Biography – Family History

Notable Citizens of Sydney – DATA CD – $27.50
This book is a compilation of Notable citizens of Sydney. It gives a photo and caricature of each person together with a profile, including their vocation, birth, education, hobbies, recreations, address and special features.

Australian Men of Mark 1889 – DATA CD – $69.50
‘Australian Men of Mark’ was produced in two large volumes in 1888/1889. It is a wonderful centennial biographical record of thousands of men of the time.

Book of Remembrance of the University of Sydney in the Great War 1914-1918 – DATA CD – $29.50
This is a ‘Book of Remembrance’, not simply a record of those who went abroad on active service in the Great War after becoming members of Sydney University or entering its employment. It contains a roll of honour, a roll of service, details of associated memorials and information on those associated with the university who worked at home or in munitions.

Bank of New South Wales Roll of Honour – DATA CD – $27.50
It is a record of officers of the Bank of New South Wales who enlisted in the ‘British’ armies (which includes Australia and New Zealand). The bank is proud of the fact that 793 officers enlisted from every branch in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea and London out of a staff of 1750 men.

Directories

Australasian Medical Directory Compendium – DATA CD – $79.50
Australian Medical Directories contain useful information for social historians and those interested in medical history as well as those with ancestors within the medical profession.

Australian Pastoral Directory Compendium 2 – DATA CD – $69.50
If you are researching ancestors who were stockowners in Australia, the Pastoral Directories are a great resource. This compendium contains facsimiles of the years 1913, 1923, 1925, 1931, and 1954.

New South Wales Country Trades Register 1898 – DATA CD – $19.50
A wonderful guide, this is effectively a yellow pages of New South Wales country towns over a century ago. Listing over 800 towns alphabetically, each item then lists the services the town offers together with the person/s in that occupation.

Sydney Directory 1865 (Sands) – DATA CD – $29.50
The Sands’ directories are among the most comprehensive and best known of Australian directories. 1865 was the fifth year of release for the “Sand’s Sydney Directory”. Similar in style to earlier years, this one contains 13 directories in one.

Electoral Rolls

New South Wales State Electoral Roll 1903 – DATA CD – $47.50
This partial State Electoral roll for New South Wales in 1903 (2 of the 4 volumes) totals over 3,600 pages and lists approximately 250,000 names. It covers Districts C-G and M-R.

New South Wales State Electoral Roll 1913 – DATA CD – $129.50
This compendium contains the state electoral rolls for all New South Wales districts for 1913 – almost 17,000 pages. Apart from the main roll some districts also have supplemental rolls. You will find the details of almost 1 million voters who resided in New South Wales at this time who were entitled (and registered) to vote. Importantly, the roll includes the names of many women qualified to vote for the election of members of the state parliament.

General History

An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales – DATA CD – $39.50
Published in 1875, the fourth edition of this historic work includes the changes that occurred since the third edition of 1852. As with the first edition of 1834, John Dunmore Lang wrote this edition of over 1,000 pages almost entirely at sea.

Bailliere’s New South Wales Gazetteer and Road Guide 1870 – DATA CD – $29.50
This is the 2nd edition of this important 19th century gazetteer. It contains ‘the most recent and accurate information on every place in the colony’ – in 1870. It contains a wealth of information for historians and genealogists, and will interest the general reader as well. There are entries for towns and villages, lakes, rivers and creeks, islands, bays, hills and mountains, counties, hundreds, local government areas, electoral districts, stations, runs and other localities and features. It often gives latitude and longitude, populations, proximity to other towns, local industries, services such as coach and mail runs, hotels, churches, schools and much more. Pastoral tenants are also included, as are some of the principal landowners.

Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales 1888 – DATA CD – $69.50
Published in 1888, William Frederic Morrison produced the ‘Aldine Centennial History of New South Wales’ in a two volume set as a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated record of the history of New South Wales and its prominent inhabitants.

Handbook to the Colony of New South Wales 1858 – DATA CD – $7.50
This small, but very useful, book tells the history and current state (as at 1858) of the colony very concisely. Covering the convict period, the pastoral age, then the discovery of gold, this is followed by features of the colony, climate, productions, minerals, population, and social features.

Government Gazettes

New South Wales Government Gazette Compendium 1832-1840 – DATA CD – $239.50
The Government Gazettes were weekly newspapers (although there were extra issues produced as well from time to time), and this CD set contains all issues that were released for the years 1832-1840 in New South Wales, starting with the very first issue on 7 March 1832.

New South Wales Government Gazette Compendium 1841-1850 – DATA CD – $299.50
This CD set contains all issues that were released for the years 1841-1850 in New South Wales.

New South Wales Government Gazette 1865 – DATA CD – $49.50
Government Gazettes contain a vast amount of historical and genealogical information. However they are largely an untapped resource. The few complete runs that are available are usually only found in major libraries. And even for researchers who do have access to these the sheer size and extent of the Gazettes is daunting.

New South Wales Government Gazette 1875 – DATA CD – $49.50
Tens of thousands of ordinary people and localities, small and large, are mentioned EVERY YEAR in Government Gazettes. But they offer researchers much more than simply names and places. They will help you reconstruct events and circumstances in the life of individuals and communities.

Military

Australian Contingent: History of Patriotic Movement in New South Wales – DATA CD – $23.50
The full title of this publications is: ‘The Australian Contingent: A History of the Patriotic Movement in New South Wales and an Account of the Despatch of Troops to the Assistance of the Imperial Forces in the Soudan’.

Bank of New South Wales Roll of Honour – DATA CD – $27.50
As a memorial to the staff members from the Bank of New South Wales who served in World War One, the Bank decided to produce this book to honour all who participated.

Official Records of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa 1899-1902 – DATA CD – $29.50
Murray’s record is a compilation of official Australian reports in regards to the war in South Africa, and was compiled as a memorial and remembrance of the war.

Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire: New South Wales and Queensland – DATA CD – $29.50
This very rare record of many who fought in the Great War (1914-18) is now offered as a fully searchable facsimile of the original. Here is the New South Wales and Queensland edition of Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire, complementing the Western Australian volume of the same title as well as the variant editions of the ‘All-Australia Memorial’ (also to be published by Archive CD Books Australia, and various other biographical records of the the 1914-18 war.

Miscellaneous

Australian Handbook 1889 – DATA CD – $34.50
Covering New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, West Australia, Fiji, New Guinea and New Zealand, the ‘Australian Handbook’ is a guide with all kinds of interesting and unique information.

New South Wales Country Trades Register 1898 – DATA CD – $19.50
A wonderful guide, this is effectively a yellow pages of New South Wales country towns over a century ago. Listing over 800 towns alphabetically, each item then lists the services the town offers together with the person/s in that occupation.

New South Wales Weekly Notes Compendium 1884-1900 (Court Reports) – DATA CD – $79.50
Digests or summaries of court cases were reported continuously in ‘The New South Wales Weekly Notes’ from 1884 to 1970 – then subsequently under a different title. This CD contains 17 years of Weekly notes from 1884 through to 1900. Though a digest or summary, many cases are reported in considerable detail.

Sydney University Calendar 1887 – DATA CD – $27.50
Old university calendars contain a wealth of information on people associated with the university as well as an insight into the courses of study offered and university life and culture generally. And this CD which is searchable on any name, subject or word you desire will open up access to much of this information that you may not have considered or found convenient to access in the past.

Police Gazettes

New South Wales Police Gazette 19th Century Set 1862-1900 – DATA CD – $440.00
All 39 years of 19th New South Wales Police Gazettes at a very special set price.

New South Wales Police Gazette 20th Century Set 1901-1938 – DATA CD – $440.00
All 38 years of 20th New South Wales Police Gazettes to 1938 at a very special set price.

New South Wales Police Gazette 1879 – DATA CD – $29.50
Unique features of this particular year’s worth of issues is that they contain lists of Publicans’ licences issued. Information that these give is persons name, situation of hotel, and hotel name.

New South Wales Police Gazette 1928 – DATA CD – $29.50
Police gazettes provided information and instructions to members of the police force. You can expect the New South Wales Police Gazettes to include the following information that will usually list names and sometimes personal details, descriptions with photograph.

Public Service Gazettes

New South Wales Educational Gazette: Vol 3-1 (Jun 1893) to Vol 4-12 (May 1895) – DATA CD – $27.50
The New South Wales Educational Gazette was issued monthly and contains a wealth of information for family, local and educational historians. Now you can have two year the gazette to browse or search at your own convenience – a resource you may not have had ready access to, or time to use on a library – or perhaps may not have known existed. And the ability to search any word in the text enables you to check for any person, place or word in the text, a task too often too intimidating before this new searchable CD edition.

New South Wales Public Service List (Teachers) 1925 – DATA CD – $19.50
Being a List of Teachers permanently employed in High, Intermediate High, and Primary Schools on the 31st December 1925, arranged in alphabetical order. A listing of over 8000 teachers at schools throughout New South Wales at the end of 1925.

New South Wales Public Service List 1934 (excluding Teachers) – DATA CD – $19.50
A list of over 6000 Officers permanently employed on 31 December 1934 by the Government of New South Wales, excluding teachers employed in High, Intermediate High, and Primary Schools.

Regional History

Barrier Miner Business Directory 1891 – DATA CD – $19.50
With a population of approximately 20,000 by 1891, it was felt that Broken Hill needed a Business Directory. The local newspaper ‘The Barrier Miner’ came to the rescue and published the very first ‘Barrier Miner Business Directory’ in 1891.

Drummoyne-Concord History Set – DATA CD – $29.50
This CD contains two books on the one CD. Both the Drummoyne and Concord local histories have been combined and are offered at a very special price. These publications commemorate centenaries of local government in Drummoyne and Concord Municipality in 1983, and they contain a numerous photographs and maps of the area, as well as details of early settlers, and mayors and town clerks.

History of Broken Hill: Its Rise and Progress 1908 – DATA CD – $19.50
This history written in 1908 to record the “Rise and Progress” of the town is a wonderful record of how far the town had come in such a short space of time. Covering the topics of council, churches, schools, newspapers, banks, tramway company, hospital, orphanage, ambulance, societies and associations, fire brigade, and sporting clubs.

The Hawkesbury and Shoalhaven Calendar, Directory, Guide and Historical Record – DATA CD – $19.50
Written for the people of the Shoalhaven and Hawkesbury districts in 1905, this book includes a large variety of general and household information, including a calendar, cultural and cookery guide, directory, historical record and useful household compendium. It also includes many photos and sketches.

Religion

Centenary History of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales – DATA CD – $29.50
This Centenary History, published in 1905 in two volumes, contains a wealth of information on the Presbyterianism, Presbyterian churches and Presbyterian people in New South Wales. It is a valuable resource for church historians, local historians and family historians – greatly enhanced by full text searching on this CD edition.

The Australian Lutheran Set 1913-1966 – DATA CD – $199.50
The complete ‘Australian Lutheran’ magazine from the first issue in 1913 through to the last in 1966 is now available and fully searchable.

Sydney Diocesan Directory 1901-1910 – DATA CD – $47.50
This set of Sydney Diocesean Sydney directories contains lists and details on all the Anglican clergy, cathedrals, committees, societies and schools of New South Wales as well as Anglican clergy lists for all other states in Australia. Including significant amounts of biographical information on those who held office in the Anglican church at this period of time.

Australasian Methodist Ministerial General Index 1896 – DATA CD – $19.50
This book comprises the names of ministers in the Australasian Wesleyan Methodist Church from the beginning. This second edition brings the appointments to the year 1896. It also indicates the principal offices which each minister has held from the Conferences.

Australia’s new findmypast.com.au website offers a 24 hour free trial. This allows you to try it before subscribing and without need to enter your credit card.

To convert this to a paid subscription or, renew a lapsed paid subscription you need to use your trial of previous log in to avoid an “Email address already exists” message. The steps you need to take are:

1. log in with the email and password used for your trial or previous subscription. (you can still do this, but can’t access the actual records).

2. Click on “Upgrade Plan” at the top to go to the sign up page. This will pick up your registered email and take you to the registration and  payment page.

3. Add or update your address details (these are not added for the free trial subscription).

If you have any trouble with your subscription, please contact findmypast.com.au Customer Service, now mostly managed in Australia.

Email: support@findmypast.com.au
Telephone: 1800 904 447 (In Australia)
Telephone: 0011 2 9836 3587 (Outside of Australia)

Unlock the Past is organinsing its inaugural History and Genealogy Cruise for 2011. This will be a relaxing 7 night cruise to the South Pacific, combined with a fascinating history and genealogy themed conference.

Departing from Brisbane on 19 March 2011, you’ll be sailing for 7 days on the world-class P&O Cruise Ship ‘Pacific Dawn’ and visiting three South Pacific islands. With 11 decks, the ship comes with its own jogging track, pizzeria, 9 bars and lounges, 5 restaurants, spas, library, duty-free shopping, medical centre, gym and health spa, this makes not only for a great holiday, but a great way to further your genealogy and history knowledge.

The main presentations will be held most mornings from 8.30-10.30am, together with other special presentations and interest groups at other times, which still gives you plenty of time to enjoy the rest of the cruise. A taster of some subject areas that are planned for the cruise are:

* Life at sea, then and now
* Military history
* Australian, New Zealand, English, Irish, Scottish & European research
* Early medicine & DNA
* One name studies
* and much more that will unfold over the coming months

Unlock the Past have chosen Clean Cruising to be their partner for their cruise. They have a wonderful, enthusiastic team, who will help you with any of your needs or questions.

“Join us onboard Pacific Dawn and bring down those brickwalls while cruising on the beautiful South Pacific” – Jules, Clean Cruising

“I am really excited – the idea of a genealogy conference combined with a cruise is really the best of both worlds and I expect to have both fun and learn a lot at the same time!” – Shauna Hicks, Unlock the Past Co-Founder

Full information including costs, booking details, types of cabins available, more photographs, and general cruise itinery can be found on the cruise pages of the Unlock the Past website.

Come along to the inaugural Unlock the Past History and Genealogy Cruise – you won’t be disappointed.

If you are a Facebooker, have a look on both the Unlock the Past Cruise Event, and the P&O Cruises Event, as find others there who are already booked to go.

Another fortnight brings yet more news from primarily regional (but not exclusively) Australian genealogy, history and heritage groups. This covers  news from any group, society, museum, archive office throughout Australia. 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.

NEW SOUTH WALES
Barellan – Return to the ‘Good Old Days’ weekend
Barellan will be bringing back the “good old days” this September when it hosts a weekend of events that will transform the town to yesteryear. Two days of displays and competition for working clydesdales and heavy-horse teams will be the feature of the weekend, to be held September 25 and 26 at the Barellan Showgrounds, and will culminate in a Guinness world record attempt for the largest number of working clydesdales in harness. Other activities taking place over the course of the weekend will include market stalls, hay rides, horseshoe toss, whip-making demonstrations, a camp-oven dinner, a grand parade, a cow milking competition, a butter churning, damper-cooking competition, bush poetry, carriage driving and more. Committee member Laura Curran promised the event would have something for everyone. Read more in The Irrigator online.

Maitland – Coalfields Heritage Group
Alexander Galloway set up his photography studio in Coalfields in 1905. Little girls with ringlets in their hair and ruffles on their dresses; uniformed men on their way to war; and black-faced miners walking the dirt roads home after a day spent in the bowels of the earth were all captured by his photography, and sealed in glass negatives at his photographic studio. Now after 80 years of being stored in boxes under a house, buried in floodwater and mud, these images can again be seen, as the Coalfields Heritage Group has been fortunate enough to have the WWII era glass negatives donated to them thanks to the new owner of the house. You can read more about this story (and see some of the spectacular photos) in the Maitland Mercury online. One example of his photos below.

Wyong – Wyong Family History Group
The Wyong Family History Group have released a new book titled “Central Coast Roll of Honour”. In 400 pages, with 138 photos, this book includes the full names, rank, type of service and date of death (where known) of over 12,000 men and women of the Central Coast who were in the Armed Forces. You can order copies of this from the Wyong FHG, by sending payment to PO Box 247, Wyong, NSW 2259, the cost is $49.00, plus postage $10.00. You can find this book and other titles listed on their website.

NORTHERN TERRITORY
Alice Springs – Hartley Street School Celebrates 80 Years
The Hartley Street School in Alice Springs is celebrating its 80th Anniversary with a reunion of former students and teachers on September 24-26. Celebrations include a reception, bus tour, dinner dance and farewell barbecue. For more information contact Mary Blaiklock (08) 8952 1330, 0409 821 330, mblaiklock@bigpond.com. You can read more about the history of this school here.

QUEENSLAND
Birkdale – Annual Highland Gathering
A grand time was had by the hundreds of people who headed to Judy Holt Park at Birkdale in early August for the annual Highland Gathering. Spectators were treated to an extravaganza of excitement and entertainment. While miniature cattle provided intrigue, battling knights wielding swords, highland dancers, of course the pipe bands, and of course stalls with historical items of Scottish and Celtic design and customs, plus expert advice on genealogical knowledge, for those keen to discover their heritage, saw clusters of interested visitors throughout the day. The full story can be read online at the Bayside Bulletin.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Brinkworth – Brinkworth History Group
The Brinkworth History Group was recently presented with a cheque for $5960 as part of the History SA Community Museums Program Grants. Fred Groom, who accepted the grant on behalf of the group said that the State Government, through History SA, has realised the importance of preserving the heritage of the State and making that history accessible to future generations. You can read the full story in the Flinders News online.

Belair – Gepps Cross Primary School Closing
The Gepps Cross Primary School is closing at the end of the year. A reunion for all past students and staff will be held on Friday, 17 September 1.00pm-6.00pm at the school. For more information contact the school on (08) 8262 3256.

Kadina – Kadina Church of Christ turns 110
On August 15th the members of the Kadina Church of Christ celebrated the Church’s 110th anniversary, by holding a special service to re-dedicate the property and acknowledge the contributions of current and past members.

Kadina – National Trust, Kadina Branch
Members of the Kadina branch of the National Trust are still searching for a plaque erected in memory of the bandsmen aboard the Titanic. Chairperson Jean Hutchings said the plaque disappeared many years ago, but “we do have a photograph to show us where it is on the bandstands”. Measuring 48cm wide by 61cm deep it features the inscription “This stand was erected to the memory of the bandsmen of the ill-fated Titanic by the members of the Kadina town, U.L.U., and the federal bands, 1913”. If anyone has information or photographs of the plaque, please contact the National Trust at Kadina, you can find their contact details on the National Trust website.

Port Broughton – Brush With Our Heritage Art Prize
Artists from across South Australia are invited to enter the Port Broughton ‘Brush With Our Heritage’ art prize in which the first prize is $1000 for a work in any medium reflecting the heritage of Yorke Peninsula. Bob and Marjorie Brown, long-time supporters of the town and community say “we would like to see the history of the region preserved and believe that this art competition is an excellent way to do that, and inspire a new generation to take a closer look at the heritage of Port Broughton and the Yorke Peninsula”. Entires must be submitted by 25 October, with winners being announced in november. For more information or the fill in an Entry Form visit the Palate2Palette website, or send them an email Palate2Palette@bigpond.com.

VICTORIA
Edenhope – Edenhope and District Historical Society
I’d like to welcome the Edenhope and District Historical Society to the world of blogging and Facebook.I see they’ve been busy during August setting up these. So now there is no excuse for not keeping up to date with the latest happenings from this Victorian Society – follow their blog, or become a fan on Facebook.

Merbein – New book available
A book about Merbein’s centenary celebrations is generating a lot of buzz in Victoria’s northernmost town. The town of Merbein turned 100 in August 2009 and the milestone was celebrated with events such as a street parade, a photographic competition, sporting events, displays and open days. Now a year later Bernadette Wells, Merbein District Historical Society member, is launching the book of those celebrations … “as it was such a marvellous community event that it had to be recorded somewhere.” The 234 page book, titled “Merbein: Celebrations of a Centenary”. Copies of the book can be bought from Bernadette Wells (03) 5052 2288, visit the Merbein District Historical Society website.

Moonee Ponds – Essendon Historical Society
Two hundred years of local history for $5-00! To celebrate its 40th anniversary the Essendon Historical Society are making all 4 volumes of Annuals of Essendon available at this bargain price. The author Bob Chalmers has recorded in chronological order the events that have occurred in Essendon and district since 1802 to the year 2000, the entire project taking 9 years, and recorded in over 1500 pages. This offer is open until the end of September 2010. To purchase please write to: Essendon Historical Society, 768 Mount Alexander Road, Moonee Ponds, Vic, 3039. Postage on application (03) 9370 4607 or visit the Society’s website.

Shepparton – Shepparton Heritage Centre
2010 marks Shepparton’s 150 year anniversary, of being Gazetted a Township. Members of the Shepparton Heritage Centre are researching a  book detailing Shepparton’s progress over the 150  years.  The book will blend narrative with many historic events, and anecdotal stories.  It will feature many previously unpublished photos, and a selection of the illustrations will form a photographic exhibition. If you able to help out the Heritage Centre with any information or photographs that you don’t mind being published please contact Peter Ford – Heritage Centre Secretary – phone: 03 5821 7717 a/h or visit the Shepparton Heritage Centre website.

Remember to look back at our past Australian History News posts, as each does have events and information that is still relevant.

South Australian Community (History) Groups listen up … if you’re needing a little financial help with a project History SA has just made an announcement about their SA175 Grants:

2011 marks the 175th anniversary of the foundation of the Province of South Australia. To help commemorate this significant event the South Australian Government has established a special grant fund to assist community groups to acknowledge this important milestone.

Funding is available for small projects that explore any aspect of South Australia’s history. Individual grants of up to $3,000 are available with a total grant pool of $54,000. Projects must be undertaken between February 2011 and February 2012.

If you wish to participate, please read the guidelines first, and for those who wish to register you can fill in the application form online.

Applications must be submitted by close of business Wednesday 13 October 2010 or post marked 13 October 2010.

SA175: Your Part in South Australia’s History – let your group share in a part of promoting South Australia’s history.

Each year the community of Queensland is invited to participate in the National Trust of Queensland Bendigo Bank Heritage Awards. The National Trust of Queensland welcomes nominations from individuals, businesses, government authorities, professional bodies and community organisations.

The National Trust, Bendigo Bank and the Queensland Heritage Council dedicate these awards to everyone in the community who contributes to the conservation and enjoyment of Queensland’s heritage.

The 2010 winners of the National Trust Queensland Bendigo Bank Heritage Award were announced during a presentation at Old Government House, Brisbane on 26th August 2010.

With a record number of entries, and almost of third of the winning nominations being for heritage publications, it would seem that the recording of Queensland history is being well catered for.

Top honours with the ‘Gold Award’ in the Community category was taken out by Queensland Family History Society for their two volume publication ‘Queensland Founding Families’ through its exploration of the history of 750 individuals and families living in Queensland prior to Separation. President of the Queensland Family History Society, Sue Reid was on hand to accept the award. Rosemary Kopittke and  Mary Geiger, also attendees from the Society, were there and shared in the excitement (below in the photograph).

Mackay Family History Society’s ‘Early Settlers of Mackay’ scored Silver in the same category with its stories of 250 pioneer families.

Contratualtions to all who entered, as well as all who won. It is wonderful to see Queensland’s heritage being recognised by so many.

‘Queensland Founding Families’ title is available as a two-volume book set for $110.00, or on CD-ROM for $49.50.

The History Council of New South Wales invites you to attend History Week 2010 to be held 4-12 September 2010.

History Week is the state’s annual festival of history. An initiative of the History Council of New South Wales, it is now in its 14th year. With over 150 events across the state, History Week gives a voice to our past and aims to promote the fact that history is exciting, interesting, relevant and all around us.

During History Week, community groups, local councils, libraries, archives, museums, universities, cultural institutions, professional and amateur historians across New South Wales open their doors to present the latest in today’s historical research – fascinating stories, artifacts and experiences about both our past and ourselves today.

Events include talks, walks, exhibitions, workshops, performances and more.

The official theme for this year is Faces in the Street. Join in History Week 2010 for a walk down the streets of the past and into the lives of those you pass. Explore the biographies of our leaders, those who shaped our world and the worlds of lesser known identities.

More information, including the “when and where” for each event can be found on the History Council of New South Wales’ website.

Reunion is one of the easiest and well-written genealogy programs around, and what’s more it is written specifically for the Mac. Having been around for over 20 years, this family tree program just gets better and better with each version, with the current release being Reunion version 9.

As it is also not the cheapest of programs, you do want to be sure of just what the program does before going ahead and buying it. One way to do this is to download the free Demo of Reunion, or to view the YouTube videos that Leister Productions (the publishers of Reunion) have put together to help you with getting started or to evaluate if this genealogy program ir right for you.

How can scrapbooking and family trees NOT go together perfectly?

Scrapbooking is process of creating visual memoirs (a record) … and family history/genealogy is the finding and recording of your ancestors and descendants … so in combining them “Family Tree Scrapbooking” is created … the art of visually recording your family history … sometimes called Heritage Scrapbooking.

Years are usually spent researching, so why not spend some time creating a visual record which you can show off your ancestral roots to other family members and friends?

Over the last few years scrapbooking companies have caught on to the genealogy trend, and as such there are now numerous ranges of papers available for the Family Tree Scrapbooker. There are pages that allow for family group sheets, family pedigrees, and family memoirs.

This post is really just to show you the collections of scrapbooking papers that include Pedigree and Family Group Sheet papers. Each lists the manufacturer together with the Collection they are from.

These heritage scrapbooking papers are listed in alphabetical order to make it easier, so check out these great pages and tell us what you think.

Bazzill Basics – Heritage Collection

Fancy Pants Designs – My Family

K & Company – Ancestry.com

Kaisercraft – Duchess

Kaisercraft – Empire

Karen Foster Design – Ancestry

Karen Foster Design – My Family History

Karen Foster Design – My Legacy

Moxxie – Our Roots

My Minds Eye – Life Stories

Paper Loft – Grandma’s House

Teresa Collins Designs – Family Matters

If designing a whole page page is not your thing, but you’d like to still show present your family history in a nice way, rather than just printouts from your genealogy program – the Pedigree and Family Group Sheet scrapbook papers make it easy to simply fill in the blanks, while still looking good.

So what are you waiting for? All the best with your research, and happy scrapping!!

The records keep coming from findmypast.com.uk – this time it is military records. Findmypast.co.uk has recently added 184,650 records and 1,003,794 images to their Chelsea Pensioners collection for the period 1760-1854. This brings the total amount of Chelsea Pensioner records and images on findmypast.co.uk to 691,520 records and 4,200,729 images.

Wikipedia describes a Chelsea pensioner is an in-pensioner at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, a retirement home and nursing home for former members of the British Army located in Chelsea, London.

These records are of men pensioned out of the British Army 1760-1913. The connection with ‘Chelsea Pensioners’ is that the pensions were administered through The Royal Hospital at Chelsea.

Many of the soldiers listed will have served in some of Britain’s most significant wars, including the Battle of Waterloo (1815), the Crimean (1853 – 1856) and both Boer Wars (1899 – 1902). Each individual soldier’s record consists of a bundle of a minimum of four pages, full of fascinating personal details, and could even be up to 20 pages long.

The details that can be found in these records are invaluable to family and military historians, providing a rich and colourful story of our ancestors’ lives, with a level of detail that is hard to find in any other historical records. Among the information included in these documents are the soldier’s date and place of birth, name and address of next of kin, height, hair and eye colour, distinguishing features such as tattoos, rank and regiment, occupation before joining the army, medical history and countries where, and dates when, the soldier served.

The records not only relate to servicemen born in the UK, but also throughout the world, with many soldiers born in India and even the Caribbean. These records are also invaluable to Irish, Scottish and Commonwealth researchers, as many men joined the British Army from these countries throughout the centuries.

Remember that these records are free to search, like all the records on findmypast.co.uk, and you won’t find them anywhere else online. Even if you don’t think that any of your ancestors could have been Chelsea Pensioners, try searching the records – your ancestor may have only served in the army for a short time before they were pensioned out.

When you’ve viewed these records you’ll realise how special they are. The records are the next best thing to looking at a photograph of your ancestor. So what are you waiting for, start your search now?