Last year Unlock the Past held two History & Genealogy Expos around Australia. This year we’re holding four, this means we get to see many more of you around this big country.  All who pre-book by the Monday before each Expo will get into the Expo FREE. This will increase the number attending and your exposure. A modest charge will apply to those who come on the day. Every attendee gets a Registration Kit.

Exhibiting is now FREE for non-commercial exhibitors and at reduced prices for commercial exhibitors
We do expect you will help promote the expo as far as you can.

What is in the Registration Kit?
We’ve all been to events where you sign in, and get given your free goodie bag. The fun part is finding out all the stuff that’s included.  The registration kit is an opportunity for vendors, authors and organisations in the genealogy or history community to get their product or services noticed by others. It is free for your inclusion in the kit if you are exhibiting, A moderate fee is charged if you are not exhibiting. New records or products, discount subscriptions, a special offer on something, vouchers, small promo items (pads, magnets , pen or pencils)  it’s endless, and it all helps promote your business or product.

It Gets Noticed
Experience has shown that many recipients are very appreciative of your notice or item, some of the more social-media-minded people also make mention of what is included in kits at events they attend. This also gets the word out there further. We are also looking for prizes to offer at one of our prize draws.

How You Can Participate
The staff at Unlock the Past has been working hard on the upcoming Expos, contacting vendors and organisations in the genealogy and history community.  If for some reason we have missed you, please email us at inquiries@unlockthepast.com.au and we’ll send you information. The deadlines for these Expos is fast approaching! So don’t delay.

It’s been a busy time recently for Unlock the Past, who are currently preparing for the first of four History & Genealogy Expos to be held around Australia this year.

Their publications list continues to grow at a steady rate, as in this month we’ve already seen the release of three new titles added to the Unlock the Past range.

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AIF Unit History of the Great War 1914-1918
Author: Ron Austin
Media: paperback, 32 pages
ISBN: 9780980874655
Year: 2011
Item Code: UTP0221
Price: $9.00

The recent upsurge in Australia’s military history has seen the online availability of many military records on the Australian War Memorial website and also the availability of a soldier’s Personal Service Record on the National Archives site.

However, many people have difficulty in wading through military jargon and need a more readable source of what their relatives battalion or unit was doing during the Great War of 1914-1918. This is where the unit histories become a most valuable resource tool. A point-by-point check list of ‘The Ideal Unit History’ which may be useful to genealogists and others has therefore been included.

Also included are publication details of the many publihsed histories of battalions, light horse regiments and other units of the 1st Australian Imperial Force which served with distinction in theatres such as Gallipoli, France, Belgium, Egypt and Palestine.
Click here for the full description

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Discover Scottish Church Records
Author: Chris Paton
Media: paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 9780980874679
Year: 2011
Item Code: UTP0281
Price: $19.50

In this detailed guide, family historian Chris Paton explores the history and records of the various churches in Scotland prior to 1855, the year in which civil registration commenced within the country. He describes the theological changes imposed by the Reformation of 1560, the nature of the state’s battles with the Kirk, and the Kirk’s subsequent battles within itself.

Most importantly, he also discusses the nature of the records generated by the various Scottish churches, how to interpret them, and above all else, how to find them.

Whether you are looking for tales of ministers carried into the air by Scotland’s fairy folk, the fire and thunder of John Knox, a detailed explanation of the online offerings of the Scotlands People website, or the treasures waiting in the National Records of Scotland, this is the definitive research guide to help anyone with Caledonian connections.
Click here for the full description

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Locating Your German Ancestor’s Place of Origin
Author: Eric Kopittke
Media: paperback, 48 pages
ISBN: 9780980874648
Year: 2011
Item Code: UTP0201
Price: $14.00

Immigration from Germany to the Australian and New Zealand colonies went through a number of cycles. There were times when there was a strong demand for workers in the colonies when any willing worker could find employment, but these were all too soon followed by times of oversupply when the newly arrived immigrants struggled to find a position. In Germany too, there were factors that affected immigration.

Due to the large number of people emigrating from Germany, many of the current generation are now seeking to find out more about their German heritage.

A primary goal when researching people from Germany is to locate the places from which they originated. This is important because specific locations are needed in order to proceed further: to obtain civil or church records of births or baptisms, marriages, and deaths or burials, for example.

Unlike the Australian, New Zealand or British situation where births, deaths and marriages were recorded centrally, in Germany they were recorded and stored locally at the local Standesamt (civil registry office).

This book guides you through finding various records which will help in locating your ancestor’s place of origin.
Click here for the full description

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You can find all of the Unlock The Past titles on our Gould Genealogy website, as well as through other selected genealogical outlets.

And a a teaser, stay tuned for a heap of new Unlock the Past titles scheduled for release this year.

This is going to be a major history-genealogy-heritage event for not only those in and around Coffs Harbour, but for much of New South Wales and Southern Queensland.

As this will be Unlock the Past’s only Expo in New South Wales this year, use this opportunity visit whether you are local or not, to see numerous exhibitors in one place and hear expert presenters from four states.

The Expo will feature a major exhibition. Some of the exhibitors will be: Ancestry.com.au, Clean Cruising, Family Photo Book, Family Search, findmypast, GenesReunited, Gould Genealogy & History, Inside History Magazine, Irisih Wattle, National Library of Australia, Openbook Howden, Royal Australian Historical Society, State Records of NSW, University of New England, together with local and family history societies, libraries, archives, museums, as well as product and service suppliers. You can see the list of currently confirmed exhibitors here.

There will be a total of 30 presentations, held over the two days, covering topics such as FamilySearch, Regional Libraries, German Research, Bound for Botany Bay. the Society of Genealogists and its Treasures, DNA for Genealogists, Breaking Down Genealogy Brick Walls, Ancestry.com.au, Asylums, When Brides Wore Black, The National Library, Finding the Address Isn’t Enough, It’s Not All Online and many more!!

These will be from leading experts from around Australia. You can see the full schedule of talks here.

All attendees will receive a Registration Kit which will include information and special offers from exhibitors and sponsors, together with eligibility to $100s of dollars worth of Expo prizes and more.

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When: Friday 3 June 2011, and Saturday 4 June 2011
Time: 9.00am-5:30pm each day
Where: C-ex Coffs, Vernon Street, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
Cost:
* pre-booked registration (by Monday 30 May) – $10 per day; $15 both days
* pay on the day registration – $15 per day; $20 both days
* talks – all main talks are $5 each; promotional talks are free
* The special Bound for Botany Bay presentation is $10

ADVANCE BOOKINGS CLOSE Monday 30th May 2011
I recommend pre-booking, as not only will you save money, but you are also then guaranteed to get into the talks you wish to attend.

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Come along to the first Unlock the Past History & Genealogy Expo in Coffs Harbour – you won’t be disappointed.

You can find more information, together with the online booking form on the Unlock The Past website.

Well, the time has come to pack the suitcases, then repack and repack again till it fits, trek off to the airport and head on up to Brisbane, before setting sail on my very first ever cruise voyage.

Our sister company, Unlock the Past is proudly hosting their first ever History and Genealogy Cruise on the P&O Cruise Ship Pacific Dawn, which sets sail this weekend.

Staff from both Gould Genealogy & History and Unlock the Past will be on this voyage which incorporates all the regular features of a cruise … relaxation, accommodation, meals, entertainment, shopping, and day tours on islands, together with history and genealogy themed meetings.

While the ship holds around 2000 people, our group of 240 or so (many well versed in numerous topics of history and/or genealogy) guarantees that there is bound to be some interesting conversations around tables.

This 7 day voyage from Brisbane, to Noumea (New Caledonia), Lifou (New Caledonia), and Vila (Vanuatu) and back will hardly be long enough to explore the ship and islands, let alone fit in a bunch of meetings as well.

With 14 decks the ship not only has a whole range of restaurants and bars, but also includes a casino, beauty parlour, card room, childcare centre, cinema, fitness centre and gym, hot tubs, show lounge,  a library, pool and spa, medical centre, shopping boutiques and more … and even an internet cafe. However as the rates for internet usage are expensive, I do not know how often I’ll be logging on to give you updates.

Subject to no cyclones or tsunami’s or other possible holdups, the P&O Pacific Dawn is due to dock back in Brisbane on Saturday 26 March.

So just in case I don’t make it online during the trip  … happy researching … and I’ll let you know how it all went later … yes, with pictures too. 

Pssstt … have you heard about our second cruise?? It’s going to be a Scottish and Irish themed one!! Click for more info.

There is fantastic line-up of presenters, all of whom are professional writers and authors who will be drawing from personal experience. A few trade tables will have books and other goods on offer and all attendees will receive a registration pack.

The seminar will be held over two days with the option of one day attendance on either Friday or Saturday. May 2011 is South Australia’s ‘About Time: South Australia’s History Festival‘, this event is Unlock The Past’s contribution to the celebrations. The venue is the SA Writers’ Centre in Rundle Street, and disability access is available.

When: Fri 13th & Sat 14th May, 2011
Where: SA Writer’s Centre, 2nd Floor, 187 Rundle Street, Adelaide SA
Time: 8.3am-4.30pm
Cost: $85 for both days, or $55 for a single day
Other: morning and afternoon tea is provided, lunch is extra.

Registration and trade exhibits are open from 8.30am each day, with the first meeting starting at 9.15am.

Full details of speakers, and talks can be found on the Unlock The Past website. You can also book your tickets online.



However, it actually marks the date the British colonists first arrived in Australia. Captain Arthur Phillip, first arrived in Australia in Sydney Harbour in 1788. In the past Australia Day was celebrated with dinners, horse races and other small events.

The genealogy blogging community is a great bunch of people, and many join in on topics suggested by others, allowing people to write about their own experiences or thoughts relating to that topic.

Shelly from the Twigs of Yore blog has come up with a great one for Aussie genealogy bloggers as a way to celebrate your Australian heritage on Australia Day, 26 January 2011.

The task that she has set for herself and anyone who wishes to join in is:

Find the earliest piece of documentation you have about an ancestor in Australia. If you don’t have an Australian ancestor, then choose the earliest piece of documentation you have for a relative in Australia.

On Wednesday 26 January 2011 post your answers to these questions:

1. What is the document?
2. Do you remember the research process that lead you to it? How and where did you find it?
3. Tell us the story(ies) of the document. You may like to consider the nature of the document, the people mentioned, the place and the time. Be as long or short, broad or narrow in your story telling as you like!

Would anyone like to join me?

I know there are many Australian genealogy bloggers out there, there’s a large list (but no doubt not all) listed on the Unlock the Past website.

If you do join in, please email Shelly at Twigs of Yore with the URL of your blogpost and a short paragraph describing your post. She’ll compile a post that collates and links to all the submissions.

I look forward to sharing a little piece of my Australian heritage with you all, and hope others will do the same.

The Gould Genealogy staff together with the team at Unlock the Past have been working together in getting these events up and running, and hopefully without drama.

Chris Paton, Scottish genealogist, researcher, author etc … , and the international guest at the Expo, is also having his own mini Roadshow. After arriving in Australia, it was straight to Perth where he spoke last night to an enthusiastic audience, now he’s off to Melbourne for talks on Wednesday. He’ll be at Sydney on Friday and Saturday for the Expo, then it’s off to Brisbane to meet with those who will discover just how to go about researching your Scottish ancestors.

So it’s kind of all happening here at the moment … the pre-bookings for the Expo have finished, the names tags and tickets have been made, new titles which will be released for the first time are being finalised, and the stock is almost packed in readiness for its trip to Sydney Expo later this week.

Meanwhile the upcoming History & Genealogy Roadshow which will take place from 8-24 November, bringing 3 international speakers supported by the best local speakers to 6 Australian cities and 3 New Zealand ones is shaping up to be an exciting one, for speakers and attendees. More to come on this next week.

This will be held at the Parramatta RSL, corner of Macquarie and O’Connell Street, Parramatta, New South Wales on Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd October.

This two day event will have talks to be held over both days, together with a  large exhibition area for you to check out the latest from the local historical and genealogical suppliers and archives.

Some VERY exciting news just in, is that they will have Chris Paton, leading Scottish author, speaker and professional researcher at Scotland’s Greatest Story as a guest speaker attending the event. He will give a series of Scottish based talks for those researching their Caledonian roots.

For those who are not familiar with Chris Paton and his credentials, apart from writing his own book ‘Researching Scottish Family History‘ (with another book on the way), and numerous articles for many UK based magazines, being a tutor for the Scottish Pharos course, he maintains his Scotland’s Greatest Story website, and his Scottish GENES (GEnealogy News and EventS) blog. And social media buffs, you can keep up with the latest from Chris on Facebook and Twitter.

As this is a pre-announcement, bookings for the talks are not yet open, but will be this week, so stay tuned. For more information on this Expo visit the Unlock the Past website.

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.

Australian company Unlock the Past are organising the Adelaide’s first “History and Genealogy Expo“, together with the support of the South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society. This two day event will be held on 30 and 31 July 2010.

Held over two days, this event will consist of a wide range of exhibitors, as well as a comprehensive range of talks. Meals and refreshments will be available for purchase at the venue. Special offers and prizes will be offered from many exhibitors and sponsors.

Their website says that this event will be …

… a unique opportunity to see many societies, libraries and commercial product and service suppliers in one place and to learn from the many expert presenters. A significant focus will be on introducing newcomers to history and genealogy, but we expect to have something for researchers at all levels.

When:
Friday 30 July 9.30pm – 4.30pm (a Friday evening program is under consideration)
Saturday 31 July 9.30am – 4.30pm

Where:
West Adelaide Function Centre (Football Club), 57 Milner Road, Richmond (3km West of Adelaide CBD), South Australia

Cost (per person)
Pre-booked: $15 for one day, $20 for two days
On the day: $20 for one day, $25 for two days
Book your tickets online now

Need More Info
email: Alan (alan@unlockthepast.com.au)  or Aimee (aimee@unlockthepast.com.au)
phone: (08) 8395 7476

THE EXHIBITORS:
With a range of exhibitors from the following categories:
- family and local history societies – small and large
- libraries, archives and museums
- special interest groups and organisations – business, sporting, transport, motoring, church and school history
- ethnic history and culture
- professional researchers, speakers and course presenters
- printers, publishers and resellers of books, magazines, CDs, maps
- antiquarian booksellers
- online data services
- photo or video services
- scrapbooking, photographic, video and chart printing services
- tour operators – heritage themes, battlefield tours
- transcription agents, translation services
- anyone offering products or services in the history, genealogy, heritage and related fields

If you are interested in exhibiting please contact Alan or Aimée at (08) 8395 7476 or by email alan@unlockthepast.com.au or aimee@unlockthepast.com.au

Cost – $100 per table, although they are FREE for societies, libraries, archives and related organisations who are willing to publicise the Expo through newsletters and on their web sites

THE PRESENTATIONS:
The program will be varied and fairly fast moving with two streams of talks on the half hour. A number will be aimed at beginners or general audience, others will offer something different.

Some early commitments and topicss are:
- Ron Austin – several talks on military topics
- Barry Dolman  – Preserving our sporting history
- Aimee Engler – Experiences of SA German-Australians in the early 1900s
- Kerry Farmer – Which genealogy program (with Rosemary Kopittke)
- Shauna Hicks – What was the voyage really like, Genealogy on the cheap, Organising and caring for personal records
- Eric Kopittke – German & Danish research, German sources on the Internet
- Rosemary Kopittke – Which genealogy program (with Kerry Farmer), ScotlandsPeople, Introducing Family Photo Book
- Cassie Mercer – Stories of some early Irish Australians
- Suzanne Maiden – Wills: a fascinating and valuable resource
- Roslyn Paterson, OAM – Cornish influence in South Australia
- Andrew Peake – Occupations
- Alan Phillips – Getting to know findmypast.com.au, How you can benefit from Unlock the Past
- SA Genealogy & Heraldry Society – Beginning your family history

We expect a number of specialist and general archives, libraries and museums will also give presentations.

Other subjects we are interested in offering:
- maritime history, migration and life at sea on the voyage out
- industry, business & occupations
- guide to newspapers, FamilySearch and other free resources on the web
- guide to subscription or pay-per-view resources on the web ( Find My Past, Ancestry, ScotlandsPeople, Ancestors on Board, Genes Reunited, etc.)
- church and school history
- special interests – sport, recreation, culture
- getting back to your family’s country of origin
- early medicine, genetics & DNA
- convicts, criminals & crime, police
- names, writing & publishing
- photography video & multimedia, scrapbooking & preservation
- city, rural & outback life, culture & customs, transport, built heritage

“We have our own team of presenters, but are open to others with recognised expertise”. Contact Alan if you have someone you would recommend or you yourself feel you have something to offer.

So come along, enjoy the people, the exhibits and of course the talks, while finding out what history really does exist right on our doorstep.

• the only complete 1841-1911 census collection online
• the most complete online index of BMDs (1837-2006)
• parish records for baptisms, marriages and burials dating from 1538
• migration records including 24 million passenger list records
• military records covering the First and Second World Wars
• many more documents including specialist records

With a large portion of Australians having British ancestors, and most not having the ability to travel to the UK to research on-site, there is a need to find infomation online. findmypast.co.uk is a website that you should use.

Elaine from findmypast.co.uk will be giving talks in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane, Nambour and Sydney from May 19-May 24.

Bookings will be required as space will be limited. More details can be found on the Unlock the Past.

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.

In other ‘Writing Family History’ books, most of the interesting examples included material extracted from anecdotes, letters, diaries or photographs, sources that, in general, have only survived for those in recent times. Many family historians want to know how to turn sparse information into interesting stories as she has done in her ‘popular histories’.

‘Writing INTERESTING Family Histories‘ covers these areas and more. It explains how to structure and begin a family history. It challenges genealogists to rethink what facts truly are. It describes how to evoke drama and tension even when little information is known, and to draw ‘dialogue’ from original records. It proves that family histories don’t need to be fictionalised to be riveting.

Within 5 weeks of raising the possibility of turning her talks into booklets she has produced her first. Amazing! A 100 page book titled Writing INTERESTING Family Histories. You can read more about it on the Unlock the Past blog.