as on @WikiTreers

Indexing for @FamilySearch is one of the big uses for crowdsourcing in #familyhistory. At the other end of the spectrum is individuals asking for help on social media such as Facebook Groups.

I think it can be a number of things like when I go “Hive mind – what’s a good TV show to watch?” – it can be asking your peeps for help or advice or it can be transcribing a graveyard together.

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Discuss your crowd sourcing experiences from helping an individual’s research through to large indexing projects. (Or do you avoid crowdsourcing?)

Asking the crowd for help with getting material from paid for genealogical sites or free I think is wrong. There are copyright restrictions and these should be followed.

Yeah that irks me. Like, I’m paying this large sum money because I’m using their website for the research I am doing. And copyright copyright copyright. So many of them have free trials or a month payment if you don’t want to fork out more $$$

Or join a society, go to a library or @FamilySearch centre, etc. There are so many places you can source stuff than elect to break copyright.

I’m a contributor to both @IrelandXO and @duchas_ie The former involves helping individuals with their research and the latter involves transcribing the Irish schools’ folklore project from 1930s. I’ve also assisted individuals on other sites

I was very excited to be able to help with this using my knowledge of the excellent resources of bda-online.org.au

I’m about to start a crowdsourcing project during the Christchurch Heritage Festival in October, which I can’t tell you the details of yet… But stay tuned…

so far, only recently starting using social media for crowd sourcing, which have pointed me in the direction of new resources, especially with overseas research. Only started blogging which might help others in the future

there are lots of ANZAC sites that crowd source data on specific soldiers and war memorials.

The Online Cenotaph – Auckland War Memorial Museum is an example of that

Years ago I went to the research room. Probably my first exploration into checking out archives. A bit more specialist than the local library. With so much online I am wondering if the research room still exists. Could not see about it with a quick online check.

Kia ora, Pou Maumahara Memorial Discovery Centre replaced the old Armoury on Level 2 in 2016. The public are welcome to use the published resources and contribute to #OnlineCenotaph aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/o… We are happy to answer any questions

Another crowdsourcing opportunity is Scottish Indexes which is getting support from indexers .

I have just this week begun to transcribe records for @scottishindexes This is my first time transcribing

I was transcribing Naval records for the TNA there for a second too last year.

Just started my first page @scottishindexes They’ve given me so much in past 18 months – 11 free 8 hour conferences. I felt the need to payback a little

Another site I’ve been able to contribute to collection.nelsonmuseum.co.nz/explore collection of digitised glass plate negatives. Identified photos of gg-gparents

a bazillion years ago when I started I helped @GSQPresident with indexing deaths during JAn-June 1916. You can imagine given WWI. I suspect no one has ever looked at them

never underestimate how much you’ve helped dear Pauleen. I think that’s the tragedy is that much of the work is unseen/unrecognized and yet used all the time.

Like some software recognises the developers it would be nice to recognise the workers by adding to digital documents people that helped.

I suspect many people using #ancestry or #findmypast don’t realise the indexes have been created by societies as they don’t read the source info

I have made connections and found people who emigrated using @WikiTreers

I get family info requests on my Irish and Dorfprozelten blogs which helps others

I use FreeUKGen sites @FreeUKGen and have donated to them did start transcribing years ago but did not carry on

and I imagine to a degree that’s what @LostCousins might be all about too, yes?

I suppose a recent/continuing experience is being part of a Facebook group for my Gill ancestors and helping write up a document of all the descendants on my line from my 4x G Gparents down & assisting others with writing their line.

good result from crowdsourcing here 3 different versions of one photo enhanced by Rootschat folks after I asked for advice on FBook – see post below

Not a big crowdsourcing person. Really a lack of time as I work full time. I think it is a great idea although some of the questions I see on social media asking for help could be solve with a google search. Not sure they are lazy or what.

yes someone complained about that on my facebook knitting group today but I think it is just people want to hear from a human not a machine where they can find stuff or what they should be using.

I love transcribing Tassie convict records but usually get the person to type out what they can first, then I help with the unknown bits.

I reckon some of the best crowd sourcing that has happened has been during the UTAS course – by sharing assignments for everyone to read, I got some excellent advice/feedback from other students. (Only shared after assignment had been marked – Ed)

I am very busy on @WikiTreers but have previously transcribed for Family Search

Just today I have a comment on my latest post suggesting I have the age and time period out by a decade – love that input!

I agree I get all sorts of unexpected info and requests from my blog

I love it when people make contact through the blog when if they recognise their ancestor in my post

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Have you any plans or suggestions for celebrating National Family History Month in Australia & NZ?

I attended the opening talk by Zoom with @HicksShauna and plan to attend the closing one with @fiona_memories. Our group is running a talk with Shauna via zoom also.

Where do you find out about all these talks, etc?

good point Brooke. I think we should have some kind of national calendar like the NFHM calendar AFFHO did but for all the time. There is conferencekeeper.org/event-submissi… but I suspect a US focus.

Great idea – another thing we need a volunteer to upkeep? NZSG has an events calendar. Perhaps AFFHO could have n annual calendar. genealogy.org.nz/Events-Calenda…

Sharn’s talk was so amazing. I really do wonder at the value of having bricks and mortar if we are safer using zoom. It was always so hard to get people to use the library anyway – I think our efforts now need to go into digitizing as much as we can.

Hoping to get to a family history day next Saturday. Wellington Region #FamilyHistory event (combined Wgtn branches of NZSG)

Might see you there, Jane. I’m selling raffle tickets in afternoon.

ah raffle tickets. The funding lynchpin of many a society 😉

Auckland and Christchurch Family History Expos. Launching a new Plan to Publish online course plus some new guides to help with publishing and sharing your research.

When I can get back on the computer, re start my blog!!! Dormant since 2018.


I have joined in with @luvviealex #NFHM2021 Blogging Challenge to blog every week or more often in August


Am doing two talks at Rosny Library – will probably be half hour talk then hour and a half to do practical stuff from the talk

I’m going to a talk at my local Family History Society. This will be my first visit

The opening talk to Family History month in AUS & NZ discussed the future of #familyhistory societies. What role do you see societies playing in the future?

you can now have a speaker in London give a talk to a society in Cheshire watched by someone in America that’s the one good thing to come out of the last two years, but like archives, if we don’t use family history societies they will disappear

I really like locality chats eg run by #DevonFHS for a gp of Parishes, sharing real local knowledge, alongside FB for questions between chats. #RyedaleFHG have informal Zoom chat (how to peel a banana to detailed FH questions/sharing finds informally – is great too.

I have used #familyhistory societies in the past, and can be useful as they have inside knowledge of counties and towns, particular maps. They do need be more involved with social media.

#future very much depends on members/committees keeping up to date w/ #technology, making their resources available #Online / in #Digital format, changing mindset from pull to push ie as much if not more online teaching content & resources as #f2f engagement

Check out Part 1 of podcast from last week between Andy of @AFHpodcast & Margaret from @FHSofCheshire – who discuss the benefits of #FamilyHistory societies. Well worth a listen Link – amateurfamilyhistory.com/2021/07/28/epi…

Personally I think local Societies need to be more interactive with all members do combined meetings about local topics

Even still, a lot of online sessions are held during work hours. I usually sign up If it has a watch later option, but I always forget to watch it later.

And more flexible timing. I know I could only go at weekends or evenings when I worked and had a family at home.

very true. And if we got younger presenters that might suit them better anyway.

I (Alex) think more user-generated content is essential and I think that has been part of SAG’s success with Friday afternoon chats. I have been so impressed with members’ contributions.

The issue though is how many societies we can afford to be members of. How do you weigh up which to keep, which to join, which to leave?

I expect value for money especially when your already a subscriber to several other websites, plus other costs involved in buying Certs etc, #genealogy is not a cheap hobby and some people should not expect it to be freely given either

I’ve never been able to get myself into the society thing. Maybe because I’m younger? I’m not sure. Joining a society just hasn’t spoken to me. I love the online fam history groups – Maybe they could have a fb group if they don’t already.

My English ancestors come from 20 English counties but I’ve never really considered joining a Society mostly due to cost of joining so many, I would follow them on Twitter/Facebook so I could keep up to date with news from the Society’s

excellent point which I hadn’t considered before. You just can’t afford to join every society can you ? But Facebook is free 🙂

And don’t forget ancestorian.com That is free too

At least with following Society’s on FB/Twitter if I see a post made by the relevant society I can comment or send a message and make enquiries

I would join societies for areas my ancestors are from if I knew joining would be useful. If it’s not going to be helpful, why bother?

Which means that #FamilyHistory societies need to MARKET themselves. What is the value proposition for joining a society? (My idea of becoming a marketing guru for FH societies keeps growing 🙂

Agree, I think the majority of members are retired or have a lot of time. Often only open few hours during the day while others working. They can be useful but again hit and miss

The successful societies will weigh up the costs of going online with the number of members they may attract subs will reflect this

Local Societies know the peculiarities of their area and history useful for researchers from afar they need to promote this

completely agree Hilary. The most successful posts for QFHS Facebook page are about the local projects we have indexed or digitized.

Societies need to adapt to changing social & economic conditions. Change takes time to implement and requires planning. Might be too hard for many organisations when they might not have the skills to succeed at adapting.

In order to survive Societies need to encourage younger people and involve themselves more with social media

Societies need to upgrade websites and start getting younger people into their ranks

Blog posts

Carmel – Using photo enhancement as crowd sourcing,

Alex –  Genealife in lockdown challenge intro, Sum up after the challenge,

 

Discussing births, marriages and deaths

This #ANZAncestryTime chat from June gave lots of tips about birth, death and marriage certificates as well as other sources to help prove the information found on these certificates.

suju-foto / Pixabay

Have you an interesting story to tell about searching for births, deaths or marriages (BDM)?

I couldn’t find my GGGPs c. 1880 marriage anywhere in the Irish civil records. Eventually found it through local archive and broke chunk through a brick wall on that line. Names and addresses of 3 GGFs and from there to 3 GGMs. Also a birth around the same time – every other family birth registered – this one found registered FIFTEEN years after actual birth. I’m not sure what the delay was. I knew it was unlikely the birth hadn’t been registered since they were business owner/upwardly mobile. Baptismal record contained parents’ names so I just searched all civil until I found it.

Have one Irish family who seemed to be allergic to both baptisms and registrations. A big range between about 1860 to late 1870s. Strange thing is the younger ones were “done” and I could accept the lack of rego near 1864 but the lack of baptisms bothers me. Illiterate and a fisherman.

Tara, I’ve also searched for them in England/Wales as being at sea, that might be possible. No marriage, no births…sigh!!! And David is not a common Irish name as far as I’ve seen. Think I may have a mental block/rut now.

DM me later Pauleen (bed time here) and maybe two heads will solve your conundrum. It might be due to the region they were from. E.G. Some Donegal parishes I’ve searched only have parish records from 1860s – after civil reg. And in marginal areas civil records not always solid

Also got 2 birth certificates within the 100 year time frame via a probate claim where a separated wife suddenly reappeared to claim ex husband’s estate, had to include her girls birth certificates

I have an ancestor whose mother’s name was different on all three certificates – birth, marriage, and death. I *think* I’ve worked out who his mother was, but really need DNA to confirm it. On the #ToDoList

#research for my uncle whose #ancestors were married x2 4 yrs apart. Same #church #priest #bride #groom Different addresses #marital status for groom 😲Parish #archivist chqd orig Church records-nothing helpful. Using #Facebook to chq local knowledge

One of my GGGrandfather’s was summoned before the Balranald bench almost 10 years after the birth of his last child ‘for making wilfully false statements respecting his marriage to… for the purpose of insertion in a Register of Births (two charges)’!

He was a bigamist to boot. I never found any birth certificates for his children except the two he was summoned for. When his first wife divorced him their was WONDERFUL information in the newspaper reports!

Sometimes makes for an more interesting story when they do not register BDM events.

I discovered my mothers first christian name was not what she thought it was. She probably never even knew she had the spelling wrong. Shows you that you do need to see the original records when possible to discover more of the story.

I have new questions courtesy of a cousin on Ancestry chat today. She asked why/how our GGGF remarried my GGGM when there is no evidence of his 1st wife’s death (her ancestor). Realised I’d never looked closely at the 1st marriage

2 children from 1st marriage, 1850 & 1853 8 children from 2nd marriage 1870-1889 All born around Yass NSW. There are a number of possible deaths for the 1st wife, 1866 registered Yass a particularly interesting one.

I have a suspicious one like that. My GGF remarried my GGM about 6 months after the previous wife registered their child. I’ve not found a death anywhere in England where they were living. Maybe Ireland. Where are the children?

I’m searching for great aunt’s husband, Robert Hargreaves. Had 2 bigamous marriages in Victoria – see Trove. Disappeared after his jail time in 1871. Where did he die? One of the colonies, New Zealand, England? Did he change his name? 2 of us are hunting him!

I knew nothing about my father’s family. His parents died within a few weeks of each other when my father was 6yo. I wrote about bursting into tears at Vic Births Deaths and Marriages

it really hits you doesn’t it when you are in those record offices – life is a precious fleeting things sometimes.

I have found several births and deaths between the census records now we have MMN on the indexes in England and Wales – Mothers Maiden Name

I was told by an aunt that there was a child who had died young not sure which generation. New indexes with MMN led me to discover my grandfather’s older brother

Witness on my great great grandmothers marriage certificate ended up being her brother in law – proving who her sister married then allowed me to find them arriving in Tasmania in 1860’s

Great reminder @tasteach to spend the time looking into the witnesses. They were often family

A friend at QFHS had always banged on about the value of searching the microfiche index to BDM that we have in the library. A friend’s mother was trying to find her grandmother’s birth but could not find it on the Registry Office website.  She knew she had the right date. Off we went to look at the microfiche at the QFHS library.There it was. No spelling mistakes. Just not in the online index. Human error I guess in the process of transferring. She was just missed. Check everything!

one marriage in 1866 bride registered under her mother’s maiden name as she was marrying a cousin with same surname, she had arrived in Australia under her father’s surname

I am probably the odd one out however I cannot think of any interesting stories related to my research of births, deaths and marriages. Perhaps it’s been too long since I had time to research to the memories have faded.

Searching for German names is always fun and games. The surname Zöller becomes Zeller, Zoller and, the best one, Tiller. Similarly McCorkindale has infinite spelling variations so I search for M*or*dale which gets most.

I spent 40 years looking for dad’s fathers birth. 20 years collaborating with half siblings of dad. Then finally DNA solved it. We were looking for wrong surname – he was a bigamist.

A story of not being able to find someone for a long time & then finding him under a different name entirely.

JESHOOTS-com / Pixabay

Primary sources for BDM can vary in the information they contain. Tell us about the great and not so great ones and what they contain, accessibility, cost, etc.

Irish historical records with data protection parameters are freely available on irishgenealogy.ie but they only start in 1864 (except non-RC marriages from 1845).

But always worth checking for pre-1864 marriage registered even if couple were Catholic – you can sometimes strike it lucky.

Yes, one of them might have been Catholic & they got married in the COI to give themselves legal status. In practice, it’s a very limited number of marriages in this early civil registration period.

And not make assumptions about “everyone” being Catholic…a trap I nearly fell into with Mr Cassmob’s ancestors.

Even if they had converted prior to marriage, if one of the couple was ever Protestant, a RC marriage was illegal then, unless carried out in COI/RO

Yes, very good point, Pauleen! I had assumed, then found a CoI possibility, now back to Catholic again. Wishing for a Quaker!

It pays to look in other states for births. I unexpectedly found the birth of one child in Victoria to my NSW g g grandparents. They lived there for a year apparently

I have only researched in England and our BMD records are not the best. They start earlier than many but don’t have as much useful information

The baptism of an ancestor in Cornwall which showed he was baptised at his mother’s funeral. She had committed suicide. Thanks to the clerk who made those notes. I often wonder if she had post natal depression. It wouldn’t have been understood in the 1800’s.  Her death certificate states “ took her own life” verifying the note on the baptism. I’d probably not have looked at the cause but for the baptism.

Yeah, I can understand that. I’d probably have assumed it was death in childbirth if the death record wasn’t readily available.

It’s an evocative phrase. At first I didn’t get the new push to favour the phrase ‘died by suicide’, but it makes a lot of sense re understanding the mental pathology of suicide

Love Graham Jaunay webpage with what is on BDMs in each Aussie state jaunay.com/bdm.html

Irish RC parish records vary re info quality/detail. Freely available images via @NLIreland & indexed search for some Dublin/Cork/Kerry www.irishgenealogy. Dublin parish template unusually detailed wrt country: parents’ (& marriage witnesses) names addresses

In England I search with FreeBMD as bigger range, then check on GRO. NZ BDM has lots of errors in names, so you have to guess what it might be and narrow down the date

I use very many sources as I seem to research in a lot of places. FamilySearch has lots of them. England both GRO and FreeBMD, NZ BDM, Aussie States, ScotlandsPeople, Irish, Canadian, American sources. I go everywhere!

I love the NZ certificates as they hold a pile of useful information. I love their website bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search. You can figure out the actual date if you keep reducing the search date fields. Great for the distant branches when delaying cert. purchases.

Yes I use this trick on NSW BDM too, narrowing down date when I don’t want to buy the certificate for far distant spouses etc., works for births deaths and marriages

one of my husband’s ancestors appeared in latest Lost Cousins newsletter about to marry for the 5th time

I love the Tasmanian BDM from 1803 to 1900 – all digitized, online and cost nothing. Can also get many BDM till 1930 from CDROM for free as well

Click on Tasmanian names index then put name in search area, use the filters and then you can download copies etc or use that snipping tool libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history…

I have been redoing my tree in FH7 and looking at certificates there are so many errors some are intentional to hide illegitimacy but others may be not

Love Queensland BDMs with so much information. Scottish records also have a lot of content but I do wish death records included burial information. English Records so mediocre it’s frustrating. I like being able to order online @ minimal cost.

oh yes I hear you re the English death certificates. I wonder why they bothered really. It just about says – they died – and that’s it. Next to useless.

Especially when they were born a long time ago as clearly they will have died. While there is little family details compared to other places the place & cause of death can be interesting.

Even using Scotlands People without buying the records can give so much information. I found a family 3 days ago for a distant cousin – followed my nose and there they were in Cadder

I love that the indexes in Qld & Vic have maiden surnames unlike NSW where it’s the most expensive to order a certificate & the index has only Christian names for parents

Scottish BDM’s have so much information on them. Norwegian records are fabulous too as long as you understand the naming systems (plural)

Remember the bad old days in Queensland when you used to have to request the marriage date of the parent’s when ordering a birth certificate. So pleased the UK registry office now seems to have seen the light regarding including mother’s maiden name.

I find the easiest BDMs to access are Victorian, but most of my Australian research has been in Vic, so I’m more familiar with Vic records. Vic BDMs do contain lot of info and are easily accessed online with immediate download

I have only researched in England and our BMD records are not the best. They start earlier than many but don’t have as much useful information

strichpunkt / Pixabay

What secondary sources have helped you with BDM records? How do you resolve any data conflicts?

@PRO_Vic metadata for probate/will files include date of death, so just searching their catalogue is very helpful (thanks PROV volunteers!). Early ones are digitised too. They can be very interesting (or boring) and fill in family blanks. I’ve also viewed more recent probate files @PRO_Vic in person and often a copy of the official death certificate is included.

my mother’s birthday books across the years she had added many births and deaths

Great tip! Another tip: don’t throw out those books or address books.

Using christening/baptism records you need to be careful sometimes several children were baptised on the same day.

accessing Vic teacher records through Ancestry often reveals full birth date; this helped me with my GGrandmother’s birth year, for which I’ve not been able to locate birth certificate

yes excellent advice Helen. I have teachers in my family and much of the biographical information was originally obtained via Inspectors Reports in Archives and then confirmed through certificates.

Ryerson Index, Newspaper BDMs, Free BDM and genealogy sites

Ryerson index excellent but also Savill index for South Aust. Secondary Sources for BDM – Savill Index of The Advertiser Funeral Notices.  See story here slsa.sa.gov.au/news/story/202…

We have the Wilson Collection  wilsoncollection.co.nz

I use Trove & Papers Past to find those more recent than BDM sources. I love Papers Past. Wish there were more of them available

Newspapers of course, many Catholics in SA in early years did not register births, but they nearly always added death notices to newspapers. Today I’ve just found 2 more children of one family without birth registration

Some great tips from Judy – also see links to website pages at end of this post

Tip1: Before buying certificates, check whether they’re available (FREE) in files at the Archives. Record series where I’ve found certificates are listed at bit.ly/3cJUdLj.

Tip2: Biographical data in Hospital Admission Registers is often more complete and/or more accurate than data in death certificates

Tip3: If you can’t find a death certificate, look for an inquest. There are inquest files for many deaths that weren’t registered. This definitely happened in QLD & Victoria, & probably elsewhere. I’ve also seen (in Queensland) inquests for some stillbirths, which at that time weren’t registered as either a birth or a death

Tip4: On the FreeBMD Website (civil registration indexes for England/Wales BDMs), add Postems to entries for people you’re researching.

Tip5: Check the names on the Web page for the Miscellaneous Australian Certificates Index: bit.ly/3cI1YBk. For certificates mentioned there, a copy only costs $5.

This is a terrific tip! Didn’t know it. What I like about FreeBMD is the ability to search marriages easily, & when I’m being specific to a family, to return more that 5 years of results at a time (as with GRO)

I check on Cemetery records in NZ & Find A Grave – look at the photo if there is one. Often correct information from other sources. Did 2 today, 1 yesterday. I state in my @WikiTreers profiles any conflicts – had 1 today, gravestone versus someone’s memory!

great #records to help put peeps in time&space generally & find children’s birthdates are #school admission registers. #blessed in #Queensland many for #Government #schools #digitised avail #Online @QSArchives

Re transcriptions – search all available! Example: Rootsireland which has helped me with so much research (generally more accurate and more complete transcriptions than e.g. FS, FMP, Ancestry) doesn’t contain the transcripts of two baptisms for GGUs.

Newspapers, Calendar of Wills, Burials (1) A marriage notice confirmed father’s residence and death bef. 1877. (2) A Calendar of Wills entry gave DoD (not found in civil) (3) Auctioneer’s ad verified relationship between two men (4) burial = clues ->breakthrough

Military records were fantastic for me. I had an Irish soldier marry a Welsh woman but we didn’t know from where. His service record gave marriage date in UK & I was able to go back 4 generations from her on the Welsh line thereafter.

employment records will often provide a date of birth and probably a place of birth. School enrolment registers will also give a child’s approximate age so if you can’t find them anywhere else this is helpful.

remember those local histories or family histories written by your relatives might also be secondary sources

other places to find BDM information include military service records which provide a place of birth & parent’s name. A death certificate might be included with a will & sometimes a marriage certificate or an inquest provide provide additional information.

PapersPast, Trove & British Newspaper Archive are regular haunts for me. Then a time on Google searching for odd indexes. Hints from online trees – though these need to be verified.

Using christening/baptism records you need to be careful sometimes several children were baptised on the same day

… sometimes at the same time #parents were #married

Yes – I’ve found 3 batches x 2 kids each time in 1840’s in Windsor & Sydney – concluded that the family weren’t regular church goers

That’s true. I found the first five siblings born in Australia were baptised on one day

I’m guessing baptismal records and anything like birth dates on tombstones et al. I would resolve by trusting the record closest in time to the event, if that makes sense.

Agree. Looking at marriage and death certs re. age I lean towards the marriage date, but there are always exceptions!

where there’s a conflict-of-interest between a civil registration and a parish baptism event, I generally opt for the baptism, but will note the difference. This is because if the parents were late registering they may have had to pay a fine.

my favourite alternative to civil certificates Is parish registers which can give you some of the same information. This applies even in Australia and has helped me solve missing information from early Queensland records.

Wills, and newspapers! Both full of detail, and especially helpful with women’s married names.

I have not encountered any major conflict in the newspapers using indexes you need to be aware of possible delay in registering births and even deaths

the best secondary source has to be the newspapers the person I just mentioned was in the newspaper and led to searching for further marriages than those known

Family reunions can help with living or just passed relatives, but still need proving eventually. Trove has also helped up to the 1950s.

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What are some of the factors that might create a challenge finding the correct person? Any suggestions on how to overcome finding a difficult BDM record?

A GGM & GGF put a notice in the WGTN newspaper about their marriage. No registration or church records found. One child’s birth cert has marriage in MELB. No MELB records. No passenger. No records either divorcing their first partners or deaths yet found

Could this be a good one for another pair of eyes?

Or actually getting serious and working through it with a plan and timelines, etc rather than just random checking.

Checked at Archives in Wellington years ago when I just started however never recorded what I checked as I did not know about recording negative results. Or even if I got the right records to check. That’s why I need to do it properly this time around.

With Irish ancestors: unofficial name changes, dodgy ages. Best advice I can give is keep an open mind, think outside the box, check the period covered by records, and use FAN!

Oh yes on the Irish dodgy ages, husbands 3x gt grandparents emigrated claiming to be 10 years younger than they were! Could not have been married in 1832 at age 8 and 12😂 Found their ages on deaths, both in Adelaide hospital register.

And even those ages may not have been correct unless someone went back to the original parish records to confirm year of birth.

Yes, I agree but probably as close as I’ll get with the births likely to have been 1808-1812 pre the Galway birth registers currently available

For me, the biggest challenge is common names. Byrne was the most common surname in Dublin, at 1 in 10. AND, the Irish used the same given names in every family. AND two grandparents were Byrne. Solution = Time + line-by-line searches. Maybe!

if I knew the answer to this question I’d have all my brick walls knocked down! I think some of my ancestors just weren’t registered.

Bought a NZ printout of a birth for an Aussie cousin (too hard to buy from overseas). Solved the mystery of her DNA matches. Brief marriage that produced one child. Built her tree in a few minutes


Surname changes are the thing I find most challenging. My g grandmother was registered with the German family name but for younger siblings the name was different.

I recommend buying certificates rather than a transcription agent if you have non-English ancestors. As a family member you are more likely to recognise names and places.

Photographs in this collection from the New Zealand Tung Jung Association, a Chinese county association of people from or descended from people from the counties of Jung Seng & Tung Goon (Zheng Sheng, Dong Guan), east of provincial capital Guangzhou. tungjung.nz/portraits/

a frequently mis-spelt name (even with fuzzy matching). I think I have about a dozen spellings for Farish, various cousins have different surnames now

My Jones’ and Taylors’ are hugely challenging along with their ever repeating christian names

Common names, i.e. NINE William Browns died in Victoria in 1921, several close in age; death notice placed by his sister, sourced via Trove, helped me find him, then an inquest record (alas) too

 I highly recommend enlisting the help of other genie friends. Fresh eyes are always amazing 🙂

I agree with this tip Alex. Two sets of eyes can often solve a long standing brick wall. I’ve had experience of this a couple of times

if you know the exact date of birth and the first name sometimes it pays to not include the surname in your search

I have a James Smith who died in 1901 there are 2 of them died that year same age and district so burial record helps to confirm which is correct along with census

Bigamy, name changes – ways to solve now include DNA

Spelling variations always cause a challenge when you’re trying to find someone with an unusual name. The information on the certificate may include big gaps which happens with the earlier Qld records.

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Blog posts relating to topic

Judy – Postems on FreeBMD, Webpage tips searching in Queensland, Webpage hospital admission records, Genealogy advice and indexes, Miscellaneous Australian certificates index, Queensland genealogy blog

Pauleen – certificates,

Jennifer – at the record office,

Claire – results in unexpected places

Sue – using certificates and censuses