FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organisation in the world. It is run and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch for records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history, and why wouldn’t you since there are literally billions of records listed here … for FREE!!

For over 100 years, FamilySearch has been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide. Users can access this data free online at FamilySearch.org, their new FamilySearch Pilot site, or through over 4,500 Family History Centres in 70 countries, including the renowned Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Latter-Day Saints trace their ancestry as part of their religion. Like it or not, there is no way that genealogy would be where it is today without them.

For anyone who has ever ordered films from the LDS, either online or through your local Family History Centre, here is a spectacular look inside where these records are stored. Not only the mountain and vaults itself, but also in the workings of FamilySearch and their new digitisation project.

Social media seems to be the dominant theme through the latest news, with new new blogs, Twitter accounts and Facebook pages from groups. It is great to see them embracing the newer means of communications that people are wanting (and sometimes expecting).

Some of the following news articles have been submitted to us, while others have been found from websites, newspapers and other articles.

We love promoting genealogy and history throughout Australia and the smaller groups are just as important as the big state societies. So if you have news, events, need for help or donations, or have a request – please advise, we’d love to hear.

Campbells in Australia – Forum
I’ve been notified of the Campbell’s in Australia Group. This is a Forum and Network for those who are seeking genealogical and family tree information about the Campbell surname in Australia/New Zealand and their ties and roots to the surname “Campbell”. To subscribe, send an email to CampbellsAustralia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or subscribe directly off the web-site at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CampbellsAustralia

Johnston/e’s in Australia/NZ – Forum
As the search for surnames is popular in a global sense many would like to niche their research to a Country or indeed a Province or County, the newly created Group of “Johnston’s in Australia” is a Forum and Network for those who are seeking genealogical and family tree information about their Johnston/e [and all derivatives] surname in Australia/New Zealand and their ties and roots to the surname Johnston/e. To subscribe, send an email to JohnstonAustralia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or subscribe directly off the web-site at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JohnstonAustralia

New South Wales

Hawkesbury – Hawkesbury Family History Group on Facebook
For Facebookers, you may be interested to hear that the Hawkesbury Family History Group have made the jump into social media, and now have a Facebook page. Become a fan of their page by clicking on the “Like” button.
South Australia

Burra – Heritage Threat
How ironic it is that the heart of the Burra heritage story is the historic Monster Mine, and that the State Government is now deciding whether to overturn the mine’s heritage listing. It seems nothing is sacred in this state when it comes to mining. Phoenix Copper company wants to dig down below the mine in search of more copper, and possibly gold. Phoenix applied for a “variation of proclaimed area” which basically means getting rid of the heritage protection that so many people spent so long putting in place. The Burra copper discovery changed copper mining in the 1840s and 1850s just as Roxby is changing copper mining today. So even if something is “heritage protected” that seems to be meaning less and less these days. The full article can be read on the AdelaideNow website.

Glandore – Adelaide Proformat and social media
While not news to do with a Society or Group, this is still related to genealogy. Adelaide Proformat, business of professional genealogist Graham Jaunay, is moving with the times. You can keep now up with news not only from his email newsletters, but also through his blog, on Twitter and on Facebook.

Hamley Bridge – Past and Present Website and Facebook
The small town of Hamley Bridge, north of Adelaide is a community located at the junction of the Gilbert and Light rivers, as well as the site of a former railway junction. With no local history group in the area, local resident Sharon Norman, became engrossed in the history of the town, and began collecting all information to do with the town’s history. In a bid to make her information readily available to all, she has created her own Hamley Bridge website, and Facebook page. If you have any information or photos relating to Hamley Bridge, Sharon would love to hear from you.

Victoria

Bendigo – Cornish Association of Bendigo and District
The Cornish Association of Bendigo and District have ventured into the world on social media, and can now be found of Facebook. Become a fan of the Cornish Association of Bendigo and District by clicking on the ‘Like” button.

Echuca – Echuca-Moama Family History Group
Another place you find on Facebook, is the Echuca-Moama Family History Group. So if you wish to keep up with their news and happenings, become a fan of their Facebook page.

Marysville – Marysville Historical Society and Marysville Museum
A new museum is to open in Marysville north-east of Melbourne to replace the one burnt down by bushfires on Black Saturday in 2009. This is welcome news for the local Historical Society who have had thousands of items donated to them since the fire. You can watch the news report on the ABC website online.

The announcement has just been been made that Ancestry.com.au and Ancestry.co.uk have added Australian Birth, Death and Marriage Index Records (aka Vital Records to our US friends) to their websites.

Featuring records of 15 million Australians, and dating back more than 200 years to when modern Australia was settled in 1788. It is estimated that one in three “Britons” have an Australian in their family tree. For genealogists researching Australians, the release of these records is a major stepping stone to helping them discover their family history. The Birth index covers 1788-1922, Marriage index1788-1959, and Death index 1788-1985.

You can read Ancestry’s own announcement about this on thier blog.

Chris Paton from Scottish GENES seems to have been the first blogger to pick up on the new records, and spread the word around about it. This was followed shortly after by Australian blogger Geniaus, who after testing records, had some very interesting comments to say about it. Liz, from Yarra Plenty Genealogy also has had a go, and has also found that these databases are useful, but many records seem to be missing. So if using these records, check them with other sources. Just because the record isn’t there doesn’t mean that they’re not recorded.

Don’t forget that you can access the following records online already …
New South Wales Births, Deaths & Marriages
This index contains the births, deaths and marriage recorded in New South Wales between the years: births 1788-1909, deaths 1788-1979, and marriages 1788-1959.

Queensland Births, Deaths & Marriages
Index records are available for births registered up to and including 1914, deaths registered up to and including 1964 and marriages registered up to and including 1934.

Victorian Births, Deaths & Marriages
The Historical Index contains entries relating to births in Victoria from 1853 to 1908, marriages in Victoria from 1853 to 1942, deaths in Victoria from 1853 to 1985, and church baptisms, marriages and burials in Victoria from 1836 to 1853.

Western Australian Births, Death & Marriages
Free online searching of Western Australian birth, death and marriage indexes is available for the following ranges of years: Births 1841 to 1932, Deaths 1841 to 1965, and Marriages 1841 to 1936.

FamilySearch
The FamilySearch Pilot site keeps on growing, and now contains some records of Australian BDMs. You can find over 600,000 Australian Births and Baptisms, ranging in dates from 1792 to 1981. 170,000 Marriages are listed from 1810 to 1980, and their Deaths and Burials contain about 170,000 records at present from 1816-1980.
Births & Baptisms 1792-1981
Marriages 1810-1980
Deaths & Burials 1816-1980

There seems to be a lot of news about censuses recently (primarily the UK, Canada, but also the US and Australia too) … and purely due to time constraints, you’ll have to forgive me for putting them all together into a single post.

1921 BRITISH CENSUS
Guy Etchells, a key player in the English genealogy scene, and in getting the 1911 British Census released early, is now pushing for the 1921 Census to be as well. While he has managed to get the word out to various newsgroups and bloggers, he still needs your help with this campaign. You can read the blog reports:
Scottish GENES
British Genealogy
Global Genealogy

To see what a page from the 1921 Census looks like click here.

2011 BRITISH CENSUS
The big news just out of Britain is that their 2011 Census is expected to be their last. The 2011 Census will still proceed as scheduled on March 27, 2011 at a cost of roughly £482 million, but it has been quoted as being “an expensive and inaccurate way of measuring the number of people in Britain. Instead, the Government is examining different and cheaper ways to count the population more regularly, using existing public and private databases” You can read the full article on the Telegraph website.

2011 CANADIAN CENSUS
In a move that has genealogists gasping in horror, the Canadian government has decided that there will be only 8 questions on the 2011 census that will be mandatory. The other 50 or so will be voluntary … not only that, but it will now be kept “private” instead of being released after 100 years. The changes will leave future Canadians with very little information about their own families and the country’s history, in a move the government says was prompted by privacy concerns.

Dick Eastman has been keeping us informed of this through his blog:
Genealogists Slam New Restrictions on Canadian Census Information
Canadian Government is Senseless on the Census

1940 UNITED STATES CENSUS
Due to the 72-year privacy restriction on US censuses, this means that the 1940 census will not be available to the public until April 2nd, 2012. It sounds a fair time to wait, but boy it’ll be worth it for those that have US connections. With 50 questions that needed to be filled in, you’ll get a fascinating insight into your ancestors lives.

Dick Eastman has more on this census, together with a the full list of questions
that were asked, click here.

2011 AUSTRALIAN CENSUS
Australian’s hearing news about the releases of censuses overseas are probably feeling rather jealous, and rightly so, since we have virtually no censuses in existence … well, none that are accessible anyway. I’m talking about proper censuses here, not electoral rolls or muster lists, which do sometimes get called ‘censuses’. In one way Australians are lucky because of the fact that we hold censuses every 5 years (one of the very few counties to do so), because really 10 years intervals for a researcher makes it too easy to loose a person or family.
Australia’s next census will be held on 9 August 2011, and not only will it be Australia’s largest census, but it will also mark 100 years of national census taking in Australia. 2001 saw the introduction of the “do you want this information preserved in the Census Time Capsule” question, with 52% opting to do so, which was also included in the 2006 Census. I would hope that it will still be in the 2011, and I’ll be ticking YES for it to be saved.

To see more about what will be included in the 2011 census, visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

When starting your journey into the whole realm of family history, somehow paperwork seems to miraculously multiply around you. I have never quite worked out how it happens, but it does. And if you’re not to this stage of your research yet … expect it!! It will come.

This paperwork is your research, and as such contains, names, dates, notes, mini pedigrees, contact details of distant cousins who might have family photos etc. So all extremely important stuff. But to really make sense of it all, and to keep a track of the info that you already have, you really need to put in into a genealogy program.

There’s several things to note when looking for a genealogy program. Choose a program that is right for YOU. They are all a little different, and one may well be better suited to you than another. Recommendations from others are great, but nothing beats being able to try a program out for yourself.

So below is a listing of the genealogy software we sell, together with a little about each, the price, and the publisher’s websites .

ANCESTRAL QUEST

Ancestral Quest 12.1 – $49.50
Win 2000, XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.ancquest.com
download the demo

Ancestral Quest (AQ) family tree software is an easy-to-use and versatile genealogy program for Windows. Its format is perfect for the beginner and yet powerful enough for the most advanced genealogist. Easy data entry, keyboard shortcuts, scrapbooking, professional printouts, and excellent sourcing capabilities are just some of this genealogy software program’s wonderful, award-winning features. The publishers offer a fully-functional version for 60 days, which gives you plenty of time to work out if this is the program for you.

FAMILY HISTORIAN

Family Historian 4 UK Edition – $99.95
Win 98, Me, 2000, XP, Vista, Win 7
Family Historian 4 Aus/NZ Edition – $99.95Win XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.family-historian.co.uk
download the demo

This is a very different looking program, as it is a person based program, in preference to most which are family based. Apart from that it does have a number of unique features that others don’t, mostly in the way you view information, but also in its ability to view charts on screen. There is a demo available, so have a look at it if you wish. This came out at top choice in the ‘Choice’ Magazine’s genealogy software overviews in 2010.

FAMILY TREE MAKER

Family Tree Maker 2010 Aus/NZ Platinum Edition – $99.95
Family Tree Maker 2010 Aus/NZ Deluxe Edition – $59.95
Win XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.familytreemaker.com

The best known of all programs, this has been around the longest, and is owned by Ancestry.com, the world’s largest genealogy company. For many people it is their program of choice, while others won’t go near it – so it is really a personal opinion. This new 2010 edition has been added to from 2008’s total rewrite. There is no demo of FTM, but the publishers have put a slideshow as well as a video tutorial on their website which you can look at.

LEGACY FAMILY TREE

Legacy Family Tree 7.0 Deluxe – $59.50
Legacy Family Tree 7.0 Platinum Aus/NZ Edition- $79.95
Win 98, Me, 2000, NT, XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com
download the demo

You can download the “Standard” edition of Legacy for free. This is not a trial or demo version, and can be used for as long as you like. The difference between the standard and the Deluxe editions is that you don’t get the program CD, the printed manual, the licence code and some features have been disabled. The difference between the Deluxe edition, and the Platinum Aus/NZ Edition is that the Aus/NZ one comes with extra data CDs, a 3 month subscription to WorldVitalRecords.com and some gift vouchers. The program in both versions is identical.

ROOTSMAGIC

RootsMagic 4 - $49.50
Win 2000, XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.rootsmagic.com
download the demo

This is a good quality program that is continually gaining support through new users. Easy to use, and well supported, with good reports and charting capability, this is a good program for those wishing to start adding their family tree data to a genealogy program. There is a free version called “RootsMagic Essentials”, which is a functional program, with some features that are in the full program disabled but if nothing else it is an excellent way to assess the program.

THE MASTER GENEALOGIST

The Master Genealogist Version 7 Gold – $82.00 (program on CD)
$69.50 (program as a download) or $112.00 (program & manual)
Win 2000, XP, Vista, Win 7
http://www.whollygenes.com
download the demo

This is at the top of end of programs, but it is way too much for many in relation to what it can offer. If you’re wanting ‘a nice easy program to use just to add names, dates etc’ this program probably isn’t for you. It is so different from the other programs in so many ways, such as visually, its terminology, and its charting capability. The publishers offer a fully functional (allows import, export, printing, saving etc) 30 day trial of the program. After that, the demo is viewable, but not useable.

iFAMILY FOR LEOPARD

iFamily for Leopard – $44.00 (download only)
Apple Mac OSX 10.4 or later (Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard)
http://ifamilyforleopard.com
download the demo

iFamily for Leopard is a relatively new genealogy program specifically for the latest Macintosh with Leopard. It is a genealogy application for people who think differently. There is a demo available, so feel free to have a look.

REUNION FOR MACINTOSH

Reunion for Macintosh 9 – $149.50
Apple Mac OSX 10.3 or later (Panther, Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard)

http://www.leisterpro.com

download the demo

Reunion has been the best Macintosh program available for a long time now, and it continues to holds its place. It is a well-written, well-supported program, and is very easy to use, and does have powerful charting capability. There is a demo available if you wish to try before buying.

This is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list of all genealogy software that is currently available, but rather a good range of them. As each of them a little bit different, it is good for you to take the time to work out which program is going to suit you the best.

If you would like to read up some more before making your decision, here’s some great places to do so:
Genealogy Software Reviews
Choice Magazine

Visitors to the Genealogical Society of Victoria’s premises in Melbourne, are in for a treat. Along with offering users access to Ancestry, FindMyPast, the OriginsNetwork and Burke’s Peerage and Gentry, they now offer free downloads from The National Archives (UK) Documents Online service.

This allows you online access to The National Archives (UK) collection of digitised public records, including both academic and family history sources. Normally most of these records cost £3.50 per document to download, however, the Genealogical Society of Victoria now has available to members (and others for a day member fee) this great resource. Normal costs for printouts apply, but you can download to your USB drive/memory stick, etc.

The National Archives holds millions of records, all of which are useful for genealogists, and historians. Just a few of the records that you can find on DocumentsOnline are:
Aliens Registration Cards
Combat Reports, Second World War
Death Duty Registers: country court’ registers between 1796 and 1811
Domesday Book
Early Irish Maps from State Papers c1558 – c1610
French Muster Rolls
Poor Law Union Correspondence
Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills 1300-1858
RAF officers’ service records 1918 – 1919
Registers of Seamen’s Services
Registry of Shipping and Seamen, Movement Cards
RN Officer’s Service Records
Royal Hospital Chelsea
Royal Marines Register of Service
Royal Naval seamen’s Wills 1786 and 1882
Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service, WW1
Victoria Cross Registers
Victorian Prisoners Photograph Albums
War Diaries
WW1 Airwomen’s Records
WW1 Women’s Royal Naval Service
WW1 Campaign Medals
WW2 Seamen’s Medals

In searching for my own family, I visited a local cemetery in South Australia which includes quite a number of my reli’s, including many of the Hannaford clan.

After going up and down the rows photographing all that are related, and others that ‘might’ be … I found this one.

If only all headstones had this information … but then again that might make the search TOO easy, don’t you think??

It is true that Australia seems to be behind the rest of the world (well, the US and UK) as far as getting family history data online. But it is coming, bit-by-bit.

This is a listing of new ‘Australian’ data added on to these online data websites recently.

ANCESTRY.COM.AU
Ancestry.com.au continue to add to their collection, by adding the following:
New South Wales, Australia, Applications and Admissions to Orphan Schools, 1817-1833

ANCESTRY WORLD ARCHIVE PROJECT
The World Archive Project, is a division of Ancestry.com which “lets you help us bring free historical record collections to the public. Contributors become the first to see new collections as they type in information that creates searchable record indexes.”  Keep an eye on this site, or better yet, register as an indexer, as there are LOTS of Australian records being worked on here. And the sooner they’re indexed, the sooner everyone has access.

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS (NLA and TROVE)
The availability of the Australian newspapers continues at an amazing speed (though no doubt, just the one we want isn’t yet online!!), but still to even have these coming is a phenomenal resource for all. These newspapers appear both on the NLA Australian Newspapers website, as well as on TROVE.
Camperdown Chronicle (Vic, 1877-1954)
- From 1880-12-03 to 1882-04-29
- From 1883-12-01 to 1885-05-30
- From 1899-09-02 to 1900-08-30
- From 1903-07-02 to 1904-02-27
- From 1908-03-03 to 1908-10-31
- From 1911-07-01 to 1914-01-31
- From 1914-10-01 to 1915-05-29
- From 1917-06-02 to 1918-04-20
- From 1919-05-01 to 1919-12-30
- From 1931-07-02 to 1931-12-31
- From 1936-01-04 to 1937-06-29
- From 1940-07-02 to 1940-12-31
- From 1942-01-06 to 1942-12-29
- From 1953-01-06 to 1953-12-29

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA, 1889-1931)
- From 1870-01-01 to 1871-12-30
- From 1889-04-01 to 1890-03-31
- From 1891-04-01 to 1892-03-31
- From 1892-04-01 to 1893-03-31
- From 1893-04-01 to 1895-03-30

The Argus (Melbourne, Vic, 1848-1954)
- From 1951-01-01 to 1951-04-30
- From 1954-01-01 to 1954-04-30
- From 1954-05-01 to 1954-12-31

The Mercury (Hobart, Tas, 1860-1954)
- From 1921-01-01 to 1921-12-31
- From 1922-01-02 to 1922-08-31
- From 1922-09-01 to 1925-06-30
- From 1927-10-01 to 1928-03-31
- From 1928-10-01 to 1929-03-29
- From 1929-04-01 to 1929-09-30
- From 1932-07-01 to 1933-12-30
- From 1934-01-01 to 1934-09-29
- From 1936-03-02 to 1936-08-31
- From 1937-03-01 to 1937-08-31
- From 1938-03-01 to 1948-06-30
- From 1949-01-01 to 1949-04-30
- From 1949-05-02 to 1949-12-31
- From 1950-01-02 to 1950-12-30
- From 1951-09-01 to 1952-04-30

The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld, 1866-1939)
- From 1884-01-05 to 1884-12-27
- From 1897-05-01 to 1897-12-25
- From 1906-09-01 to 1907-04-27
- From 1908-09-05 to 1909-04-24
- From 1914-01-03 to 1914-12-26
- From 1916-01-01 to 1916-04-26
- From 1916-05-06 to 1916-12-30
- From 1920-01-03 to 1920-12-25
- From 1924-01-05 to 1924-12-27
- From 1925-01-03 to 1925-12-26
- From 1927-01-01 to 1927-12-29
- From 1937-01-07 to 1937-12-29

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW, 1842-1954)
- From 1879-07-26 to 1880-03-12
- From 1880-10-28 to 1883-02-12
- From 1885-04-20 to 1886-03-31
- From 1886-09-27 to 1898-10-31
- From 1899-05-25 to 1907-07-20
- From 1908-01-13 to 1913-02-07
- From 1913-07-01 to 1913-11-19
- From 1916-01-26 to 1916-07-08
- From 1929-07-29 to 1929-11-12
- From 1930-04-07 to 1931-02-28
- From 1932-01-01 to 1933-02-28
- From 1943-01-01 to 1945-06-30
- From 1946-01-01 to 1946-04-30
- From 1946-09-02 to 1948-03-31
- From 1949-03-01 to 1949-08-31
- From 1951-09-01 to 1951-12-31

The West Australian (Perth, WA, 1879-1954)
- From 1901-03-05 to 1901-11-26
- From 1901-11-27 to 1902-08-13
- From 1903-05-06 to 1903-12-31
- From 1904-09-14 to 1906-07-07
- From 1906-11-01 to 1906-12-28
- From 1936-02-29 to 1936-05-15

FAMILY HISTORY SA
Family History SA, which is a site dedicated to South Australian records has recently added the following to their colelction:
South Australian Births 1836-54

FAMILY TREE OZ
This is a site dedicated to scanning old books, and publishing them online for free.
South Australian Motor Vehicle Registrations 1906-1920
Wise’s Tasmania Post Office Directory 1945-1946

FAMILYSEARCH
The FamilySearch Pilot Site continues to grow, and although not currently focussing on Australian records, the following has recently been added:
Australia, NSW and ACT, Masonic Lodge Card Indexes 1831-1930 (images only)
Australia, NSW and ACT, Masonic Lodge Registers 1831-1930 (images only)

QUEENSLAND STATE ARCHIVES
The Queensland State Archives has a long list of newly added records to their collection, you can see it here.

THE SHIPS LIST
Passengers:
– barque August, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 9th May 1855
– barque Johann Caesar, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 1st January 1855
– barque Wilhelmine, from Bremen, to Port Adelaide 1st October 1855
– ship Australia, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 4th March 1855
– ship Grand Trianon, from Liverpool to Port Adelaide 23rd April 1860
– ship La Rochelle, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 3rd September 1855
– ship Peter Goddefroy, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 18th November 1855

Happy searching … and keep an eye online for more good Australian data to come!!

The 1st July is Canada Day, and Ancestry.ca have made the following announcement:

To celebrate our 143rd birthday, Ancestry.ca is making available the 1911 Canadian Census records free of charge through July 4, 2010.

Considered the backbone of family history research, census records are often the most content rich sources for discovering information about one’s ancestors.  They can include information about an individual’s address, occupation, their place of birth, when they immigrated to Canada, the family living with them at the time of the enumeration, their religion, and even the birth place of their parents.

For those who are interested in discovering their Canadian roots, take a visit to  www.ancestry.ca/CanadaDay.

In the July Edition of Proformat News, Graham Jaunay, well known South Australian professional genealogist, talks about the latest records to be pulled from public viewing:

State Records of SA have withdrawn access to Series GRG21/1: 1885 Land Tax Returns. This series was particularly valued by family history researchers, not only because in one listing every land owner in the colony was listed, but because of the extensive information contained within the records. The material has been withdrawn because someone has realised that the South Australia Taxation Administration Act 1996 Div 3–Secrecy 77–80 Prohibition has certain disclosures that makes it illegal for the public to access this material compiled over 120 years ago in case someone’s privacy is compromised!

Privacy compromised from records 120 years ago, yeah right?? This is surely a sad day for those researching family in South Australia. But let’s hope this isn’t a precedent for other states for follow.

Most of Graham’s articles can be found on his blog, which is a great reference for those wanting to keep up with largely South Australian genealogy news. You can read his blog or subscribe to his monthly email newsletter to keep up with the latest news.