What is the Gould Genealogy & History 10:10:10:10 sale?
10th July  … 10 days … 10.00am … $10.00

Every day at 10.00am (Australian Central Standard Time) for a total of 10 days starting from Sunday 10th July, us at Gould Genealogy & History will announce on Twitter and Facebook, our new daily $10 special. Each item will be on sale for 24 hours.

I can guarantee there will be MASSIVE savings, and if that isn’t enough, as an added bonus, we’re making each of these items FREIGHT FREE for postage within Australia.

So if you, your friends or family are into Australian history and/or genealogy, spread the word, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.  Write it on your calendar … 10.00am next Sunday is when it all starts.

This offer is ONLY available for orders placed online through Gould Genealogy & History’s website.

Not a Twitter or Facebook user, be sure to join up and follow us to take advantage of this AWESOME sale!!

Here’s where you can find us on Facebook, and on Twitter.

She has very kindly written our first ever Guest Blog Post. All about Facebook, this article is aimed at those who who haven’t yet taken the plunge into the world of Facebook, or those that have only just dipped their toes in.

Kylie takes you step-by-step through the process of setting up an account, adding friends, ‘likes’ and more …

Anyway I shall let Kylie get on with telling you all about how to get started …

—

Millions of people use Facebook every day to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Facebook’s mission is to give people the power to “share and make the world more open and connected”. www.facebook.com

According to Wikipedia:  “Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook Inc. with more than 500 million active users in July 2010″. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

The first step to using Facebook is to sign up for a FREE account.  Fill in your details in the sign up form and click Sign Up.

Type in the security check words and click on Sign Up.

After you complete the sign up form, Facebook will send an email to the address you provided. Clicking on the confirmation link in the email will complete the sign up process.

You will also receive an email titled Welcome To Facebook.
Click on the green Get Started button in the email.

The first step is to add any friends who may already be using Facebook.  Facebook shows you a list of people it thinks you might know.  If there is anyone in the list you know and would like to be friends with then click on the Add As Friend button next to their name.  All friendship requests need to be confirmed so your friendship connection won’t be established until the other person confirms that they want to be your friend.

Step two is Find Friends.  This step is more confusing to new users than it is useful so I recommend skipping this step.  Click on Skip This Step and we’ll move on to step three.

Step three … It is entirely up to you how much or how little information you put into Facebook.  You’ll need to think about this seriously.  You can always go back later and put in some more information if you feel that it’s okay.  Put in your information and click Save and Continue or put in no information and click Skip.

It asks you again if you would like to add any people you know.  You can skip this step for now and we’ll come back to it later.

Now to step four uploading your profile picture.  Again it’s your choice if you want to upload a picture of yourself, one of your pet or maybe a funny picture you’ve taken.  It needs to be a picture which you own though.  You cannot upload to Facebook pictures which belong to other people, trademarks, adult content, pictures of famous people (unless you took the photo yourself).  I use pictures of myself and from time to time change it to pictures of my pets.

Click on Upload A Photo.  I’m not going to discuss taking a photo with your webcam, it would make this article too long.

Click on Browse and Facebook will look at your computer’s hard drive.

Go to your Pictures folder and choose a picture you would like to use.  Click on the picture file and click on Open.

Here is your profile picture on your Home page.  For this article I used a picture of a cute dog.

Facebook guides you through putting more information into your profile.  The information you put in your profile will be viewable by everyone on Facebook.  You can change this in the privacy settings to be only viewable by friends.  Enter the information you want in your profile, again you can go back and change this at any time.  Scroll right to the bottom of the screen and click on Save Changes.

After setting up your profile you can start using Facebook.

Most people communicate with their Facebook friends via their status updates.  Status updates range from the sublime to the ridiculous.  It’s something you have to see to believe.  Updates are short snippets of information, they can be about yourself, your family and your activities, comments on the weather or your hobbies.  It’s entirely up to you.

Type in your status and click Share.
Read what’s in the box and click on Continue.

This is your profile page.  All things about you are on this page.  There are three tabs at the top of the page underneath your name.  They are Wall, Info and Photos.  The wall contains your status updates, the info tab has information about you and the photos tab contains your photos, if you choose to upload any.  Friends can write on your wall and you can write on theirs.

In the top right hand corner of the screen it says Home, Profile, Account.  Click on Home to go to your Home page.  Each time someone in your friends updates their status it shows up here on your Home page.  Friends also share video clips, music clips, and links to interesting websites.

–

So now that Kylie’s given you the step-by-step details on how to go about setting up a Facebook account, what are you waiting for? There’s a world of family and friends out there waiting to keep you up to date.

Not only that, but it is a great way to keep up with the latest news of businesses, groups and other organisations. If you wish to follow Gould Genealogy on Facebook, you can do so by going to http://www.facebook.com/GouldGenealogy and click the ‘LIKE’ button. Any of our updates will then appear in your timeline, so you’ll always ben kept informed of the latest happenings.

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.

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.

AUSTRALIA
Early Australian history – Facebook Group
If you are a Facebooker, and have ain interest in the early colony history of New South Wales, Norfolk Island, and Tasmania 1788-1820, you might like to join the  Facebook Group dedicated to just this.

NEW SOUTH WALES
Leeton – Henry Lawson Cottage
For the first time since the completion of extensive restoration work during over two years, Henry Lawson Cottage will be open to the community. In 1916, Australian poet, Henry Lawson was employed as a publicist for the MIA on a salary of two guineas a week and the use of the cottage, which he occupied with his housekeeper. The two bedroom cottage was originally constructed in 1912 and is one of the earliest surviving examples of the cottages provided by the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Trust for new settlers. More on this can be read online.

Sydney – Sydney The Master Genealogist (TMG) User Group
The Sydney User Group of The Master Genealogist (TMG) family history software. The group meets once every three months at the Society of Australian Genealogists headquarters at 120 Kent Street in Sydney.  To share our experiences with TMG and learn from each other. The Sydney TMG Group is an active one, and is one that is embracing social media, you can find them through their websites, mailing list, blog or Facebook:

Websites:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TMGSydney/
http://tmgsydney.wordpress.com/

Mailing list asking and answering questions:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TMGSydney/

Blog:
http://tmgsydney.wordpress.com/

Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TMG-Sydney/138659666162627

Tintaldra – Book Launch for “Grandie”
The Tintaldra Store and Tea Rooms at 11am, Saturday 11 September is the setting for the launch of the new book “Grandie: Sydney Grandison Watson, King of the Upper Murray and his sons to the Gulf of Cape York” by Norman C. Hutchinson. Sydney Grandison Watson settled at Walwa on the Upper Murray in 1845. ‘Grandie’ as he was known expanded his pastoral holdings to around 100,000 acres and became known as the King of the Upper Murray. In 1864 Grandie employed Edwin Jephcott to build the Tintaldra Store, which is still in use. Following the book launch, the store owner will provide visitors with “A Taste of the Past’ with Aussie Stew, Drover’s Damper with Golden Syrup, and Tank Water Tea, together with some bush poetry and music. For more information about the launch please contact Greg Blackmore blackmoregreg@bigpond.com.

QUEENSLAND
Brisbane – Brisbane The Master Genealogist (TMG) User Group
Peter Collins the convenor the of the Brisbane TMG User Group has created a group on Facebook for those that wish to interact with others using TMG.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189821235613

Slade Point – New Book released with another in the works
Slade Point is a peninsular suburb north of Mackay, was named by Captain James Cook. The history of Slade Point has been recorded in a book. More than 80 people recently gathered to celebrate the launch “Stories from Slade Point” in which the editors have preserved a wealth of information and stories of ordinary people from the early days in a permanent record of Slade Point. One of its editors is now looking for someone to write a history of Slade Point Primary School before its 75th anniversary in 2014. Copies of “Stories from Slade Point” can be purchased from the Slade Point Post Office, Finch Street, Slade Point, Qld 4740 fax: (07) 4955 1401. You can read the full article in the Daily Mercury online.

South West Queensland – Request for Information
Julie Dern is compiling a South West Queensland Pioneer Register up to 1900 which will record people who lived in towns and areas along and south of the Warego Highway, including Augathella, Birdsville, Charleville, Condamine, Cunnamulla, Dirranbandim, Eulo, Goondiwindi, Injunde, Miles, Mitchell, Morven, Mungindi, Quilpie, Roma, St George, Surat, Taroom, Thargomindah, Toompine, Wallumbilla and Wyandra. No closing date has been set at this stage, but it is like to be at least 18 months. It has not yet been decided whether it will be published in book of CD format. If you would like to submit some information, please send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: Julie Dern, PO Box 197, Warren, NSW 2824 or email: juliedern@westnet.com.au.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Adelaide – Kohlhagen Family History
A second edition of the ‘Kohlhagen Family History’, published in 1983 is currently being compiled. Information is being gathered from families descending from two Kohlhagen brothers, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm and Christian David Andreas, who arrived in Adelaide in 1846. Information is sought from descendants from any Kosher, Bertram, Hasch, Clifton, Cox, Coles, Whitbread, Carrick, Carlisle, Horsler, Gwilliam, Wardley, James, Clarke, Hickey, Drage and Denyer families who may be connected. Contact Mecklenberg1846@hotmail.com or PO Box 2531, Bowral, NSW 2536.

Clare – Chigwidden Family Reunion
Descendants of Alexander and Elizabeth Chigwidden, who came to South Australia in 1839, are invited to attend a family reunion and book launch to celebrate 170 years of the family’s arrival to South Australia. The gathering will be held at Clare on Sunday, October 3. Contact Gerald Lally for details (08) 8843 8007 or gahllally@activ8.net.au.

Cockatoo Valley – Barossa Goldfields Historical Society
The Barossa Goldfields Historical Society are inviting you to an Open Day on Sunday 26th September 2010, from 9.30am-4.30pm for a day of Gold Panning, Mining and Local History Displays, Guided Walks, Blacksmithing, Cross Cut Sawing. Bring a picnic, and enjoy the endless billy tea and damper. Held at Bowden’s Cottage, which is 4km up Goldfields Road (turn off the Williamstown Road onto Balmoral Road and next left onto Goldfields Road). Cost adult $5, child (5-17) $3, family $14. For more information contact Bob on his mobile: 0407 712 621, or visit their website.

Hahndorf – Wiki
The historic town of Hahndorf was established in 1839 and is a small town with a village type atmosphere. The Hahndorf Wiki (‘Hahnwiki’) is a ‘Wiki’ Resource for the Hahndorf Community including its Residents, Community Organisations, and History and Heritage. It is a combined interconnected community website documenting, exploring and discussing anything and everything concerning the town of Hahndorf, as does include a lot of history of the town and its early settlers. http://hahndorf.wikispot.org/

Kadina – Dressing of the Graves Nominations Open
South Australia’s Kernewek Lowender, the world’s largest Cornish Festival is held bi-annually in the towns of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo, and attracts over 30,000 visitors. This cultural festival has street processions, church services, craft displays and so much more. Many visitors are particularly proud of their Cornish ancestry and cultural and historical aspects of the festival are very popular.
The next Kernewek Lowender will be held between 9-15 May 2011. The Dressing of the Graves is one event that is held during the Festival, this honours the graves of early pioneers in the district. Nominations are now being taken for the next Dressing of the Graves, but do close on 30 September. A total of 30 will be chosen, with nominators informed on 30 November. For a copy of the criteria contact the Copper Coast Farm Shed Museum and Tourism Centre, The Farm Shed, 50 Moonta Road, Kadina, SA 5554, phone (08) 8821 2333, email info@kernewek.org.

Norwood – Norwood Football Club
Beneth sepia photos of footballers in knickerbockers and a wall-sized honour roll dating back to 1878, the history of the Norwood Football Club is being painstakingly collated, piece by piece. The Club’s History Committee made up of supporters and past players had pulled together a collection of more than 1000 items, including old guernseys, blazers and membership badges. But the collection is far from complete, and they have now put the call out wider for any memorabilia (badges, team photos, individual player photos or other items). The aim is to put the club’s treasures on permanent display once proposed new clubrooms are built at the ground in coming years. If you have any items you would like to donate please call (08) 8362 6278, email: general@norwoodfc.com.au or visit the Premiers Bar at Norwood Oval on Thursdays 10.00am. You can read the full article from the Leader Messenger online.

Quorn – Quorn Football Club Reunion
The foolball club are planning a reunion for their Senior Grades 1946-1978 to be held in 2011. They have put the call out for memorabilia and are looking at getting in touch with former players. Contact Bronwyn Rigden (08) 8648 6332 or jeremyrigden@aapt.net.au if you can help out.

Ramco, Waikerie and District – Waikerie District Historical Society
The Waikerie and District Historical Society is requesting photographs and information to enable to be prepared. They are seeking photographs and information on the Ramco Institute, early sporting clubs that no longer exist, post offices, shops, businesses, first settlers and also any memoirs. The same information also required for Waikerie. They will be happy to have copies made and return to originals to you. If you can help out you can contact: mkthiel@bigpond.com or Box 383, Waikerie, SA 5330 or Meredith Arnold (08) 8541 2091 or c/- Post Office, Waikerie, SA 5330.

TASMANIA
Tasmania – Help Needed to Identify Church
The Launceston Historical Society reports that Marcus Bastiaan is compiling research on the Australian artist Frederick McCubbin’s life and lesser known artworks. He is hoping to identify this Tasmanian church which is attributed to McCubbin. The artist was born in 1855 and died in 1917. Please email Marcus if you can help with any information marcusbastiaan@hotmail.com.

VICTORIA
Bendigo – Cornish Association of Bendigo and District New Publication
The Cornish Association of Bendigo and District has just released a new CD for Cornish researchers. If you had a Cornish ancestor who “kicked a stone, dug a hole, attended a church service, got married, had children, or died in Bendigo” then this CD is for you. On it you will find the names of thousands of Cornish people who came from Cornwall to help make Bendigo the city it is today. Also listed are the names and addresses of people who are researching the various names. There is a list of over 2000 Cornish Mining Captains and two complete books on Long Gulley, the Cornish Hub of Bendigo. Priced at $25 inc P&P. To order please contact Tom Luke by email: tomluke@westnes.com.au or post a cheque to him at 1 Linsley Way, Wantirna, Vic 3152.

Ocean Grove – New Geelong Publication Available
The people behind Bellarine On-line (Susie and Pam) have done a magnificent job in compiling their latest publication “Scots in Geelong and District to 1860” which has just been released. Available on CD for $25.00 (+$3.00 postage), or book (print on demand) for $50.00 (+$12.00 postage), these can be purchased by sending a cheque or money order to: Bellarine On-Line, PO Box 639, Ocean Grove, Vic 3226. You can find out more about these titles by checking our Susie’s website.

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, w’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.

Firstly, for us it has been a year of a number of exciting developments.

We are in the learning stages of social media, but we now have our blog (this one) and you can find us on Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully we will get better at it over time.

Another change is that we have now combined our Archive Digital Books Australasia (formerly Archive CD Books Australia) into our Gould Genealogy & History company. There is really no difference for customers, except that you can now find all titles produced under the Archive Digital Books Australasia name on the Gould website, in its own category.

A small change, well, not so much a change, as an addition was that we have added an “Antiquarian Books” to our category list, for those books that we sell off. There is currently only one title in the list, but we do expect to add more throughout next year.

We have also seen a fairly significant increase over the year in the number of scrapbooking products (particularly papers) that we list. It is so good to see more heritage and family tree themed scrapbooking products coming from numerous publishers.

2009 saw the release of new versions of RootsMagic, Family Historian, Family Historian Aus/NZ, Family Tree Maker 2010 Aus/NZ … and I’m pretty sure a new The Master Genealogist is on it’s way soon.

One other big new thing was the printing and posting of our first printed catalogue in 7 years. It’s not an entire product list of what we sell, but it is a good selection. This was received well by customers, and it might be something we do more of in the future.

With the release of our catalogue we also announced that we now have a loyalty rewards scheme. A full blog post will be done on this later.

During the year we have had a few staff members leave, and we have had new staff come. We will put a page on our website with photos of each staff member soon.

Two other big changes are the new companies that have started. Unlock the Past, and Family Photo Book.

Unlock the Past started off as a collaboration between Shauna Hicks History Enterprises and Gould Genealogy & History in wanting to attend and talk at more genealogy/history events, as well as promoting genealogy and history to a wider audience. It has grown from there in its short existence already.

Family Photo Book is a collaboration between an Adelaide based printing company and Gould Genealogy & History. Photo books seem to be a popular way to present your photographs, as opposed to the traditional album method. While you can use them to create whatever you wish (pictorial memoirs of holidays, family, weddings etc.) they are also ideal for creating a memoir of someone’s life, or a pictorial history of several generations of your family. I’ve started my own, starting from my great grandfather who arrived in Australia in 1905, and aim to follow each line down to current generations.

As far as genealogy in Australia goes, GenealogyWise, a new genealogy social networking site was launched earlier this year, and there is an active Australian group on there. More Australian content was added to the Ancestry.com.au and WorldVitalRecords.com.au sites, and the National Library of Australia’s Australian Newspapers site, just keeps getting better.

There is a growing trend for societies, archives and other groups and individual genealogists and historians to be on Facebook, Twitter and blogs (see our list of Australian genealogy/history blogs) – so if you’re looking to keep up with the latest happenings from various people, places, groups etc. become a fan on Facebook, or a follower on Twitter.

Thank you for your support over the past year. I do believe that there will be even more changes in Australian genealogy and Gould Genealogy & History in 2010 … so stay tuned!

From all of us at Gould Genealogy & History, we wish you a wonderful Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.