If you’re researching your Cheshire ancestry, send the family out, stock up with snacks, and leave the catfood out so the cat can feed herself, as you’ll be glued to the computer for days (if not longer). FamilySearch will be your must-visit site, because in addition to the millions of parish records and bishop’s transcripts that they’ve just added they have:

- Land Tax Assessments 1778-1832
- Non-conformist Records 1671-1900
- Probate Records 1492-1940
- School Records 1796-1950
- Workhouse Records 1848-1967
- Marriage Bonds and Allegations 1606-1900
- Register of Electors 1842-1900

To date Cheshire one of the few English counties I don’t have any family in … yet! But if in my continued search I find them there, I know where I’ll be looking.

(the following in an announcement from FamilySearch)

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Ever found yourself researching your family tree and discovering a new branch that extended to another country—and you are not familiar with that country’s records or language? Or perhaps you are a fan of the popular reality show Who Do You Think You Are? and wonder, “How do the producers know what public records to search to find all of those cool stories about that celebrity’s ancestors?” Maybe you’d like to learn more about how to do your family history research but don’t think you can afford to take a class. Thousands of individuals are now satisfying many of those needs through FamilySearch’s growing collection of free online genealogy courses. In just one year, the number of free FamilySearch courses has grown to over 140—and new courses are added monthly. Most recently, over 25 courses were added for Australia, England, Germany, and the U.S. Additional courses were added that focus on basic tools and techniques for anyone just getting started in family history research, as well as courses for intermediate and advanced researchers.

“The goal of the initiative is to educate more people worldwide about how to find their ancestors. We do it by filming the experts teaching a particular class of interest and then offering free access to that presentation online—complete with the PowerPoint used and any electronic handouts that the user can download or print for future reference,” said Candace Turpan, FamilySearch instructional designer.

Turpan’s team films presentations made by its staff from the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as special guests (the library is frequented by accredited researchers from all over the world). They also travel to industry conferences or other venues where record and research specialists gather. There they film specialists’ presentations and make them available online.

Of course, you don’t have to be into genealogy to find presentations of interest. Fans of The Da Vinci Code or National Treasure might find the Cemetery Art course by Ellen Miller of the Mid-Continent Public Library System in Independence, Missouri, very intriguing and enlightening. Miller’s course teaches about funerary traditions and cemetery iconography. “[Tombstone] practices differ from country to country, culture to culture, and religion to religion. As funeral ceremonies differ, so do the burial practices,” said Miller. Those elements often influence the types of funeral markers and symbols used on headstones, footstones, and tablet stones and can therefore tell important facts about the person they help identify. The key is in understanding the messages behind the symbolism.

FamilySearch uses viewing software that splits the viewing screen (sort of like the picture-in-picture features on some televisions) so the user can watch the video of the presenter while also seeing the PowerPoint presentation. Most courses are 30 minutes in length. You can also fast forward through the presentation or presentation slides or stop and pick up later where you left off—a luxury you don’t get in the live presentation.

“Maybe you enjoy the thrill of deciphering or reading old records in other languages. FamilySearch also has free courses to help genealogy students understand key words and terms of older foreign alphabets and handwriting, including Gothic,” added Turpin. The intent behind all of these courses is to give people the keys they need to successfully find their elusive ancestors in historic records. “Sometimes they just need a new sleuthing skill or resource. These genealogy courses are perfect for those personal development needs,” concluded Turpin.

Whatever your motivation or objective, bookmark and make regular visits to the growing catalog of free courses at FamilySearch.org.

And if you or someone you know currently teaches a class that would be of value to the genealogy community and wants to share it, find out how online at FamilySearch’s genealogy classes online.

Latest Course Additions:

Australia
- Australia BDM Civil Registration Index
- New South Wales Early Church Records 1788–1886
- Using the New South Wales Birth, Death, Marriage Index

England
- Getting the Most from the National Archives Website
- Researching in the British Isles
- What Is Britain?

Germany
- My Experiences in German Family Research

Research Principles and Tools
- Cemetery Art
- Finding Your Way: Locating and Using Maps in Your Research
- How to Find More at a Genealogy Library
- If I’d Only Known: Beginner Genealogy Mistakes
- Managing Your Family Records on the Internet

United States of America
- Basic U.S. Military Records with Tiff
- Beginning Census Research and Record Keeping
- Colonial Immigration
- Colonial Land
- County Histories and Your Family
- Finding the Slave Generation
- Locating Ancestors on the Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes
- See You on Sunday! Church Records in Genealogy
- Some Underused Online Resources
- U.S. Courthouse Research
- Welcome to the World of Periodicals

ICAPGen The International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists
- Mentoring Class: Introduction to ICAPGen
- Mentoring Class: Research Binder
- Mentoring Class: Evidence Analysis Part II
- Mentoring Class: Written Exam and Oral Review

You can view the full listing on those currently available on the FamilySearch website.

I have compiled this list of ‘must-visit’ sites for those who are reseaching Australians, and have chosen to focus on ‘Australia-wide’ sites only. I will say that there are some fabulous one-state sites out there, but they deserve their own blog post sometime, so have been omitted from this list.

Please note this list is purely my opinion only, and I’m sure that I left out another 10 more more that should have been listed – but they’ll just have to wait for another day.

They’re listed in no particular order other than alphabetical. But in I think they’re ALL worth at least a look if you haven’t visited them, or a revisit if haven’t visited them recently.

AUSTRALIAN CEMETERIES – http://www.australiancemeteries.com/
This website contains the largest collection of Australian cemeteries together on a single site.  Firstly divided into state, then alphabetically each cemetery advises if it is Online data, a Look-up, a transcripts, and has headstone photos.

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS – http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
Many thousands of Australian newspapers (old and current) have been digitised, and can be viewed and searched online through the National Library of Australia’s website.

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL – http://www.awm.gov.au
The War Memorial’s collections contain a wealth of material relating to the military service of individuals as well as units. If you are trying to track down information about relatives who served in any of the conflicts in which Australia has been involved since the 1860s, you can search their collections. The photograph collection includes individual and group portraits of military and support personnel, allied and enemy soldiers and local civilians, and scenes of the Australian homefront. The private records collection includes private papers, letters, and diaries of non-government organisations and individuals. And the film, sound, art, heraldry, and technology collections are also useful sources to check.

CONVICTS TO AUSTRALIA – http://www.convictcentral.com
While not everyone in Australia is decendended from a convict, many are, and the “Convicts to Australia” site is a great place to start your search. This website is intended as a guide to inform those just starting as well as the more experienced researcher. Being a ‘work in progress’, the site is being added to regularly.

CORAWEB – http://www.coraweb.com.au
While this is not a website that contains records as such, Cora’s website is an Australian genealogy gateway site, a place to find other sites to go to. This site has 1,650+links arranged in 48+ categories all to do with Australian genealogy.

FAMILYSEARCH – http://www.familysearch.org
FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organisation in the world, and is actually world-wide in it’s coverage. But I have listed it here as it does have some very valuable records available relating to Australia. Just as background, for over 100 years FamilySearch have been gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide. Previously available through their Family History Centres around the world, these records are now being made available online. In all seriousness, genealogy would not be where is it today without FamilySearch.

HERITAGE AUSTRALIA – http://www.heritageaustralia.com.au
Heritage Australia is created to celebrate Australia’s history and heritage. You will find a feast of articles on an ever-increasing range of topics and themes, as well as an enormous amount of information on historic places, events, news and book releases, as well as a directory listing societies, groups, museums etc.

NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF AUSTRALIA – http://www.naa.gov.au
The National Archives of Australia holds many millions records in which you might find information about your ancestors. This is the place to come if your family members served in the Australian armed forces or if they migrated to Australia during the 20th century, you may also find business records.

PICTURE AUSTRALIA – http://www.pictureaustralia.org
On Picture Australia, galleries, archives, museums and libraries across Australia and overseas combine to provide access to over 1.8 million images, all fully referenced and all fully searchable by name, topic, collection or other criteria.

RYERSON INDEX – http://www.ryersonindex.com
The Ryerson Index is a website which has indexed over 2,800,000 death, funeral, probate and obituary notices from Australian newspapers.

THE SHIPS LIST – http://www.theshipslist.com
The Ships List website will help you find your ancestors on ships’ passenger lists. They also have immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures, ship descriptions, shipping-line fleet lists and more; as well as hundreds of passenger lists to Canada, USA, Australia and even some for South Africa.

TROVE – http://trove.nla.gov.au
Created by the National Library of Australia, with over 119 million records currently referenced, why wouldn’t you search here. Covering Books, journals, magazines and articles; Pictures and photos; Digitised newspapers and more; Diaries, letters, and archives; Maps; Music, sound and video; Archived websites; and About people and organisations. One search on Trove searches all categories, and you’re bound to find some records you didn’t know existed.

Please note, some of these site you do need to pay to view records, others are free.

ANCESTRY.COM.AU (pay)
Ancestry.com.au continue to add to their collection, by adding or updating the following:
Australian records:
Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922
Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1949
Australia Death Index, 1787-1985
Australia Cemetery Index 1808-2007
Australia and New Zealand Obituary Collection
South Australia Government Gazettes 1867-1884
Sydney and New South Wales Street Index 1861-1930

ARCHIVES OFFICE OF TASMANIA (free)
The Archives Office of Tasmania has recently added three new databases: arrivals, inquests, and a general index. All of these together with other indexes are available to search free.
General Index – indexes contents of a range of records, mainly names, but some subjects
Index to Inquests c.1828 – c.1930
Index to Passengers & Ships Arrivals to Tasmania in the 19th Century

FAMILY HISTORY SA (free)
Family History SA, a site dedicated to South Australian records has recently added the following to their collection:
Deaths of Returned South Australian Servicemen
South Australian Land Purchases 1869-1890

FAMILYSEARCH (free)
FamilySearch has certainly bee busy adding millions of records online in the last few months, unfortunately no new Australian ones in this lot, and just one new New Zealand title … but I can tell you more Australian records are due soon from FamilySearch so keep an eye on their site.
New Zealand Immigration Passenger Lists 1871-1915

FINDMYPAST.COM.AU (pay)
findmypast.com.au took over WorldVitalRecords.com.au earlier this year, and now they are just starting to add a few new records to their collection.
Goomeri Cemetery Index
Mundubbera Cemetery Index
Queensland Commonwealth Electoral Roll 1959
Queensland School Pupils Index 2
Queensland School Pupils Index 3
Queensland School Pupils Index 4
Ravenswood Cemetery Index

QUEENSLAND STATE ARCHIVES (free)
The Queensland State Archives has been very busy adding new data online long list of newly added records to their collection. The newest addition to their collection is the Queensland Wills Index 1859-1925. The files contain documents which include information such as name, address and occupation of the deceased, date and place of death, next of kin, an inventory of property and its value and disposition.

Other recent additions to the Queensland State Archives site are:
Bureau of Investigation papers on land and irrigation development c01/01/1932-31/12/1973 (Open)
Co-ordinator General’s Office Miscellaneous Plans, Maps and Diagrams c01/08/1936-14/05/1947 (Open)
Education Department Inspectors’ Reports c19/03/1878-05/06/1991 (Partially open)
Lands Department District Working Maps c01/01/1879-31/12/1999 (Open)
Local Government Association of Queensland Executive Committee Minutes 14/08/1896-10/12/2009 (Open)
Mining Warden, Burketown/Mining Warden, Cloncurry Register of Miners’ Rights 27/03/1899-25/08/1960 (Open)
Police Station, Croydon Circular Memoranda and Order Books 19/01/1887-12/08/1925 (Open)
Police Station, Croydon Letterbooks c01/11/1892-08/06/1916 [with gaps] (Open)
Police Station, Croydon Register of Pay and Allowances 10/09/1903-29/11/1915 (Open)
Police Station, Harrisville Letterbooks 21/08/1904-26/04/1917 (Open)
Police Station, Irvinebank Letterbooks c03/07/1912-03/12/1915 (Open)
Police Station, Normanton Memoranda and Letterbook 30/10/1909-21/05/1952 [with gaps] (Open)
Port Brisbane Authority/Corporation Cairncross Dock Plans 18/11/1942-01/12/1972 (Open)
Registers of Applications under the Liquor Act, Croydon c03/04/1929-30/12/1940 (Open)
Port Brisbane Authority/Corporation Correspondence and Papers 18/08/1905-27/04/2005 (Partially open)
Registers of Resumptions 01/06/1935-31/12/1994 (Partially open)
State Butchers Department Register of Letters Received 26/12/1918-30/10/1920 (Open)
The Gap State High School Admission Registers 25/01/1960-17/05/1993 (Open)

THE SHIPS LIST (free)
Passengers:
- barque Alice Brooks, from Melbourne, to Port Adelaide 7th December 1855 … with passengers
- barque Bielefeldt, from Hamburg, to Melbourne 25th November 1855 .. plus two families
- barque Asa Sawyer, from Hamburg, to Melbourne 26th November 1855
- barque Steinwaerder, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 19th December 1855
- barque Helene, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 23rd January 1856
- ship Europa, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 25th June 1856
- barque August, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 17th August 1856
- ship Adele, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 14th September 1856 .. Melbourne 11th October 1856
- barque Heinrich, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 18th September 1856
- brig Vesta, from Hamburg, to Port Adelaide 29th November 1856
- barque Ramillies, from Plymouth to Port Adelaide 11th November 1860
- ship Schah Jehan, from Plymouth to Port Adelaide 1st December 1860
- barque Verulam, from London to Port Adelaide 27th December 1860

Immigration Reports:
- Assisted Passage from United Kingdom to South Australia, 1862

AUSTRALIAN NEWSPAPERS (NLA and TROVE) (free)
The National Library of Australia’s “Australian Newspapers”really deserves a blog post of it’s own, but for ease of use for finding what records are new, I decided to leave it in . As you can see from the extensive list, the people at NLA have been extremely busy scanning and putting the images online for all to see and use for free … and while heaps of papers have already been scanned, there are HEAPS more still to come!!

The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA: 1889-1954)
* From 1862-01-01 to 1865-12-30
* From 1868-01-02 to 1867-12-31
* From 1868-07-01 to 1869-12-31
* From 1876-10-02 to 1877-09-29
* From 1875-10-01 to 1876-09-30
* From 1877-10-01 to 1878-06-29
* From 1878-10-01 to 1879-09-30
* From 1879-10-01 to 1880-07-31
* From 1880-09-01 to 1869-06-30
* From 1881-04-01 to 1881-06-30
* From 1881-07-01 to 1882-03-01
* From 1882-04-01 to 1882-07-31
* From 1882-09-01 to 1883-12-31
* From 1888-10-01 to 1888-12-31
* From 1889-01-01 to 1889-03-30
* From 1895-04-01 to 1897-03-31
* From 1896-04-01 to 1897-03-31
* From 1898-04-01 to 1899-03-31
* From 1899-04-01 to 1900-03-31
* From 1928-08-01 to 1928-11-30
* From 1929-08-01 to 1929-11-30
* From 1929-12-02 to 1930-04-30
* From 1930-09-01 to 1931-02-20
* From 1931-10-01 to 1932-01-30
* From 1930-05-01 to 1930-08-30
* From 1937-06-01 to 1937-09-30
* From 1939-05-01 to 1939-05-29
* From 1939-07-01 to 1939-07-30
* From 1940-08-01 to 1940-08-31
* From 1940-10-01 to 1940-10-31
* From 1947-01-01 to 1947-05-31

Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW: 1839-1873)
* From 1839-08-02 to 1843-10-07

Braidwood Independent (NSW: 1867)
* From 1867-08-31 to 1867-10-16

Cairns Morning Post (Qld: 1907-1909)
* From 1909-01-04 to 1909-06-30

Camperdown Chronicle (Vic: 1877-1954)
* From 1879-01-03 to 1879-12-26
* From 1892-06-02 to 1893-02-28
* From 1901-07-02 to 1902-02-27
* From 1905-07-01 to 1906-02-27
* From 1910-03-01 to 1910-10-29
* From 1910-11-01 to 1911-06-29
* From 1918-04-23 to 1919-04-24
* From 1921-01-04 to 1921-12-31
* From 1933-07-01 to 1933-12-23
* From 1934-01-04 to 1934-06-30
* From 1930-07-01 to 1930-12-31
* From 1935-07-02 to 1935-12-31
* From 1938-01-04 to 1938-06-30
* From 1948-01-05 to 1948-12-30

The Colonist (Sydney, NSW : 1835-1840)
* From 1835-01-01 to 1837-12-28
* From 1838-01-03 to 1839-07-20
* From 1839-07-24 to 1840-12-31

Kalgoorlie Western Argus (WA: 1896-1916)
* From 1896-02-13 to 1896-07-27
* From 1896-09-03 to 1897-02-25
* From 1897-03-04 to 1897-07-22
* From 1897-07-29 to 1898-04-14
* From 1898-04-21 to 1898-11-24
* From 1898-12-01 to 1899-03-16
* From 1899-03-23 to 1900-01-25
* From 1900-02-01 to 1900-05-03
* From 1900-05-10 to 1900-07-26
* From 1900-08-02 to 1900-10-16
* From 1900-10-23 to 1901-01-01
* From 1901-01-08 to 1901-03-26
* From 1901-04-02 to 1904-05-10
* From 1901-09-17 to 1901-12-03
* From 1902-11-04 to 1903-03-31
* From 1903-06-23 to 1904-05-10
* From 1904-05-17 to 1904-08-02
* From 1904-08-09 to 1904-10-25
* From 1904-11-01 to 1905-06-20
* From 1905-06-27 to 1905-09-12
* From 1905-09-19 to 1905-11-28
* From 1905-12-05 to 1906-09-18
* From 1905-09-19 to 1905-11-28
* From 1906-09-25 to 1906-12-18
* From 1906-12-25 to 1908-04-14
* From 1908-04-21 to 1912-07-02
* From 1912-07-09 to 1912-10-01
* From 1912-10-08 to 1916-11-28

The Mercury (Hobart, Tas: 1860-1954)
* From 1925-07-01 to 1927-09-30
* From 1928-04-02 to 1928-09-29
* From 1929-10-01 to 1930-03-31
* From 1931-10-01 to 1932-06-30
* From 1930-04-01 to 1931-09-30
* From 1934-10-01 to 1935-03-30
* From 1935-04-01 to 1936-02-29
* From 1936-09-01 to 1937-02-27
* From 1937-09-01 to 1938-02-28

The Monitor (Sydney, NSW: 1826-1828)
* From 1826-05-19 to 1828-08-11

Morning Chronicle (Sydney, NSW: 1843-1846)
* From 1843-10-11 to 1846-07-08

Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser (NSW: 1864-1867)
* From 1864-05-19 to 1866-12-27
* From 1867-01-03 to 1867-06-28

Queanbeyan Age (NSW: 1867-1915)
* From 1867-07-05 to 1876-09-21
* From 1878-01-05 to 1886-12-30
* From 1887-01-13 to 1889-12-11
* From 1898-01-05 to 1900-12-29
* From 1891-01-17 to 1897-12-11
* From 1900-01-03 to 1903-12-29
* From 1904-01-01 to 1907-12-31
* From 1908-01-07 to 1909-12-24
* From 1910-01-04 to 1914-12-25

Queanbeyan Age and Queanbeyan Observer (NSW: 1915-1927)
* From 1915-01-05 to 1917-12-28
* From 1918-01-04 to 1920-12-24
* From 1921-01-04 to 1922-11-17
* From 1923-01-05 to 1924-12-23
* From 1925-01-02 to 1925-12-22
* From 1926-01-01 to 1926-12-31

Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate (NSW: 1905-1927)
* From 1925-01-08 to 1925-11-19
* From 1926-01-07 to 1926-12-30

South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register (Adelaide, SA: 1836-1839)
* From 1836-06-18 to 1839-06-15

The Sun-Herald (Sydney, NSW: 1953-1954)
* From 1953-10-01 to 1954-12-31

The Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW: 1949-1953)
* From 1949-01-01 to 1952-04-30

Sydney Chronicle (NSW : 1846-1848)
* From 1846-07-11 to 1846-12-30
* From 1847-01-02 to 1848-09-30

The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (NSW: 1838-1841)
* From 1828-08-16 to 1832-05-16
* From 1832-05-23 to 1838-10-03
* From 1838-10-05 to 1840-04-15
* From 1840-04-17 to 1841-12-29

The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842-1954)
* From 1851-07-01 to 1852-11-29
* From 1853-12-12 to 1854-11-08
* From 1863-09-18 to 1865-05-04
* From 1865-05-05 to 1865-12-30
* From 1874-04-24 to 1874-12-31
* From 1879-07-26 to 1880-03-12
* From 1880-10-28 to 1883-02-12
* From 1890-05-05 to 1898-10-31
* From 1899-05-25 to 1907-07-20
* From 1907-07-22 to 1908-01-11
* From 1908-01-13 to 1913-02-07
* From 1928-01-02 to 1928-04-14
* From 1933-11-01 to 1934-02-17
* From 1935-06-01 to 1935-09-30
* From 1936-09-01 to 1936-11-30
* From 1940-01-01 to 1940-04-30
* From 1946-05-01 to 1946-08-31
* From 1948-04-01 to 1948-09-30
* From 1948-10-01 to 1949-02-28
* From 1952-05-01 to 1952-08-31
* From 1954-01-01 to 1954-02-28
* From 1954-07-01 to 1954-08-31

Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA: 1916-1938)
* From 1894-11-24 to 1896-02-06
* From 1916-12-05 to 1923-01-30
* From 1923-02-06 to 1930-10-07
* From 1931-03-03 to 1931-12-01
* From 1931-12-08 to 1934-12-25

Western Mail (Perth, WA: 1885-1954)
* From 1885-12-19 to 1890-08-02
* From 1890-08-09 to 1892-10-01
* From 1892-10-08 to 1893-02-11
* From 1893-02-18 to 1895-04-20
* From 1895-04-27 to 1896-05-22
* From 1896-05-29 to 1898-12-09
* From 1899-02-24 to 1900-09-15
* From 1900-09-22 to 1901-08-03
* From 1901-08-10 to 1901-12-28
* From 1902-03-29 to 1902-06-14
* From 1903-02-07 to 1903-04-25
* From 1905-04-22 to 1905-09-30

The West Australian (Perth, WA: 1879-1954)
* From 1923-08-29 to 1925-05-08
* From 1925-05-09 to 1925-10-01
* From 1926-02-19 to 1926-11-17
* From 1926-11-18 to 1927-04-01
* From 1927-04-02 to 1927-12-15
* From 1927-12-16 to 1928-04-04
* From 1928-04-05 to 1928-08-02
* From 1928-08-03 to 1930-01-09
* From 1930-01-10 to 1930-05-01
* From 1930-05-02 to 1932-02-18
* From 1932-02-19 to 1932-06-22
* From 1932-06-23 to 1933-07-03
* From 1933-11-03 to 1934-06-11
* From 1933-07-04 to 1933-11-02
* From 1934-06-12 to 1934-09-25
* From 1934-09-26 to 1935-04-23
* From 1935-01-05 to 1935-04-23
* From 1935-04-24 to 1936-02-28

West Australian Sunday Times (Perth, WA: 1897-1902)
* From 1897-12-19 to 1899-05-21
* From 1900-05-06 to 1902-03-23

If you are a website owner or just someone that keeps an eye out for new data, and you know of new Australian data that I’ve not mentioned – big sites or small – (I admit that it is impossible for me to keep an eye on ALL Australian genie sites, though I do try), please do send an email to me (Alona), so I can make mention of it for others to discover and use.

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

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.

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!!

FAMILYSEARCH
In amongst the 300 million new records that FamilySearch added to their Pilot Site a few weeks ago, were:
Australia Births and Baptisms 1792-1981
Australia Deaths and Burials 1816-1980

ANCESTRY
Ancestry.com.au continue to add to their collection, by adding the following:
Queensland, Australia, Passenger Lists, 1848-1912
Western Australia Post Office Directory 1910
Western Australia Post Office Directory 1926

FAMILY HISTORY SA
While not new, the following from Family History SA have been updated and extended:
South Australian Cemeteries Burials now includes Nailsworth North Road Anglican Cemetery – up to 1900
South Australian District Constables 1853 to 1920
South Australian Marriages 1836 to 1855
South Australian Naturalizations
South Australian Police 1838 to 1920

BDM REGISTRARS
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.

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

As FamilySearch certified software, RootsMagic and RootsMagic Essentials both allow you to share information to and from the new FamilySearch. In order to do any of this for a person, you must first match the person in your own file with the same person in the new FamilySearch system. In the past, a user was required to find a match for each person one-at-a-time, person-by-person.

The latest news from the makers of RootsMagic is …

We have just released a minor update to RootsMagic 4 (version 4.0.8.0).

We’ve been busy adapting a lot of internal code preparing RootsMagic 4 for translation into other languages, but we decided to go ahead and release this update with some bug fixes in the meantime.  We realize it has been longer than usual between updates, but we had major parts of the program torn out during the language reconstruction. But with that out of the way we will be getting back to a more normal update release schedule.

If you have been using RootsMagic’s New FamilySearch features, then this is a required update, because changes to New FamilySearch effective Monday morning, March 29th (at midnight) will cause older versions of RootsMagic to be unable to connect to New FamilySearch. This update is required to continue using RM’s New FamilySearch features after that date. (NOTE: New FamilySearch is still in a phased rollout, and will become available to the general public later this year).

If you have the RootsMagic News screen come up when you start RootsMagic, it may have already notified you of this update. If not, you can do “Help > Check for Updates” from the RootsMagic menu to download and install this update.

You can also download the update from here.

To see what was added and fixed you can see them here.

“Legacy version 7.5 is finally almost here. Version 7.4 is even closer….

In January we will release Legacy 7.4 which will add most of the long-awaited FamilySearch integration tools to Legacy. This will be a free update for both Standard and Legacy Deluxe edition users [as well as Legacy Platinum Australian & New Zealand edition users].

We’ve created a special web site devoted to keeping you updated on this release. At www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/fs.asp we will publish the very latest information:

• News / Updates section – this is where we will publish the latest announcements (in addition to this LegacyNews blog)
• Video Tutorials – we’ve published our first video entitled Getting Started in Legacy Family Tree for the brand new LDS genealogist.
• Preparing for Legacy 7.5 – these are links to all the articles we’ve published in LegacyNews about preparing your Legacy family file for working with the new FamilySearch tools”

We’ll keep you informed with more about version 7.5 as the release comes closer.

If you are a user of Legacy Family Tree, we have compiled a listing of Legacy User Groups around Australia.